“When I was a kid, the disaster we worried about most was a
nuclear war. But today, if anything kills over 10 million people in the next
few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus, rather than a war.” — Bill
Gates, 2015 TED Talk
“The searchers of the town / Suspecting that we both were in a
house / Where the infectious pestilence did reign / Sealed up the doors and
would not let us forth." —William
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1593, (written at the end of the 1592-1593 plague
that killed 15,000 in London)
As we sit
sequestered in our homes we keep asking—
“How did this all start?” When will
it end? What will the future bring?”
The answers
are long and complex but in this “life hiatus” it’s a good time to consider how
we navigate the future safety of the planet.
• The
origin of pandemics dates back to the Justinian Plague of 541 that started in
central Africa and spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The
primary remedy at that time was inhaling vapors from herbs. The result was nearly 100 million
deaths over a four-year period.
• Our
current pandemic, the COVID-19 virus that has now claimed over 11,000 lives worldwide is
thought to have originated from bats in Wuhan, China. The virus jumped from bats-to-animals-to-humans and is now being spread by person-to-person contact.
• First and foremost—Elect officials who:
What can we do about it?
• First and foremost—Elect officials who:
• Listen to science and experts in the medical field.
• Do not distort or suppress
information and keep open all lines of domestic and international communication.
•
Allocate—not cut funds—to prepare in advance for epidemics— (adequate testing, supply of specialized equipment, hospital beds/intensive care facilities/healthcare workers, and vaccine development.)
• Prioritize Solutions to Climate Change/Global Warming
• Microbes
with a higher heat tolerance will thrive and bring new infectious diseases.
• Drought
and deforestation expands the habitat of disease-carrying animals and insects.
• As the
Arctic permafrost melts pathogens buried over time will be released into the
atmosphere.
• So stay
safe, don’t hug your neighbor and take action to help
prevent these catastrophic events from occurring in the future.
prevent these catastrophic events from occurring in the future.
Jeff Key's work is featured in an Exclusive On-line Exhibition: “Life Vessels”
from January 31-March 31,2020 on Sculpturesite Gallery’s website:
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