Where this Captain stands in the wake of coronavirus/COVID-19

First, the bad news: A cold has hit me for the past several days and counting, but I am doing what I can to bring it down--the usual handwashing, tissue disposal, disinfecting/sanitising, wearing gloves before handling groceries or garbage--and above all, making sure I or no one else gets infected. (Even with what the World Health Organisation (WHO) now recommends calling "physical distancing".) As I type, it's gone to my forehead to the point where I recently turned on my room fan in an attempt to suppress it. (Better if I resort to a couple of ice bags instead.)

The good news: This was not--I repeat, not--COVID-19-related....and much for the better.

Regardless, I've seldom gone out since well after my family moved to T/SP back in early 2017, thus highly reducing my infection chances at this moment. Otherwise, in person, you can forget about a 32 GB SD supplement at Walmart, a birthday buffet (by July 31), and what I anticipate will be my final trip to the movies (come late June or thereafter)--all for the next several months. (By my predictions, a long-awaited flight back to my Nature Island homeland is off the cards till 2022--assuming humanity collectively recovers and learns their lesson.)

Speaking of the Nature Island: Dominica officially announced its first two coronavirus patients early this week, both of whom were natives in their early 50s returning from Britain. In the words of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit (during a live message to the nation on DBS this Sunday evening): "This day was feared, but prepared for." At press time, coronavirus has struck 178 locations around the world in one form or another since December 2019's initial Wuhan outbreak--with over 416,000 cases, 18,500 deaths, and 108,000 recoveries reported. That said, expect resteems of related material on the pandemic in due time.

Not only that--no day is going by anymore without me reading up on the latest on the historical crisis from GNews, and even bookmarking/saving them along the way.

I cannot stress this enough: Follow the rules, wash your hands, buy accordingly, and stay safe until further notice. That is all for now; have a hopeful day/night (depending on your time zone).

I wanted to continue with an agenda for my creative endeavours for the next several weeks, but the message must come first, so I have decided to split this entry in half. Stay tuned for part two in a matter of hours, along with Adanson vs. COVID-19 in our next Notebook. Until then, folks...

Closing graphic by Alissa Eckert, MS, and Dan Higgins, MAM, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (29/1/2020); a public-domain work of the U.S. federal government.