5 reasons to be hopeful and how we can all do our part to 'flatten the?curve'

Note: The opinions stated here are my own, not those of my company. ~6 minute read.

COVID-19 has gripped the world and has us at a standstill. Seeing it all unfold globally is surreal; while watching the news, reading social media and daily conversations feel relentless. With many of us feeling our positivity and optimism put to the test, I thought it would be helpful to share this perspective.

Before we jump in, please note this is NOT designed to undermine the seriousness of what is going on, but rather to provide a hopeful perspective & inspire additional action to ‘flatten the curve'.

5 reasons to be hopeful in this unprecedented time

In this unprecedented time, there are so many data points being shared, but there are five data points that should give us all hope:

1. A significant amount of people, i.e. 6.9M+ have recovered (as of July 7th) and more will continue to recover. [Source: Johns Hopkins]
2. Of the cases globally that are active, 99% of active cases are mild -- this underscores that most that people will continue to recover. [Source: World Meters]
3. Several countries that implemented strong protective measures have 'flattened the curve' -- Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Norway, Germany and many others have ‘flattened the curve’ dramatically slowing the spread of the pandemic in their countries. [Source: Johns Hopkins]
4. Scientists are making significant progress to develop quicker test results, treatment and potential vaccines (e.g. FDA emergency approved Cepheid's Covid-19 test which delivers results in 45 mins, Moderna began first stage testing with an experimental vaccine in the US and a network of Canadian scientists isolated the virus for testing of vaccines/treatment.) [Source: New York Times and Sunnybrook hospital and Bloomberg]
5. History has proven that humanity has consistently overcome every major challenge it has faced e.g. Stock market crashes, Ebola, world wars, etc. and after each challenge humanity has emerged stronger, more resilient and adaptable than before.

Our mindset & behaviour are within our control and will have a significant impact on the outcome

I know what the skeptics are thinking, hope is not a strategy, and you are right. This brings me to my second key point: while so much feels out of our control, two things are largely within our control: our own mindset and our own behavior. And our individual mindset and behaviour will have a significant impact on the outcome of this situation.

The analysis below, published in the New York Times, shows that protective behavioural measures applied at scale (e.g. staying home, self isolating, regular hand washing) have the ability to ‘flatten the curve’, similar to what we’ve already seen in countries starting to recover. This additional time from flattening the curve saves lives, improves the coping ability of healthcare systems and enables scientists to make more progress (WHO officials say at least 20 vaccines are in development globally) [Source: CNBC].

Source: New York Times

How we can all do our part to ‘flatten the curve’

The World Health Organizations (WHOs) “Do the Five” to help stop the coronavirus is an absolute baseline to ‘flatten the curve’. To that end, it is very encouraging to see so many governments taking this very seriously with significant measures around social distancing, increased testing, etc:

If you are already doing the 5 above; here are 20 simple ideas* within your control to nurture a positive mindset and behaviour:

*Note: it’s clear no one will remember 20 ideas, but hopefully 2–3 ideas will resonate to action right away (especially #1 if you haven't yet!).

1. Staying home to save lives is clearly the most important thing we can all responsibly do. When you do, maintain your routine, get dressed and shower daily.
2. Where permitted, get fresh air daily and appreciate nature with a walk or run (ideally during the day). If you cannot go outside, open a window, take a moment to look at the sky, or watch the sunset, even for 5 minutes.
3. Sleep 30 mins extra a night to build your immunity, talk on sleep here.
4. Each time you wash your hands, think of 3 things that you are grateful for.
5. Drink 1–2 extra glasses of water a day to stay hydrated.
6. Add more vitamin C & D to your diet and eat healthier today than you did yesterday.
7. Be kind to one another, leave every conversation with a message of hope and positivity. The world especially needs this now more than ever. “What you think you become, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you create.” — Buddha
8. With your gift of quantity time, spend more quality time and be truly present with loved ones (with your phone away).
9. Call a family member, friend or someone vulnerable (e.g. elderly neighbour) to ask: how are you doing and how can I help you?
10. Practice daily meditation, even for 1 min, start somewhere and build — the world needs more calm today.
11. Try some Yoga with Adrienne to be more present — 5 mins in morning and 7 mins at night.
12. Be mindful of your thoughts, choose optimism. Catch yourself going to “that” place — we are all fixated with the soundtrack on the radio, what is the soundtrack on your mind? “What we focus on expands.” — Oprah
13. Resurrect the art of letter writing and mail the letter to delight someone — or photograph it and send it via email until you can go to the post office.
14. Escape at least once a day by reading or listening to something completely unrelated like this amazing TedTalk.
15. Pray for the world and especially the heroic healthcare workers — the world needs it, especially those countries that are struggling to cope and the heroic healthcare workers working around the clock to save lives (and their families who support them).
16. Limit news consumption (to < 30 mins a day) and limit the spread of fake news specifically by being mindful of what you forward on, WHO is one of the best balanced sources. Facts matter here, a lot.
17. Find ways to serve your community even if seemingly small — e.g. if you can afford it, buy groceries for your neighbor that can not, support a colleague that may not have family nearby, or donate to the COVID-19 fund or a local charity (e.g. food bank).
18. Spend time reflecting on your life goals and vision — you may not have this precious gift of time and reflection for a while.
19. Play music and sing out loud, yes out loud (who’s going to see you anyhow?) — perhaps a little Bach, Frozen or this Italian number?
20. Laugh and smile — it builds immunity, is contagious and healing, two favorite tweets here and here.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General at World Health Organization shared this important perspective recently:

“We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic. This is the first pandemic that can be controlled.

There’s been so much attention on one word.

But these words matter much more:

-Prevention

-Preparedness

-Public health

-Political leadership

-People

We’re in this together, to do the right things with calm & protect the citizens of the world. It’s doable.”

The world needs us to be hopeful and positive during this challenging time. The coming weeks and months are critical. Each of us make decisions every second around our mindset and behaviour — let's do our part to make the right choices recognizing the interconnectedness of humanity and the compounding impact of these choices on one another. Let's be mindful to positively manage what is within our control to ‘flatten the curve’. After all, the world is counting on each & every one of us to do our part to change the course of history.

“Never lose hope, my dear heart, miracles dwell in the invisible.” — Rumi