Zombie Virus Movies That Helped Me Wrap My Head Around the COVID-19 Pandemic – SELF

Its a lot of distance between them and the zombie thats trying to eat their face. I wonder if we drew the adorable little coronavirus image as a zombie whether people would take this social distancing thing a little more seriously.

You dont need a megafort to protect yourself from the coronavirus. You just need your home, and to stay sheltered in it as much as possible given your circumstances, and to practice social distancing, handwashing, and mask wearing when you do leave. At this point we need to commit to doing anything we can to keep infected people alive while preventing transmission to anyone new.

That means taking stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines seriously and following them rigorously. Just like in a lot of zombie movies, were not just trying to protect ourselves from becoming infected, were trying to protect our friends, neighbors, loved ones, and communities.

Theres always one person in these zombie movies who thinks theyre invincible and makes everyone elses lives way harder as a result.

We know this guy. The friend you try to talk into doing the bare minimum, like washing their hands, wearing a mask, or not licking hospital doorknobs in New York City. They believe their immune system is strong because they take vitamins and drink expensive juice and buttered coffee. Theyre not scared of a little virus. Theyre going to have the asymptomatic case and then theyll be fine. They even lift, bro.

Even if youre convinced that youll have a case that youll recover from, I assure you that death is not the only negative outcome from this. Its too early to know the long-term effects of COVID-19, but experts worry that even after recovery, patients could experience symptoms including lung scarring, heart damage, and neurological and mental health effects. Data is preliminary, but in some studies, over half of asymptomatic patients are shown to have abnormal lung CT scans.

There are people who are young and apparently healthy getting and dying from COVID-19. Yes, some people with serious or deadly cases have underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of having a more severe case. But this virus spares no group of people entirely.

This is a potentially deadly virus for anyone who contracts it. Even if youre in a group with a low risk, you live in a society, and that comes with some responsibilities. You want to go to the grocery store without a mask because you feel fine? You might be on day six of incubating COVID-19. The elderly, people who are immunosuppressed, and people with lung issues need to shop at that grocery store too. They didnt sign up for your unmasked rant about freedom, Chet.

Maybe just dont be a dick and wear a mask and wash your hands, huh?

When we watch these movies, we have the heros-eye view. We can see what they see, were in the know, and were in on the fact that this zombie apocalypse is happening and the danger is real. The zombies are visible, tangible in their universe. And we know that if theres even one zombie and one human left, the infection can still spread. If youre alive in the zombie apocalypse, youre one of the scrappy band of heroes keeping humanity alive.

We were expecting The Walking Dead, but somehow the apocalypse feels much more like A Quiet Place. This isnt a postapocalyptic wasteland. This is many of us with the privilege of staying at home and catching up on absurd reality TV and figuring out where you can order bulk flour from. The way to be a hero in this story, for most of us, is to stay at home and keep you and your family safe.

In real life, without zombies banging on our door, we have to wade through the media and figure out whats real. We may all be the heroes in our own story, but its in the nature of science that we have to rely on the right expert with the right data, and we cant fake it or do it on our own. A comforting lie on YouTube may tell us exactly what we want to hear, but at the end of the day, an awful truth will persist.

You have a role to play, but your role is probably not to go out and fight the monsters. Unless youre a front line worker, the best way you can help end the zombiesorry, I mean the coronaviruspandemic, is to follow CDC recommendations for best practices regarding wearing masks, handwashing, social distancing, and staying the eff home.

And maybe stop watching Contagion.

See more here:
Zombie Virus Movies That Helped Me Wrap My Head Around the COVID-19 Pandemic - SELF