Seemingly there is a lot of panic going on right now about Corona Virus. The World Health Organisation has put out several guidelines to follow, as has our government to control the spread of disease. This has led to a lot of fear and uncertainty in people which has caught on because emotions are contagious. While we need to heed the guidelines and we need to be responsible, we also need to be wary in not getting caught up in the hype and contagion of panic. This is evident just by having a look at our empty supermarket shelves. For now, there seems to be no reason to panic as our authorities are taking responsibility and are ensuring that they are doing everything they can to contain the spread of the virus. We also need to do our bit. Eventually the virus may become more widespread, but I think it’s safe to say that we can worry about if and when it happens as opposed to getting caught up in it now.

Some things you can do to manage your worry around coronavirus is to limit the amount of information you consume. Stay up to date, however reading about it for hours and hours is not going to help. The only thing that will do is perpetuate your worry. Another thing you can do is to exercise responsible hand hygiene but there’s no reason to be excessive. Lastly, if you are experiencing ongoing and persistent worry and need support in managing this, then don’t hesitate to reach out and make an appointment with one of our team.

Remember that many of the people who have been impacted so far are vulnerable to illness in many other ways and we thankfully live in a country with access to healthcare that will help. What we need to do is manage ourselves the same way we would with any other flu and virus outbreak and we need to reach out to health services if we think we may be impacted. Be responsible but not excessive.

~ From the team at MWG.

This blog was written and prepared by Dr Celin Gelgec.