Here is how we can nip Covid-19 in the bud

I often wondered how my body would react to Covid-19 if I contracted the virus. I was not willing to take chances with Covid-19, but I came to realise that it moves stealthily like a snake.  I got concerned when I overheard that someone close was unusually ill. I even got worried when I further learnt that he had typical symptoms of Covid-19 - fever, cough, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of taste. I started keeping a safe distance, but apparently my response was too little too late.

About 50 per cent of transmissions occur before a spreading starts showing symptoms.  I had spent six months studying hundreds of scientific papers and produced a clinical guideline on managing Covid-19, flu, colds and malaria symptoms by external cooling, but I was still not willing to contract Covid-19. I was confident that my experience on applying external cooling to regularly manage flu, colds and malaria symptoms over the past 18 years, can be extrapolated to manage Covid-19 symptoms.

About 48 hours after learning of the illness of that close contact, I had my first symptom – I was feeling a patchy throat like my throat was getting clogged. The patchy throat was fast progressing into the urge to cough within an hour. I knew then that I had a fight in my hands. I had studied several scientific papers on Covid-19, which informed me not to take this symptom lightly in the context of my recent exposure. 

I was contented that I could rely on my experience on managing malaria, flu and colds symptoms by external cooling to fight back. There is a common saying “a stitch in time saves nine.” I had learnt not to waste ammunition on hitting the tail of a snake rather spend it on its head (earliest symptoms). You should not donate a square meter of your land to a thief, otherwise he may claim the whole of it. Learn to deal decisively with the earliest symptoms of probablems.

Covid-19 infection and the rest of the symptoms will fall in line. We should not waste precious time waiting for reagents from afar to detect and kill a snake in our house yet we have local remedies to manage it, otherwise we may die of snake poison. We have a Kumam saying, ebela atie ka bor lia neko tuoll (meaning a stick at a distant place cannot be relied on to kill a snake).

Surprisingly, I found it easier to manage probable Covid-19 symptoms by external cooling than influenza symptoms; perhaps considering the fact that Covid-19 does not inflame the nasal mucus membrane, cause mucosal edema and congest the nose like flu usually does. Hence, I was able to resolve this probable Covid-19 illness within three to four days by external cooling unlike influenza that would usually take me five to six days.

I will take an antigen test to confirm my seropositive status without having to rob a bank to buy an expensive PCR test. It is instinctive to kill the snake before taking time to identify its species, especially when resources for inspection are scarce. External cooling entails exposure of appropriate body surfaces to cool ambient air; it cripples the hallmark symptom of illness such as fever, by keeping it at low feverish levels.

Ronald Eporu,
[email protected]