VIRUS – a Buntingford Karate Club Guide

Hi Folks. So, here we are with a Corona Virus outbreak which (in my opinion) has been blown out of all proportion. If we look at the figures for “ordinary” influenza (the flu) which circulates the world yearly, going through seasonal cycles, then globally between 290,000 and 650,000 people die each year due to Flu.

The Corona virus has come no-where near that mark and yet the press/media, Governments, and the World Health Organisation are in a panic over it . They don’t do that with the Flu.

Having made this point, all virus and bacteria types are nasty and make us feel terrible if we contract them – such as the common cold. Did you know for example that when Europeans went to America they gave the common cold to the First Nations People, who then died in their thousands because the common cold had never existed in America before the coming of the white man?

So, some facts: When you cough you expel water droplets containing germs at around 50 Miles Per Hour (MPH). You expel between 2000 to 5000 of these droplets over approximately a five foot radius (two and a half metres). When you sneeze this gets worse – you sneeze around 100,000 droplets at around 100 MPH.

I must ask you therefore, that if you feel ill, and are coughing or sneezing (Corona virus or the common cold – or anything in between) that you STAY AWAY FROM THE KARATE CLUB until you are better. I, for one, do not want your infectious disease, and I’m sure that no-one else in the club does either! If you do not have an illness but feel the need to cough or sneeze please do so into the elbow of your gi if you cannot get to a handkerchief in time.

Sensei Bill.