Once again, our world is facing the horrific scourge of a highly infectious, lethal disease. One of the trademarks of our modern culture in the last century has been the spread of these kinds of diseases. Jesus said that this would be one of the signs of the final generation before He returns. Read Matthew 24:7 and Luke 21:11.
In my lifetime our world has been plagued with Mad Cows Disease, Avian Flu, Sars, HIV (Aids), and Ebola. One of the most lethal of all pandemics was the Spanish Flu in 1918. This disease killed at least 100 million people around the world. That was about 5 percent of the global population.
One of the reasons why the coronavirus is so dangerous is because of its’ highly infections rate. The contagious rate of this disease is one reason why we must all do our part to limit our social contacts (keeping a distance of at least 6 feet away from others).
This is a new disease. The human body does not have any immunity with which to resist this disease. Therefore, the entire global population is at risk. It is estimated that 70 percent of the global population will contract this disease. The disease attacks the respiratory system. Therefore, the death rate among the elderly and others with respiratory issues is much higher. It is believed that the morality rate of this disease is about 3 percent. Therefore, that means that about 155 million people will die from this disease.
We are being told that this virus may be with us for more than a year until a vaccination is found and produced in enough quantities that we can vaccinate the global population. Until that time comes the only course we have is to slow the contagious rate down by limiting our social contacts. In some cases, this will require us to make great sacrifices to self-quarantine ourselves to limit the spread of the virus.
Some people are not taking this virus seriously because they do not feel personally threatened. This virus is not usually fatal to people less than 60 years old. However, that is a very selfish approach to helping the world deal with this threatening disease. The fear is that if the coronavirus cases multiply too fast it will overwhelm our medical system. That would mean that there would not be enough facilities and equipment to help all those who develop the pneumonia like symptoms. Therefore, this would push the morality rate even higher. Let us look at it in a personal way. What if you do not limit your social contacts? You can contract this virus but not have any symptoms for 3-5 days. Data suggests you will probably come in contact with about 250 people during the time of your incubation of the disease. Therefore, you will have infected 250 people and about 7 of them will die. Do you want to be responsible for that?
The Bible tells us that we are to think more about the welfare of others than we do about ourselves. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4). Your life and the lives of others are very important. Life is more important than things or wealth. As believers in Jesus Christ we are sending a message to the world about life and death.
As the Scriptures command us, let us pray for our government leaders. Read 1Timothy 2:2. Pray that they will have wisdom to guide us through this difficult time. We need to obey them. Read Romans 13:1-7.