Do Not F.E.A.R. (False Evidence Appearing Real) the COVID-19 Disease

How It All Began
The first outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first recorded in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China, in December, 2019.¹ It is believed that the novel coronavirus, which has caused the global pandemic, originated from bats and certain intermediary carriers, before infecting humans. With a populace of around 11 million people, Wuhan is one of the most densely populated cities in Central China. 

The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan is believed to be where the viral outbreak first transpired. There were exotic meats being sold at this market, which include koalas, crocodiles, wolf puppies and peacocks.²    Huanan market is one of many wet markets found across South East Asia. Many times these markets are full of exotic live animals, livestock, seafood, fruits and vegetables; a lot of ice is used for preservation and the melted ice is used to clean away the blood of butchered animals on the market floors. These markets are usually unhygienic and suitable environments for transmitting viruses and entertaining diseases.

“The consumption of wild animals, especially wild mammals, which can carry diseases that can cross the species barrier, does pose a real threat to human health. It’s hard to tell whether these animals are taken from the wild legally or not, some of them could have been smuggled in and then sold on these wet markets…But, these kinds of wild foods are considered something of a luxury.”
(Statements from Adam Peyman, wildlife manager for the animal welfare organisation, Humane Society International)

But, why bats?

A recent study published in early February of this year, conducted at the University of California, in the United States of America, reveals that bats have a highly adaptive immune system.  It keeps the bats unaffected by many deadly viruses, but poses a threat (as a carrier of multiple genetically stronger viruses) to humans, particularly.  The experiments and model helped reveal that the bats’ defenses may have a potential downside for other animals, including humans. In both the bat species’ cells that were sampled, the strongest antiviral responses were countered by the virus spreading more quickly from cell to cell. This suggests that bat immune defenses may drive the evolution of faster transmitting viruses, and while bats are well protected from the harmful effects of their own prolific viruses, other creatures like humans are not.³

Additionally, bats have a signaling protein called interferon-alpha, which is triggered in response to viral infection of a cell. This interferon protein is a distress signal which alerts all the surrounding cells to become defensive and enter an anti-viral state. The irony is though the interferon signaling system hinders the ability for the virus to kill cells; the virus adapts and evolves to counter. According to Cara Brooks of the University of California, “This suggests that having a really robust interferon system would help these viruses persist within the host. When you have a higher immune response, you get these cells that are protected from infection, so the virus can actually ramp up its replication rate without causing damage to its host. But when it spills over into something like a human, we don’t have those same sorts of antiviral mechanism, and we could experience a lot of pathology.” ³

Furthermore, bats have a unique ability to reduce excessive inflammation within them while hosting a multiple number of viruses that are pathogenic to humans. Scientists have yet to identify the reason behind this.⁴

COVID-19 Disease Won’t Kill Millions

Professor Isaiah Arkin, a Biochemist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has revealed through his research that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 won’t kill millions as estimated. “This is not going to kill humanity. This is a disease that mostly afflicts the elderly, not that one does not care about the elderly. But to people that are not classified as elderly, [COVID-19] generates a respiratory tract infection that is not very severe, and most people have very mild symptoms.

So the fact that you have a 2 percent or 3 percent mortality rate — that number is driven upwards by the fact that the elderly are far more susceptible to it. You’re not going to see millions upon millions of people dying. That’s not going to take place.”   Professor Arkin further adds, “The two staple viruses that we have studied for close to two decades are influenza and SARS. We have characterized several important components in these viruses. And to our amazement, this new virus, which is now called SARS Coronavirus 2, is incredibly similar to SARS Coronavirus 1 that was responsible for the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003 [which killed 774 people worldwide]. Now we can harness all of the expertise and knowledge that we had, to try to find inhibitors to this virus, which is precisely what we’re doing.The biggest problem that we don’t know [relates to] what we classify as asymptomatic people. An asymptomatic person is someone who’s carrying the virus, who might actually be infectious, but doesn’t realize that he or she is carrying the virus. And that’s an issue. The reason that they were able to prevent that sort of infection in China is curfew. Curfews are effective. In China, there have been very, very few new cases in the last few weeks.” ⁵  

Boost Your Immune System: Natural Defense Against Viral Invasion

According to Dr. Kerry Laing, a research scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, the human immune system has several cell mechanisms that kill and combat viral cell invasion. These include cytotoxic cells, interferons, and antibodies that execute two effective processes known as agglutination and phagocytosis.⁶

Even though there isn’t any cure as of recent to COVID-19, the good news is that there are more recoveries than deaths worldwide. Professor Arkin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, further stated to The Times of Israel in his interview, ‘…the mortality rate [of COVID-19] is close to four percent…One of the limiting factors, as you know, has been the availability of tests…If we had a test that could be administered to every every individual, then we would have an immediate answer. We don’t. And that’s the problem…. There have been 56,000 people in China, out of 80,000 that have recovered completely. So, this is not as bad of a killer…” ⁵    

This is good news. This diminishes the fear being propagated through mainstream media. My honest suggestion to everyone reading this article is to boost your immune system. Eat citric fruits, eat green leafy vegetables; get an adequate dose of sunlight and/or fresh, clean air. Avoid red meat and white meats as much as possible. Drink a lot of fresh, clean water. Have adequate hours of sleep. Keep your living spaces and environment as clean as possible. Stay away from crowded places. Follow these and you should be fine.

Start a home vegetable garden to supplement food supplies as the next few months might bring a food shortage in supermarkets due to the halt in food production and industries.

Never Fear: God is STILL here (FOR NOW)
Herman Melville (1819-1891), the American novelist who wrote the famous Moby-Dick novel, once said, “Ignorance is the parent of fear.”   In other words, fear is the emotional result of ignorance and unpreparedness of a sudden event or calamity.

In conclusion, here are a few admonitions from the Bible; in Proverbs 22:3, the Bible says, ‘A prudent (wise, tactful, strategic) man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.’
Also, in 1 John 4:18, the Bible assures, ‘There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth has not been made perfect in love.’  A God-fearing person should not have fear because the Bible gives us insight as to what is happening in the world. God has not left us alone dear friends. Life is still being granted by God; He did not give us this coronavirus. He gave us green leafy veggies, fruits, nuts and grains for food. But humanity has sought all sort of weird persuasions to satisfy unquenchable curiosity in all sorts of foods. Our immune systems are weak since we are not replenishing vitamins and minerals that our bodies need (available in healthy, wholesome and natural foods) and we have forsaken our acknowledgement and respect for the Source of all life; the Creator God. Wake up dear people, while the door of mercy and grace-period is still available. This COVID-19 is just the beginning of alarms to awaken the world. Your breath is a God-given gift. Take time to return gratitude and appreciation to the one who grants it ever so freely. Don’t let the environment and people you interact with dictate your mood and attitude; Harness the Spirit of encouragement and energy given through the pages and words of the Bible, and live a purpose-driven life – influential, and edify others. Never Fear, the King of the Universe is still in control overall.

References

1. World Health Organization. Emergencies preparedness, response. Novel coronavirus – Republic of Korea (ex-China). Disease outbreak news 21 January 2020 (https://www.who.int/csr/don/21-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-republic-of-korea-exchina/en/, accessed 11 February 2020).
2. (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10810161/where-is-wuhan-coronavirus-china/) 
3. Cara E Brook Is a corresponding author, Mike Boots, Kartik Chandran, Andrew P Dobson, Christian Drosten, Andrea L Graham, Bryan T Grenfell, Marcel A Müller, Melinda Ng, Lin-Fa Wang, Anieke van Leeuwen., ‘Accelerated viral dynamics in bat cell lines, with implications for zoonotic emergence’, eLife, https://elifesciences.org/articles/48401, eLife 2020; 9:e48401          DOI: 10.7554/eLife.48401
4. Ahn, M., Anderson, D.E., Zhang, Q. et al. Dampened NLRP3-mediated inflammation in bats and implications for a special viral reservoir host. Nat Microbiol 4, 789–799 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0371-3
5. David Horovitz, ‘Israeli scientist: You’re not going to see millions of people die from COVID-19’, The Times of Israel, 18 March 2020,https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientist-youre-not-going-to-see-millions-of-people-die-from-covid-19/
6. Kerry Laing, ‘Immune Responses to Viruses’, Fred Hutchinson Cancer research Centre, Seattle Washington, published on the British Society for Immunology website, https://www.immunology.org/public-information/bitesized-immunology/pathogens-and-disease/immune-repsonses-viruses