Be Your Own Crisis Management Leader - COVID-19 in 2020

After many years of being a single Mom, I have learned a thing or two about how to manage things in the middle of a crisis.  After managing through numerous hurricanes and other weather related issues, as well as terrorist threats and other threatening situations, I really do feel that I have learned a thing or two over my 50 years on this planet.  What I remind myself to do EVERY SINGLE TIME, is to gather all of the information I can quickly, calmly and diligently, use both my brain and my gut instincts on the appropriate set of actions I should take.   I never wait for the government, my friends, my employer, the school district, or anyone else to tell me what I should and should not do.  I try to stay one step ahead of that, I am always prepared in advance.  This approach has served me well.

Now that we here in Houston find ourselves in the beginning of this COVID-19 crisis, I would like to share with you what I myself have done so far.

During the month of February, I kept up to date on what was going on abroad mostly by reading maybe a few articles each day on Twitter by the News Channels that I follow who regularly post stories on important current events.  By Sunday March 1st I started getting the sense of how serious the situation had gotten so I started following it more closely.  All week long I would watch the local news channels as well as the press conferences being held by the Emergency Management team in our County. 

As the first cases of the virus in our area were announced I had a hunch that we were given a bit of a false confidence vibe because the only people infected so far were these dozen or people that all took a trip to Egypt together.  After a few days of them trying to reassure us, that they had them contained and quarantined, facts and details about this original group started coming out from other sources.  It was apparent to me that the leaders I was watching on TV were not telling the public the entire truth.  Reporters started to press and they let it me known that they knew more than they were willing to tell the public.

I got very little sleep Wednesday night, because I became instinctively but appropriately worried.  It was Thursday, March 5th around lunchtime, when my motherly instincts and God given common sense started to kick in.  I started obsessively researching, reading every article and watching every video and news story that I could find on line.  I started putting two and two together all during the afternoon.   Dr. Oz was talking about the science of it all and unlike our politicians, I have always been very confident that I can trust what he says.    I started reading articles from other states, like Washington, California, and New York at this point.

My list of concerns in my brain based on the information I had gathered from many different sources, began to grow throughout that day......#1.  most young healthy people have no symptoms, so those people are infecting others without even knowing.  #2.  if this was spread to our area by a group that was traveling, what about everyone else who is traveling.  it is Spring Break in a lot of areas and practically everyone we know is off having fun somewhere.  #3  if this virus is brand new, there is no way they can have enough tests to test everyone.  why isn't anyone talking about that?   #4.  our health care system does not have extra capacity to handle something like this.  Even with no crisis going on, I have waited weeks to get into see my doctor.

So when I got home on Thursday evening, I immediately convinced my fiance that the time was now for us to begin taking some action.  At first he looked at me like I was nuts, but I eventually got him to understand why.  I just knew I would feel and sleep a little better if we accomplished some practical steps to be prepared. 

I began talking to my 16 year old daughter about how the virus is spread.  I told her that I did not want her going to school on Friday.  It was the last day before Spring Break anyway, so she probably wouldn't miss much.    She mentioned that a girl at her school had just returned from Italy and that this somehow came up in conversation at the school.  Apparently one thing lead to another and she supposedly was asked to leave the campus and stay away for 14 days.  Now this could be a rumor?  I have no idea.  But, we never received any kind of notification from the school and they are typically very good about letting us know what is going on.  Didn't matter, the past is the past.  My focus was on my kid.  She was not going to go to school nor was she going to be allowed around anyone else until we have more information on what is going on. 

Thursday night around 8:00PM, my fiance and I went to Walmart and the grocery store.  His eyes kept getting bigger and bigger as I loaded two carts full of necessary items that we use all the time.  I am one of those people who hate crowds and I really hate going to the store anyway, so I typically stock up on paper goods and all kinds of items that I use regularly so that I only have to go to the store a few times a year.  I kept assuring him that this was not a waste of money, it was just pre-spending on things that we would use anyway in the coming weeks and months.

By Monday of the following week, March 9th I formally learned the term Social Distancing.  I had already began discussing with my daughter and fiance that this is what we needed to do.  We need to spend the next 2-4 weeks coming into contact with as few of people as possible.  We needed to have enough supplies of medicines, food, water, ice, paper products etc, that if the three of us did not leave the house for a whole month, we would be just fine.  So by the end of the day Monday, we had a freezer full of meat, lots of groceries and a good stock pile of soaps and other toiletry items that the three of us use regularly.  To me it wasn't panic buying.  This is something I have done for years anyway just as a time management tactic to try to limit the number of trips I have to take to the store.  I actually had not stocked up since October, so it was a good excuse to do so anyway.

So yesterday, March 10th, I watched several hours of the live twitter feed from the Texas House Committee Public Health hearing and all of my initial concerns that have been brewing in my  mind from last week were confirmed one by one.  They had doctors and other experts from our community publicly stating that the supply of tests is extremely small and not enough to test everyone who needs one.  There has been discussions of a containment strategy....the idea of cancelling large events and closing schools.  But it seems that the government at all levels is reluctant to make decisions like this. 

The biggest concern for our area seems to be that our medical system does not have the capacity or supplies to respond effectively to this public health crisis.  If a surge of infected people spikes like it did in China and Italy, our health care system will become extremely overwhelmed. 

I am not sure why, but it has been almost 24 hours since those public hearings ended and I am not hearing much from the media or our government about the concerns and what they are doing about addressing and resolve the major issues we are facing.  We seem to be in a holding pattern and a CYA mode.  The main message they have been relying on these last two days, is about hand washing.  Meanwhile this virus is spreading all over our country like wildfire.

In the meantime, in my home. I am committed to my own containment and preparedness strategy.  Some have called me paranoid and my own mother and daughter think I am ridiculous right about now.  But at this point, I do not care.  I HAVE to do what is best for me and my family.  Period.  I will unapologetically do that every time in every scenario.   I have been minimizing my contact with other humans on the planet.  I am assuming that EVERYONE has the virus and the three of us might have it too.  My daughter will not attend school anytime soon. And we have enough supplies to stay put for atleast a month or more.  I will continue to manage this crisis for myself and my family while staying calm and alert as new developments and challenges are on the horizon.

I know that I can't completely control this situation we are facing.  But whatever happens, I know that I am going to continue to do my best every single day.  I wish everyone good luck and success in crisis management in your world.  God always takes care of us and yes I am a believer.  However, he also gave us our ears, our minds and our own instincts.  He expects us to use all of these gifts that He has given us.

With all my love and prayers,

H-Town Mom
March 11, 2020