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By: Jack Buchanan

Suddenly we are faced with very challenging times. It’s surreal.  It’s like a bad dream or a frightening movie. We can hardly believe what we are experiencing.  What happened?  How did the world get blindsided by such a treacherous and destructive enemy that just seemed to have come out of nowhere?

This article is just the beginning of the conversation.  The world needs to know the truth, beyond a reasonable doubt, of what actually happened.  There is no room here for “alternative facts” or “some version of the truth.”  As Sergeant Friday of the old TV series, Dragnet, used to say, “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts.”

It is not our purpose here to assess blame.  We will leave that to others. It is our purpose as lawyers, carefully trained in the skill of finding the truth, to conduct this discovery with the utmost of skill and impartiality, as our contribution to the wellbeing of others.  We know, without exaggeration, that if this Covid-19 enemy was a little more powerful in its potency, contagiousness, durability and resistance to treatment, it could literally wipe out the entire human races in very short order.  As it is, it could very well be more destructive to human life and health than a nuclear attack on many of the cities of our world.

So, let us begin as if we were retained by a client to find out what happened here. How did the world get blindsided so quickly and completely that thousands of people will die within months and almost all of the economies of the world will be shut down for weeks or months resulting in some degree of financial devastation to all of them?  How did our great sophisticated powers get blindsided so tragically by this enemy?  That is what this story is all about.

At this point, we are just beginning our discovery. All we can start with is the obvious and uncontroverted facts.

Covid-19 is the disease caused by the virus SARS-Co V2 identified in December 2019. Covid-19 appears to be a  much more potent form of coronavirus whose family also includes SARS-Co V, the virus that caused SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) identified in 2003, and MERS-Co V,  the virus that caused MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome”) identified in 2012.

The most important things we know for sure right now about Covid-19 is that it is stealthy and extremely contagious, spreading from one human being to another through respiratory droplets usually from coughing, sneezing, discharge from the nose, saliva or touching something that an infected person touched. It is stealthy in that it can be spread by an infected person without obvious symptoms. It is also extremely potent in that it can cause death in persons of all ages in a very short period of time.  There is no vaccine to prevent it and no medication to cure it at this time. If you contract the disease, you are essentially left to your own immune system to fight it off.

Right now, the only practical remedy is prevention – staying away from people who are infected. Because it is a stealthy disease that can be passed by people without symptoms and we have no real practical test to screen large populations quickly, the only way to remain healthy and prevent the spread of the disease is to remain isolated from each other by at least six feet or wear protective clothing such as an effective face mask and gloves.  For medical people treating those ill with Covid-19, much more effective protective clothing is an absolute must.

Despite the political controversy, there is no question that separating people from each other by at least six feet is the only effective way right now to keep people from contracting the Covid-19 virus and continuing its rapid spread and high death rate throughout our populations.  Governments, who are responsible to protect the health and safety of their citizens, have no remedy right now without adequate screening tests, other than to mandate sheltering in place, wearing masks and gloves, and staying six feet apart.

Next week we will examine when these isolation restrictions can be safely lifted so that people can return to a relatively normal way of life and economies can return to relatively normal operations.

In the meantime, we invite our readers to contribute reliable and relevant evidence, as discussed in our article “The Truth Matters,” so we can bring to you as accurately as possible the absolute truth that this extremely important subject requires.