Myth 1: I feel fine now. I don’t need to stay at home.
The symptoms of the coronavirus could take up to 14 days to appear. But by then, you’ll have experienced multiple opportunities to transmit the virus just by being out and about. If you think exposure won’t matter much to you or the Black community at large, read on.
Myth 2: No one I know personally is sick, so I’m safe.
Well, considering the Black community’s challenges accessing affordable quality healthcare, and the harm biases in care can cause, we already pay dearly for other ailments that inflict us. No need to test our luck unnecessarily exposing ourselves to any others.
Of course, there’s one more reason to chill out.
Myth 3: The world is overreacting.
While we are historically justified in our skepticism of Western medicine (for example, it’s been proven that many doctors assume Black patients have a higher pain tolerance than other races), this is paradoxically the best reason to respect early warnings.
We must prevent needless direct contact with a system that, on a good day, misunderstands us and our bodies.
Remember, in spite of these uncertain times, we can practice self-care and community care by keeping our hands washed, practicing social distancing, and being patient as we fight on together!