Fighting Off the Flu - The Patriot Post

Every four-year-old knows the official coronavirus drill by now.

Wash your hands often, cover your coughs and sneezes and don’t touch your face.

And also practice “social distancing,” stay away from large crowds and especially stay away from those who are most likely to die if they catch the virus — the very old and the already weak or very sick.

That’s always been excellent advice for everyone to follow during any “normal” flu season, which for decades has been killing tens of thousands of us each year without media fanfare or public panic.

But the coronavirus is a scary new flu that threatens the health of millions of people around the world.

In two weeks it has shut down most of the social and economic life in our country and many others.

To slow its spread and “flatten the curve” so that hospitals and medical facilities aren’t overwhelmed and unable to treat its victims, we’ve had to close schools, restaurants, arenas and even beaches and golf courses.

The coronavirus is a global pandemic, a national emergency, but it’s not the end of the world.

Thousands of brilliant scientists around the world are working feverishly to come up with a vaccine — which will probably happen faster than everyone thinks.

Until the danger of contracting the coronavirus passes, I think the best way to make sure you don’t get it is to become as healthy as you can, so that you don’t get it in the first place.

I can’t remember when I last had the regular flu, which is a good thing because I’m a 75-year-old guy with some serious underlying medical conditions.

I may still catch the coronavirus, but for years I’ve been taking good care of myself and doing things to improve my chances of fighting the flu.

To build up my immune system, each day I take Emergen.C and Counter Attack, supplements that give me heavy doses of Vitamin C and other antioxidants and B Vitamins.

To keep my body strong, I exercise regularly. I work out in the gym three or four days a week. I walk the dog around the block for half an hour. I play golf — when the courses are open.

My resting heart rate is 41, which is an athlete’s number, and I’m proud to report I have the bone density of a 30-year-old.

Being in decent physical condition matters. It definitely saved my life five years ago, when I had two strokes, quadruple bypass surgery and a pacemaker installed in my chest.

These days it’s not hard for someone to find ways to exercise, even when confined to your own home.

The SilverSneakers fitness program has a workout for seniors on Facebook and you can find all kinds of workouts on Google, which is what my wife and daughter stream on our TV.

Meanwhile, here in LA my wife Colleen and I have been waiting it out in our house.

We’re staying as isolated as possible, having no contact with our grand kids, watching news reports about college yahoos defying the rules and partying on the Florida beaches — and not fixing blame on President Trump for anything.

Actually, God bless the president.

It doesn’t matter what you think of him personally or if you don’t like everything he’s said or done regarding the coronavirus.

If other countries had followed his example and shut down flights from China in January, there likely would be no worldwide pandemic.

So if you want to point the finger of blame in the right direction, point it right at China.

That’s where the coronavirus came from, and that’s where the communist regime tried to keep it secret for so long.

It’s really pretty simple — China lied and people died.

And now our lives — and our country — will never be the same.

The Patriot Post® · Fighting Off the Flu