Vietnam, with a population of 96 million, has 840 cases and 11 deaths.

Cambodia, with 15.2 million, has 248 cases and no deaths.

Among every Asian nation, these two countries with significantly less resources than the United States thwarted the coronavirus. (U.S. GDP is $67,426 per capita, compared to $2,740 in Vietnam and $1,614 in Cambodia.)

To a degree, you can blame politics. Vietnam is a socialist republic and Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy.

The bigger story is what they did.

Because of their experience with SARS in 2003 and the subsequent avian flu, Vietnam and Cambodia were prepared. The countries were experienced with epidemics.

History books will say that both countries acted early and fought the coronavirus with multiple tactics. These included contact tracing to three degrees of separation, empowering citizens to report suspected cases via a mobile app, exposure risks regardless of symptoms, extensive quarantining, mask wearing, and social distancing.

Is it too late for the U.S., if federal or state leadership has the willpower, to adopt and adapt some of those tactics to work here?

With fears of coronavirus infections gripping older Americans who are typically responsible for checking voters in and out of polling locations, communities across the country are asking high school students and young adults to embrace civic engagement and gain education credits. Poll workers can be as young as 16.

Lawyers, teachers, and other professionals who have the time and inclination are also asked to step up.

In the 2018 midterm elections, six of 10 U.S. poll workers were over age 60. That’s an indication of the importance. If there are less workers, there will be longer lines to get into polling locations. Understaffed locations may have to close.

Here are some quotes from seven states…

Maryland:

“We need 39,870 people for Election Day and early voting, and we don’t have anywhere near that. We have 13,021 vacant positions, 32% statewide… The hardest thing that we have to do in any election is to recruit election judges. And in this year, it’s impossible.”

– David Garreis, president of Maryland Association of Election Officials

Georgia:

“We lost poll workers. One, they didn’t want to take their health at risk. They weren’t sure about the protections that would be offered to them. And many of our poll workers that are traditionally poll workers are older. And that’s a health issue, but we also have new machines, and the technology is scary for some people.”

– Gayla Keesee, voter services chair for the League of Women Voters

Wisconsin:

“If you are a state, county or municipal employee, a teacher, a student or someone who is looking for temporary work, municipal clerks need you to step up and help right now.”

– Meagan Wolfe, elections director

North Carolina:

“When we don’t have enough workers, that’s when we get lines, and so trying to prepare ahead of time for people dropping out is something that we’re trying to do.”

– Sara Knotts, Brunswick County election director

Massachusetts:

“I believe that where there is chaos, there’s also opportunity, and this could be an opportunity for young people to understand that the baton must be passed.”

– Liz Miranda, State Representative

Texas:

“The pandemic has exacerbated challenges around financial stability, physical and mental health and family responsibilities for young people, as for everyone else… But for those who have the time and ability to volunteer, the process is relatively easy and has few requirements. In addition, almost all poll workers are compensated for their work, although the amount depends on your state and local jurisdiction.”

– Maya Patel, voting rights activist

Ohio:

“Now it’s time for those who have not participated in the past, it’s their turn to step up and administer democracy and make sure we all have a fair and efficient election.”

– Sherry Poland, Hamilton County election director

The Denver Broncos are the latest owners of a “misting booth” to disinfect players with a nontoxic spray. When players walk through the booth, resembling X-ray machines in government buildings, they get misted.

Shared on the NFL team’s Twitter page, the gut reaction was disbelief.

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist: “This is not a real public health intervention. This is coronavirus response theater.”

Annie Roth, a science journalist: “We gotta stop normalizing this. Dousing your body in disinfectants does nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19 and is bad for your health. Just social distance, wear a mask and wash your hands.”

Gabriel Roth, Slate podcaster: “This is bound to keep the virus out! As long as it never tries to hide INSIDE the human body.”

About 750 miles southwest in Las Vegas, you can observe a “opti-clean cube” at a construction site.

Using a dry mist, employees and site visitors walk into the box and get sprayed before they’re allowed on the property.

On the other side of the country in Detroit, a start-up company built a $20,000 machine that’s being installed at restaurants. The inventors want it deployed in public buses and trains.

The idea is you enter a booth while wearing a mask, your temperature is taken, and the computer tells you if your mask is fit properly. Then, you get free sanitizer and a body mist.

Who said the virus can be fought with a mister?

It’s reminiscent of someone who said that drinking bleach can kill the virus.

When will economic sectors — from professional sports teams to industry to commerce and others — recognize that disinfecting your exterior body with a spray is meaningless?

If the virus wanted to get inside, it already did that.

“To some American companies… COVID-19 is apparently a war that will be won through antimicrobial blasting, to ensure that pathogens are banished from every square inch of America’s surface area.”

– Derek Thompson, The Atlantic. July 27, 2020

Another thing: If it’s proven that these misters do work in warding off the coronavirus, then shouldn’t hospitals, healthcare clinics, school buildings, and child care centers be the first users of the technology?

If it’s effective, then why should the Denver Broncos use it and not the Denver Public School system? Money shouldn’t be an issue because companies should be willing to donate them to schools.

Unrelated to that kind of mister, here’s the official video for one of the greatest songs of the 1980s: Mr. Mister performing Broken Wings.

The #1 symptom of COVID-19 infection, evident in about 88% of patients, is a fever over 100.4 (F) degrees. This is usually accompanied with a dry cough and fatigue.

Less common symptoms, according to the WHO, include body aches and pains, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell, skin rash, or discoloration of fingers or toes.

Some people get infected with mild symptoms. Others experience gradual progression.

About 80% of infected patients recover without hospitalization. The virus doesn’t care about a person’s age; and people of all ages have become seriously ill and/or died.

This blog post is in memory of 670,000+ residents of Planet Earth, including over 150,000 Americans, who died from the coronavirus. May they rest in peace.

Ask a child for his or her favorite hero and you’re likely to hear Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Black Panther, the Hulk, Elsa, Leia, or Harry Potter. Maybe someone else.

Ask an adult for his or her favorite hero and you’re likely to hear the same.

Once a hero, always a hero.

The pandemic introduced a new crop of heroes. They don’t wear capes and they don’t have superhuman strengths but they stand united in their willingness and passion to get the job done.

I saw a sign during a recent neighborhood walk.

I used to see these thank you signs everywhere during the initial weeks of the pandemic when nearly everyone stayed home.

Now that the economy is reopening and non-essential workers are returning to their workplaces, there are less signs and less universal awareness of our pandemic heroes.

First responders and healthcare workers are continually thanked.

What about postal workers, bank employees, grocery staff, and delivery drivers? What of school teachers, nannies, food prep workers, and janitors?

I want to believe that everyone listed, and everyone who should be listed, is (still) a hero and worthy of our continued honor and appreciation. I want to believe that their essential contribution to society is more relevant today than yesterday.

It’s great that California pledged support to essential workers, and that Massachusetts sued rideshare companies for its drivers to be classified as employees. I want to see other feel-good stories pop up around the U.S. and the world as government leaders treat essential heroes with respect. The White House should bail out child care, for instance, to the same intensity as it gave billions to airlines. Child care workers are also heroes.

If we remove heroes from the list, we begin to accept a life without a killer coronavirus. We can’t back down. We have to remain as vigilant today as we did during the early days. We must protect our heroes so that they remain heroes until we don’t need them anymore.

“People have their opinion about my reaction to things. I consider myself more a realist than an alarmist,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci on CNN.

I know what he means. I’m also a realist. I accept life for what it is.

To me, the glass is neither half-full nor half-empty; instead, the glass is merely filled with water and it probably tastes refreshing. I believe that my actions and perceptions are based on the sum of my experiences. If I can’t use my own resources to solve a problem, then I assume the problem cannot be solved. (That rarely occurs as I find solutions to nearly everything.)

Political scientists affirm that realism plays a part in pandemic survival.

“The virus quickly spread across the globe through all levels and sectors of society from nursing homes to aircraft carriers. The pandemic has truly left no place to hide, though sheltering in place has been one attempt to do so.”

“Perhaps it is not surprising that realism now is benefitting from a revival of sorts: first, as a response to the conditions of global complexity and precarity that preceded and contributed to the COVID-19 crisis, and now to the crisis itself.”

– E-International Relations, June 2020

It can be argued that the only way for a country, state, or community to protect its citizenry and defeat the virus is through self-reliance, a key tenet of realism.

“How states responded and continue to respond to the pandemic turned out to be textbook realism. While occasionally paying lip service to regional and international cooperation, the defining characteristic… has been self-help. This is evident from militarization of borders, to the quest for artificial respirators.”

– The Jerusalem Post, March 2020

As government mandates and business guidelines are enacted on the importance of wearing masks, the benefits of social distancing, the hygiene of hand washing, and other science-based measures to fight the virus, I don’t think it’s helpful to be overly optimistic or pessimistic.

Either you accept the science and believe people who share scientific evidence — or you don’t believe them. If the latter, please be safe.