An epidemic upends routine See Routine, Page 3C

An oversized Teddy bear wore a surgical mask, matching the mask the woman holding it wore. Sharply dressed stewardesses covered their smiles with face masks designed to block viruses. Some wore masks over their nose and mouth. Others wore them as necklaces.

Most, like us, wore none. The longer we waited at the airport terminal, the more the masks disappeared.

Before boarding the plane, passengers shuffled past medical personnel.

They motioned us to stand in front of a huge screen that read body temperatures. Our body colors said “no fever.” The doctor approved our boarding the plane.

That was 17 years ago during the SARS epidemic that severely affected countries around the Pacific Ocean. Those countries contained its spreading with similar measures taken at every airport and bus stop we entered during our trip to a wedding in Indonesia.

With SARS headlines grabbing attention, folks asked if we still planned to go. Absolutely — with precautions. We bought and packed face masks. Still it astounded me to meet health personnel at the terminals. A man waved a thermometer in front of our foreheads — never touching the skin — before we boarded a bus in Taiwan. We received papers tracking every place we went. The smell of antiseptic saturated airports.

We traveled in the cleanest, most sanitized public transportation ever. Every flight began with an explanation of the process for cleaning the plane and fumigating it after the previous flight had disembarked.

Yes, people got sick in that region of the world. Many died from the respiratory virus SARS. The health measures kept SARS from spreading.

We arrived home healthy, carrying a sheaf of medical papers tracking our travel and medical condition at each airport and bus station. Measures taken at the ports of entry and departure impressed me. Every person had to be checked.

Sitting at home before we left, I had questioned the whole SARS scare. Afterwards, I smiled at the dichotomy of medical checks of passengers wearing masks as necklaces. Still we arrived home on time and free of the disease.

So, during this time of sheltering at home from the coronavirus, I weigh both sides of the issue. It seems extreme to close down so many events and facilities. I questioned the necessity until I read that hospitals overflowed in Italy and doctors agonize over difficult triage decisions.

I wondered about the consequences of lengthy closings of schools and activities until I recalled an epidemic of hepatitis when I was in grade school. At that time in our small school of 400 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, the principal issued daily list of absentees. Usually the list of absentees measured an couple inches. As students stayed home, the list grew and my teacher commented on the growing number of absentees.

“It’s gone into the second column today,” she said one morning. That day school dismissed early and stayed closed until the incubation period ended. My parents had no problem keeping us busy — we lived on a farm.

This month we have seen grocery stores stripped of paper products, canned goods and frozen foods while the shipping industry continues to work night and day delivering fresh supplies to restock the shelves.

We have stayed home and used soap and water. Hindsight is always 20-20 for what we should have done. Masks, check-ups and closing schools, seem extreme until I recall it stopped the hepatitis epidemic at school and the SARS epidemic in the Pacific countries from spreading. Something to consider as we wait for the official “all clear” to sound.