RECENTLY watching the TV show “Last Week Today” which is hosted by Britisher John Oliver, I saw him answering some questions from his audience. One asked if a person can catch the coronavirus if one ate in Chinese restaurants! Another asked if it was okay to gargle with bleach daily to protect himself from the virus!
I forwarded this to a friend in Hong Kong who found it as hilarious as I did, and he offered his own form of protection. He said he gargles each morning with a little sesame oil and snorts it from one nostril to another. He learned this at an ashram in India which he visits regularly and described it as an Ayurvedic practice that helps prevent respiratory problems.
It certainly makes a lot of sense, especially since sesame oil is readily available in our shops and supermarkets. For some reason, Filipinos don’t seem to use flavor-enhancing sesame oil much when cooking, unlike the Chinese and Thais who use it a lot. And it is not hoarded by many people who have been robbing the public of masks and alcohol everywhere.
With those two important items in short supply (thanks to the hoarders), I saw an online piece showing an Australian man demonstrating how to make a good disinfectant using aloe vera leaves which looked ingenious.
As for masks, folks could use women’s scarves which could surely serve as a kind of filter.
At a time like this when all manner of plagues seem to be raining down on homo sapiens everywhere, perhaps the main thing to do, besides staying home, keeping meters apart from anyone, not hugging or kissing anyone (except cute babies), constantly washing one’s hands, and eating healthily is not to engage in doom and gloom.
Indeed one could adopt the same attitude as that of the late American comedian George Allen who said, “Since I gave up hope, I feel so much better!” (By Isabel T. Escoda, Cebu City )