Episode 66: My Thoughts on the Covid-19 Virus

Show Notes

00:00

Hey all Robert Cairns here today in this special podcast, I want you to sit back and relax. And I wanted to talk about the Coronavirus or COVID-19, as it’s now called an impact on the workplace entrepreneurship, and more. So grab your favorite drink. And let’s have a bit of a chat.

00:34

Hey, all Rob Karen’s here. I’m a CEO and Chief creator of amazing ideas that stunning digital marketing. I hope you’re all doing well today. Today I want to talk about a topic that’s high in the news, and I want to talk off top of my head, having lived it when we had SARS, and that’s COVID-19 or the Coronavirus. During the time at SARS. I actually worked in healthcare. I was at a hospital that had to trauma SARS clinic, and I provided the IT support for that clinic. So I understand a little bit about the ramifications of what’s gone on. COVID-19 are better known as Coronavirus, has become a major issue. We have issues in South Korea, Italy, Iran, certainly China. And I would suspect we have major resolution, major issues in North Korea. We’ll never know because the North Korean government is pretty secretive. But that’s just my thought on a multitude of things. So, what can we do to help with the Coronavirus? First of all, the experts have shown that washing your hands is the most important thing. And you don’t need sanitizer for that simple module works really well, folks. So take the time and wash your hands and wash your hands regularly. And by the way after Coronavirus, disappears, keep doing it because it’s good for germ control and disease control. Secondly, let’s really think about places we go. It’s bad enough in Toronto that I ride public transit or water today. And that has an impact on people coughing, people sneezing, we all know transit systems can be a barrier for colds, just be very careful. I don’t know if I would be certainly traveling to Asia or Europe at this point in time, I’d be kind of taking it easy, and avoiding those countries. I don’t even know if I’d be traveling from Canada to certain parts of the US certainly not the West Coast. Certainly not the west coast of Canada, BC sat a bit of a tougher time than Ontario. But that’s, you know, not a bit of a surprise. I would be really careful. If you have any symptoms or you think you have symptoms go to the nearest emergency room. If they tell you they’re self isolate, please do. Don’t be the jerk of a guy that was told to self isolate and draw and rode the transit system for three days risking heat reinfect others. This is potentially a boon for remote workers. One advantage of remote working is you can run your business with zoom for conferencing or go to my meeting, if that’s your choice. You can run with things like teams and, you know Google Hangouts and Skype and tools like that and project management tools online. So you don’t even need to be in the other room. And you can still stay in touch with people through the online world. It’s really interesting. So much so that Microsoft is giving away the paid version of teams for free with the virus out there. And several other companies have done so as well. So think about using those resources to run your businesses at this point in time. As they say I’d minimize air travel. If it wasn’t for dire emergency at this point in time. It’s one of the reasons we’ll stop this virus is if we stopped running across the world. It’s not like 50 years ago where people didn’t travel frequently. Now they do. So think about that. I would also, you know, be very careful around the elderly. Elderly people have a bit of an issue with This virus has to do with the flu. So think about that.

05:04

I also want to applaud some big companies, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Apple. They’ve been taking care of their employees very well, allowing them to work remotely. And they’ve even gone further steps with taking care of contractors, which traditionally they haven’t done. I also came across an article recently that Uber was going to allow their drivers 14 days of paid sick days because of the Coronavirus. Well done on Uber. So there’s a lot of good things coming out of this. In terms of how we’re taking care of it, big gatherings are being canceled. The Formula One race in overseas race number two, in Barry Hahn will be run without a crowd. They’re just going to run a race, the world women’s hockey championship in Canada, in Nova Scotia in Halifax and Toros been canceled. The Antarctic Games has been canceled. And frankly, I think the IOC needs to get off their butt. And think really hard what to do about the Olympics in Japan as you know, health risks to this magnitude are worth two billions of dollars that the IOC can gain and profit from it’s something to think about, you know, and if that’s the Olympic movement, do we really want to support that movement? What we want to do is support companies and people that are socially responsible. So folks, it’s a bit of a segue Take care of yourself, take care of your loved ones. Worry about this. This is real. It’s gonna be a couple months till we get out of this Coronavirus mess. So just, you know, understand support the people involved. I think in Canada, public health has done a really good job though keeping the public informed and you know, frankly, helping out and making sure it’s maintained that sir job and look after you and look after your loved ones. This This will thrive. We just need to get through the humps in the road sometimes. These are some of those songs. As always Rob Karen’s stunning digital marketing the marketing agency for all your needs. And please jump on over to stunning digital marketing comm for to fulfill all your digital marketing needs. And as always, this podcast dedicated to my late father Bruce Cairns keep your feet on the ground, keep reaching for the stars and make your business succeed.