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Fear of coronavirus pandemic grows

Fears of a coronavirus pandemic have grown after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South Korea but China relaxed restrictions on movements in several places including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased.

The surge of infections outside mainland China triggered steep falls in Asian shares and Wall Street stock futures as investors fled to safe havens such as gold. Oil prices tumbled.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it no longer had a process for declaring a pandemic but the coronavirus outbreak remained an international emergency.

"We are specially concerned about the rapid increase in cases in ... Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Sweden.

South Korea reported a seventh death and 231 new cases taking its total to 833, as its hard-hit fourth-largest city of Daegu became more isolated with Asiana Airlines and Korean Air suspending flights there until next month.

Japan had 773 cases as of late Sunday, mostly on a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo. A third passenger, a Japanese man in his 80s, died on Sunday.

Iran, which announced its first two cases on Wednesday, said it had confirmed 43 cases and eight deaths. Most of the infections were in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom.

More cases appeared in the Middle East with Bahrain reporting its first case, the state news agency said, and Kuwait reporting three cases involving people who had been in Iran.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan imposed travel and immigration restrictions on Iran. But Afghanistan reported its first case on Monday, in the western border province of Herat, again involving someone who had recently been in Iran, officials said.

The WHO has been saying for weeks it dreads the disease reaching countries with weak health systems.

Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy with some 150 infections - from just three before Friday - and a fourth death.

Scientists around the world are scrambling to analyse the virus, but a vaccine is probably more than a year away.

China postponed the annual meeting of its parliament and would ban the illegal trade and consumption of wildlife, state media reported. The virus originated late last year, apparently in an illegal wildlife market in the city of Wuhan.

But in good news for China, more than 20 province-level jurisdictions including Beijing and Shanghai, reported zero infections, the best showing since the outbreak began.

President Xi Jinping urged businesses to get back to work though he said the epidemic was still "severe and complex, and prevention and control work is in the most difficult and critical stage".

Excluding central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, mainland China reported 11 new cases, the lowest since the national health authority started publishing nationwide figures on January 20.

The coronavirus has infected nearly 77,000 people and killed more than 2500 in China, most in Hubei province.

China reported 409 new cases on the mainland, down from 648 a day earlier, taking the total number of infections to 77,150 cases as of February 23. The death toll rose by 150 to 2592.

Xi said on Sunday the outbreak would have a relatively big, but short-term impact on the economy and the government would step up policy adjustments to help cushion the blow.

Outside mainland China, the outbreak has spread to about 29 countries and territories, with a death toll of about two dozen, according to a Reuters tally.

Italy sealed off the worst-affected towns and banned public gatherings in much of the north, including halting the carnival in Venice, where there were two cases.

© AAP 2020

The 'insidious' impact bushfire smoke has on our minds

During the height of the bushfire crisis, when cities and towns became blanketed in a thick smoke, concerns regarding our respiratory health were at the forefront of public conversation.

Although the smoke may have cleared, some experts are warning that bushfire smoke impacted more than just our lungs and as the recovery effort begins, a focus on mental health should remain a focus.

According to expert and architect Jan Golembiewski, the environment can impact mental health in two ways.

The first is through chemicals that enter our system and directly affect the brain.

"These toxins are in very small quantities in bushfire smoke, and are unlikely to make much psychological impact," Mr Golembiewski told nine.com.au.

"The other mechanism is more insidious and it's through the perceptual pathways.

"Unlike toxicology, this effect is far more personal and depends entirely on who you are and on your life situation."

Mr Golembiewski said smoke can send strong and often overwhelming messages about the extent of the fires and our ability to control them.

"[People] might feel there's very little they can do about it, even as the things they care about - the environment, the sea, the country, the animals, the forests, homes, friends' homes and friends - all suffer and die."

"These messages are tough. They create feelings of disempowerment, isolation and anxiety. And it's messages like these that set the stage for mental illness.

"It ultimately comes down to our ability or inability to cope and when our inability to cope becomes chronic, that most certainly leads to mental illness."

Mr Golembiewski says the mental strains of bushfire smoke are not entirely separate from the physical strains and it is often the two combined that can trigger anxiety or depressive behaviour.

"If you can't deal with your body, it's much harder to deal with your emotions," he said.

"And if you fail to cope with your mental load, you can often develop delusions which can lead to psychosis."

With the most recent bushfires indicative of broader trends showing longer and more extreme fire seasons, Mr Golembiewski said the conditions will take their toll.

"If we see these kinds of fires year in and year out, we're going to see a huge influx of people presenting with mental illness."

Tessa Anderssen from ReachOut Australia said there was a noticeable influx of young people seeking help for mental illness during and after the bushfire crisis.

"Young people have shared how they are worried about the smoke affecting their health, how the smell of smoke is in their clothes and hair, and feeling scared, hopeless, irritable and stressed," she told nine.com.au.

"What we know is that young people are having conversations specifically about smoke from the bushfires in our online peer support forums. They are saying it's having a negative impact on things like their mood and relationships," she said.

Mr Golembiewski said the bushfire crisis coinciding with the summer holiday period can further exacerbate the mental toll on some people.

"The summer is an opportunity to let go and have fun and forget about the stress and that experience is really important recovery time but if we get fires year in and year out there will be a major mental health affect," he said.

"If we lose that time, that reinforces our lack of ability to cope emotionally because everything becomes very taxing. On that level we're likely to see an increase in mental illness.

"All of these things form a complied narrative – it's about the dust, it's about the burnt leaves that fall from the sky and land on your garden, it's about your favourite holiday place incinerated, it's the stories we tell each other and the stories we tell ourselves and that can be extremely damaging."

But Mr Golembiewski said people shouldn't be alarmed.

"The brain is much like the body, if you damage it, it can recover. You can have a period of high anxiety and you can even have a minor breakdown and you can recover because the brain has a capacity to recover."

WWE Champion Frederic Adhitama def. Alex Stewart and Become New IC Champion

Last night was a chaotic show, WWE Champion Frederic Adhitama have come home with a venges against Intercontinental Champion Alex Stewart. And he was so determined to have another championship gold on his shoulder so he did it, he defeated Alex Stewart and he becomes your NEW IC CHAMPION!

Helping Someone Who’s Grieving

Is someone you know grieving a loss? Learn what to say and how to comfort someone through bereavement, grief, and loss.

How to support someone who’s grieving

When someone you care about is grieving after a loss, it can be difficult to know what to say or do. The bereaved struggle with many intense and painful emotions, including depression, anger, guilt, and profound sadness. Often, they also feel isolated and alone in their grief, since the intense pain and difficult emotions can make people uncomfortable about offering support.

You may be afraid of intruding, saying the wrong thing, or making your loved one feel even worse at such a difficult time. Or maybe you think there’s little you can do to make things better. That’s understandable. But don’t let discomfort prevent you from reaching out to someone who is grieving. Now, more than ever, your loved one needs your support. You don’t need to have answers or give advice or say and do all the right things. The most important thing you can do for a grieving person is to simply be there. It’s your support and caring presence that will help your loved one cope with the pain and gradually begin to heal.

The keys to helping a loved one who’s grieving

Don’t let fears about saying or doing the wrong thing stop you from reaching out
Let your grieving loved one know that you’re there to listen
Understand that everyone grieves differently and for different lengths of time
Offer to help in practical ways
Maintain your support after the funeral

Helping a grieving person tip 1: Understand the grieving process

The better your understanding of grief and how it is healed, the better equipped you’ll be to help a bereaved friend or family member:

There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Grief does not always unfold in orderly, predictable stages. It can be an emotional rollercoaster, with unpredictable highs, lows, and setbacks. Everyone grieves differently, so avoid telling your loved one what they “should” be feeling or doing.

Grief may involve extreme emotions and behaviors. Feelings of guilt, anger, despair, and fear are common. A grieving person may yell to the heavens, obsess about the death, lash out at loved ones, or cry for hours on end. Your loved one needs reassurance that what they feel is normal. Don’t judge them or take their grief reactions personally.

There is no set timetable for grieving. For many people, recovery after bereavement takes 18 to 24 months, but for others, the grieving process may be longer or shorter. Don’t pressure your loved one to move on or make them feel like they’ve been grieving too long. This can actually slow the healing process.

Tip 2: Know what to say to someone who’s grieving

While many of us worry about what to say to a grieving person, it’s actually more important to listen. Oftentimes, well-meaning people avoid talking about the death or change the subject when the deceased person is mentioned. Or, knowing there’s nothing they can say to make it better, they try to avoid the grieving person altogether.

But the bereaved need to feel that their loss is acknowledged, it’s not too terrible to talk about, and their loved one won’t be forgotten. One day they may want to cry on your shoulder, on another day they may want to vent, or sit in silence, or share memories. By being present and listening compassionately, you can take your cues from the grieving person. Simply being there and listening to them can be a huge source of comfort and healing.

How to talk—and listen—to someone who’s grieving

While you should never try to force someone to open up, it’s important to let your grieving friend or loved one know that you’re there to listen if they want to talk about their loss. Talk candidly about the person who died and don’t steer away from the subject if the deceased’s name comes up. And when it seems appropriate, ask sensitive questions—without being nosy—that invite the grieving person to openly express their feelings. By simply asking, “Do you feel like talking?” you’re letting your loved one know that you’re available to listen.

You can also:

Acknowledge the situation. For example, you could say something as simple as: “I heard that your father died.” By using the word “died” you’ll show that you’re more open to talk about how the grieving person really feels.

Express your concern. For example: “I’m sorry to hear that this happened to you.”

Let the bereaved talk about how their loved one died. People who are grieving may need to tell the story over and over again, sometimes in minute detail. Be patient. Repeating the story is a way of processing and accepting the death. With each retelling, the pain lessens. By listening patiently and compassionately, you’re helping your loved one heal.

Ask how your loved one feels. The emotions of grief can change rapidly so don’t assume you know how the bereaved person feels at any given time. If you’ve gone through a similar loss, share your own experience if you think it would help. Remember, though, that grief is an intensely individual experience. No two people experience it exactly the same way, so don’t claim to “know” what the person is feeling or compare your grief to theirs. Again, put the emphasis on listening instead, and ask your loved one to tell you how they’re feeling.

Accept your loved one’s feelings. Let the grieving person know that it’s okay to cry in front of you, to get angry, or to break down. Don’t try to reason with them over how they should or shouldn’t feel. Grief is a highly emotional experience, so the bereaved need to feel free to express their feelings—no matter how irrational—without fear of judgment, argument, or criticism.

Be genuine in your communication. Don’t try to minimize their loss, provide simplistic solutions, or offer unsolicited advice. It’s far better to just listen to your loved one or simply admit: “I’m not sure what to say, but I want you to know I care.”

Be willing to sit in silence. Don’t press if the grieving person doesn’t feel like talking. Often, comfort for them comes from simply being in your company. If you can’t think of something to say, just offer eye contact, a squeeze of the hand, or a reassuring hug.

Offer your support. Ask what you can do for the grieving person. Offer to help with a specific task, such as helping with funeral arrangements, or just be there to hang out with or as a shoulder to cry on.

Things to avoid saying to someone who’s grieving

“It’s part of God’s plan.” This phrase can make people angry and they often respond with, “What plan? Nobody told me about any plan.”

“Look at what you have to be thankful for.” They know they have things to be thankful for, but right now they are not important.

“He’s in a better place now.” The bereaved may or may not believe this. Keep your beliefs to yourself unless asked.

“This is behind you now; it’s time to get on with your life.” Sometimes the bereaved are resistant to getting on with because they feel this means “forgetting” their loved one. Besides, moving on is much easier said than done. Grief has a mind of its own and works at its own pace.

Statements that begin with “You should” or “You will.” These statements are too directive. Instead you could begin your comments with: “Have you thought about…” or “You might try…”

Source: American Hospice Foundation

Tip 3: Offer practical assistance

It is difficult for many grieving people to ask for help. They might feel guilty about receiving so much attention, fear being a burden to others, or simply be too depressed to reach out. A grieving person may not have the energy or motivation to call you when they need something, so instead of saying, “Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” make it easier for them by making specific suggestions. You could say, “I’m going to the market this afternoon. What can I bring you from there?” or “I’ve made beef stew for dinner. When can I come by and bring you some?”

If you’re able, try to be consistent in your offers of assistance. The grieving person will know that you’ll be there for as long as it takes and can look forward to your attentiveness without having to make the additional effort of asking again and again.

There are many practical ways you can help a grieving person. You can offer to:

Shop for groceries or run errands
Drop off a casserole or other type of food
Help with funeral arrangements
Stay in your loved one’s home to take phone calls and receive guests
Help with insurance forms or bills
Take care of housework, such as cleaning or laundry
Watch their children or pick them up from school
Drive your loved one wherever they need to go
Look after your loved one’s pets
Go with them to a support group meeting
Accompany them on a walk
Take them to lunch or a movie
Share an enjoyable activity (sport, game, puzzle, art project)

Tip 4: Provide ongoing support

Your loved one will continue grieving long after the funeral is over and the cards and flowers have stopped. The length of the grieving process varies from person to person, but often lasts much longer than most people expect. Your bereaved friend or family member may need your support for months or even years.

Continue your support over the long haul. Stay in touch with the grieving person, periodically checking in, dropping by, or sending letters or cards. Once the funeral is over and the other mourners are gone, and the initial shock of the loss has worn off, your support is more valuable than ever.

Don’t make assumptions based on outward appearances. The bereaved person may look fine on the outside, while inside they’re suffering. Avoid saying things like “You are so strong” or “You look so well.” This puts pressure on the person to keep up appearances and to hide their true feelings.

The pain of bereavement may never fully heal. Be sensitive to the fact that life may never feel the same. You don’t “get over” the death of a loved one. The bereaved person may learn to accept the loss. The pain may lessen in intensity over time, but the sadness may never completely go away.

Offer extra support on special days. Certain times and days of the year will be particularly hard for your grieving friend or family member. Holidays, family milestones, birthdays, and anniversaries often reawaken grief. Be sensitive on these occasions. Let the bereaved person know that you’re there for whatever they need.

Tip 5: Watch for warning signs of depression

It’s common for a grieving person to feel depressed, confused, disconnected from others, or like they’re going crazy. But if the bereaved person’s symptoms don’t gradually start to fade—or they get worse with time—this may be a sign that normal grief has evolved into a more serious problem, such as clinical depression.

Encourage the grieving person to seek professional help if you observe any of the following warning signs after the initial grieving period—especially if it’s been over two months since the death.

Difficulty functioning in daily life
Extreme focus on the death
Excessive bitterness, anger, or guilt
Neglecting personal hygiene
Alcohol or drug abuse

Inability to enjoy life
Hallucinations
Withdrawing from others
Constant feelings of hopelessness
Talking about dying or suicide

It can be tricky to bring up your concerns to the bereaved person as you don’t want to be perceived as invasive. Instead of telling the person what to do, try stating your own feelings: “I am troubled by the fact that you aren’t sleeping—perhaps you should look into getting help.“

Take talk of suicide very seriously

If a grieving friend or family member talks about suicide, seek help immediately. Please read Suicide Prevention or call a suicide helpline:

In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255.
In the UK, call 116 123.
Or visit IASP for a helpline in your country.

How to comfort a child who’s grieving

Even very young children feel the pain of bereavement, but they learn how to express their grief by watching the adults around them. After a loss—particularly of a sibling or parent—children need support, stability, and honesty. They may also need extra reassurance that they will be cared for and kept safe. As an adult, you can support children through the grieving process by demonstrating that it’s okay to be sad and helping them make sense of the loss.

Answer any questions the child may have as truthfully as you can. Use very simple, honest, and concrete terms when explaining death to a child. Children—especially young children—may blame themselves for what happened and the truth helps them see they are not at fault.

Open communication will smooth the way for a child to express distressing feelings. Because children often express themselves through stories, games, and artwork, encourage this self-expression, and look for clues in those activities about how they are coping.

Pangolins 'possible coronavirus host'

China's deadly coronavirus outbreak could have spread from bats to humans through the illegal traffic of pangolins, the world's only scaly mammals, which are prized in Asia for food and medicine, Chinese researchers say.

Pangolins are among Asia's most trafficked mammals, although protected by international law, because its meat is considered a delicacy in countries such as China and its scales are used in traditional medicine, the World Wildlife Fund says.

"This latest discovery will be of great significance for the prevention and control of the origin (of the virus)," South China Agricultural University, which led the research, said in a statement on its website.

The outbreak, which has killed 636 people in mainland China, is believed to have started in a market in the city of Wuhan, in central Hubei province that also sold live wild animals.

Health experts think it might have originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via another species.

The genome sequence of the novel coronavirus strain separated from pangolins in the study was 99 per cent identical to that from infected people, China's official Xinhua news agency reported, adding the research found pangolins to be "the most likely intermediate host".

But Dirk Pfeiffer, professor of veterinary medicine at Hong Kong's City University, cautioned the study was still a long way from proving pangolins had transmitted the virus.

"You can only draw more definitive conclusions if you compare prevalence (of the coronavirus) between different species based on representative samples, which these almost certainly are not," he said.

Even then, a link to humans via food markets still needed to be established, Pfeiffer said.

Quarantined child showing symptoms of coronavirus on Christmas Island

Samples from a child evacuee on Christmas Island have been sent to Australia for urgent testing with concerns it could return positive for the deadly coronavirus.

Doctors and nurses inside the detention centre on Christmas Island caring for Australians evacuated from Wuhan have sent the samples from a young girl to the mainland as a precautionary measure however it is the first time a sample has been sent to Australia to make sure.

The sample was put on a plane yesterday and results should be confirmed within the next 24 to 48 hours.

A new quarantine site for more evacuees from China has been set up in Howard Springs in the Northern Territory.

The total number of confirmed cases in Australian remains at 15, while the global number has risen to 31,530.

The total number of deaths has now risen to 638 however the number of people who have successfully recovered is more than double, currently sitting at 1,764 worldwide.

Even in the epicentre of the outbreak, in Hubei, the number of recoveries has surpassed the number of deaths with 867 people successfully cleared after contracting the virus.

Evacuees bound for Darwin delayed

The next group of coronavirus evacuees expected from Wuhan will be quarantined at an old mining camp near Darwin.

Passengers on the second flight to extract Australians from China will be sent to the Manigurr-ma Village at Howard Springs, 30km from Darwin, with Christmas Island unable to house another couple of hundred evacuees.

Roughly 260 Australians will be on board the flight and health officials are stressing those being evacuated are not sick or showing any symptoms however must be quarantined as a safety measure to prevent the further spread of virus.

The passengers will be screened a total of five times – once before they leave China, twice on the flight, then at the RAAF Base in Darwin and again when they arrive at the quarantine site.

Anyone found to be unwell on arrival at Darwin will be taken directly to hospital where they will be quarantined, according to the joint statement from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, Health Minister Greg Hunt and Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy.

Professor Murphy said those staying at the Howard Springs facility were unlikely to become infectious and their health would be closely monitored.

"It is important people living in and around Howard Springs know the novel coronavirus can only be transmitted by close contact with an infectious person and cannot be spread through the air," he said.

"The health and safety of the Howard Springs community is of paramount importance and I am confident the security and public health measures put in place will prevent any risk to the community's health."

Residents in Howard Springs have raised concerns about the location of the site being so close to homes however officials have reassured locals there is no danger.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned people not to assume further evacuation flights will be possible, either from Wuhan or mainland China.

The first bus-loads of evacuees were due to arrive this morning however the flight was delayed because clearance for it was not secured by China.

Mask prices soar due to increased demand

Demand for masks, gowns, gloves and other protective gear has risen by up to 100-fold and prices have soared due to the coronavirus, producing a "severe" disruption in global supply, the World Health Organisation chief says.

The situation has been made worse by people who are not medical workers buying the protective gear for their own use, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.

"When supplies are short and demand is high, then there could be bad practices like hoarding in order to sell them at higher prices, and that's why we ask for solidarity," Tedros told a briefing at WHO headquarters in Switzerland.

"Demand is up to 100 times higher than normal and prices are up to 20 times higher" and the rush has created supply backlogs of four to six months, he added.

Frontline health workers in China, where 31,211 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported, need the bulk of such supplies, he said.

Tedros said that he had spoken to manufacturers and distributors to ensure supplies for those who need them most, with health care workers a priority followed by the sick and those caring for them.

The WHO has sent gloves, masks, respirators and other "personal protective equipment" - known as PPE in its jargon - to every region, he said.

Tedros said that he had just spoken to the WHO's "pandemic supply chain network" which includes manufacturers, distributors and logistics providers to ensure that protective supplies reach those in need.

"We call on countries and companies to work with WHO to ensure fair and rational use of supplies and the re-balancing of the market. We all have a part to play in keeping each other safe."

The public and private network was focusing first on surgical masks because of the extreme demand and market pressures, Tedros said, adding: "We are appreciative of companies who have taken the decision to only supply masks to medical professionals."

Here’s Why Rusev Has Been Pulled From WWE TV

Whether you loved it or hated it, the Rusev, Bobby Lashley and Lana love triangle storyline was one of the biggest and most pushed of the second half of 2019.

It appears as though the storyline is now over, with Liv Morgan defeating Lana twice on Raw in two weeks, and Rusev not appearing on TV for some time now, and it appears the reason for that is pretty simple.

There’s an ongoing contract dispute between WWE and Rusev, which is the least shocking news of the year so far.

Rusev has been relatively vocal on his Twitter about being less than thrilled with his position in WWE, but said in a recent interview about the Lana storyline that he and his wife were “the luckiest people alive”, so it’s a hard situation to read.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter simply reports:

“Rusev has been off television due to a contract dispute.”

There isn’t a known date for the official end to Rusev’s WWE contract, but wife Lana did sign a new contract towards the end of last year.

The difference between Rusev and Lana is that Lana is primarily used as a manager, something she can probably earn the most money for in WWE.

Rusev on the other hand is likely to want to wrestle as much as possible, and as we know, there are plenty of alternative promotions who would love to bring the Bulgarian on board if he was to leave.

Former NXT Champion Moving To Raw Full-Time

After she lost her NXT Women’s Championship to Rhea Ripley in December 2019, everyone has sort of been waiting for Shayna Baszler to debut on the main roster.

The expectation prior to the Royal Rumble was that Baszler would be winning the match and challenging Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania 36. However, the decision was instead taken to have Charlotte win the match, but don’t worry Baszler fans, she’s still coming to the main roster.

The plan is still for her to challenge Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship, and this is something she will likely do in the next few weeks to set up their feud.

Here’s what Dave Meltzer had to say in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“Shayna Baszler will be a regular on Raw shortly. She is leaving NXT and this has been planned for a long time, probably close to a year so the thing about not wanting to transfer stars in NXT to the main roster and give the idea NXT is developmental or a stepping stone rather than a third brand doesn’t apply to her.”

Becky and Shayna have already been involved in a match together, with Shayna coming out on top at Survivor Series in the three-way between themselves and Bayley.

Whether this is the start of a huge push for Baszler, or whether it’s being done to cement Becky Lynch as the top star isn’t clear, but this will hopefully be the start of WWE paying attention to the women’s division for the first time since Ronda Rousey left nearly a year ago.

1. Clean Your Hands

Use soap and warm water. Rub your hands really well for at least 15 seconds. Rub your palms, fingernail, in between your fingers, and the backs of your hands.
Or, if your hands do not look dirty, clean them with alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Rub the sanitizer all over your hands, especially under your nails and between your fingers, until your hands are dry
Clean your hands before touching or eating food. Clean them after you use the bathroom, take out the trash, change a diaper, visit someone who is ill, or play with a pet.

2. Make sure health care providers clean their hands or wear gloves.

Doctors, nurses, dentist and other health care providers come into contact with lots of bacteria and viruses. So before they treat you, ask them if they've cleaned their hands.
Healthcare providers should wear clean gloves when they perform tasks such as taking blood, touching wounds or body fluids and examining your mouth or private parts. Don't be afraid to ask them if they should wear gloves.

3. Cover your mouth and nose.

Many diseases are spread through sneezes and coughs. When you sneeze or cough, the germs can travel 3 feet or more! Cover your mouth and nose to prevent the spread of infection to others.
Use a tissue! Keep tissues handy at home, at work and in your pocket. Be sure to throw away used tissues and then clean your hands.
If you don't have a tissue, cover your mouth and nose with the bend of your elbow or hands. If you use your hands, clean them right away.

4. If you are sick, avoid close contact with others.

If you are sick, stay away from other people or stay home. Don't shake hands or touch others
When you go for medical treatment, call ahead and ask if there's anything you can do to avoid infecting people in the waiting room,

5. Get shots to avoid disease and fight the spread of infection.

Make sure that your vaccinations are current - even for adults. Check with your doctor about shots you may need. Vaccinations are available to prevent these diseases:

Chicken pox
Measles
Tetanus
Meningitis
Shingles
Mumps
Hepatitis
Flu – Influenza
Whooping cough (Pertussis)
Pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
German measles (Rubella)
Human papillomavirus (HPV)

Personal Hygiene

Personal hygiene helps keep your immune system from being overwhelmed by germs. Skin is an important part of the immune system for it acts as a barrier between germs and your body. Skin is tough and generally impermeable to bacteria and viruses. On the other hand, germs can enter our bodies through other areas that are susceptible to bacteria such as our nose, mouth, eyes, or a break in the skin. Common sense and following good personal hygiene will limit the possibility of these germs finding a way into your body.

Here are some common sense personal hygiene tips:

Wash Your Hands -The single most important way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases is to wash your hands. Most infections, particularly the common cold and gastroenteritis, are contracted when our germ infested hands come in contact with our mouths. In addition, infections are also contracted through contact with other individuals whose hands may come in contact with us.
Take a Daily Shower or Bath - A daily shower or bath aids in the cleansing of our bodies as well as eliminating any bodily odor or bacteria ridden skin. Personal bath towels are recommended. Cross infection is a risk that is unnecessary if possible.
Brush teeth at least twice a day. Mouth care is very important. Clean intact oral mucous membranes assist in preventing infections. Mouth care includes brushing the teeth, flossing between them, and checking the inside of the mouth and gums, as well as cleaning dentures.

Nutrition and Diet

Eating healthy balanced meals is especially important to a person who is recovering from an illness. It is also important for someone who must be in bed or in a wheelchair for long periods of time.

A healthy diet focuses on:

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products.
Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.

Fruits and vegetables are high in vitamins and minerals. Protein is necessary for wound healing. Foods high in fiber such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains may make it easier to have a bowel movement. Certain vitamins may help prevent damage to the body's cells. They also may help repair damage to your body tissue caused by a chronic disease. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish and may help decrease constipation and inflammation.

Depending on a person's medical condition, a special diet and supplements may be ordered. The recommended diet may change over time as health conditions change. Your healthcare provider will instruct you on your special diet and supplement needs.

How to Recognize and Handle Manipulative Relationships

“There are those whose primary ability is to spin wheels of manipulation. It is their second skin and without these spinning wheels, they simply do not know how to function.”

― C. JoyBell C

Psychological manipulation can be defined as the exercise of undue influence through mental distortion and emotional exploitation, with the intention to seize power, control, benefits, and privileges at the victim’s expense.

It is important to distinguish healthy social influence from psychological manipulation. Healthy social influence occurs between most people, and is part of the give and take of constructive relationships. In psychological manipulation, one person is used for the benefit of another. The manipulator deliberately creates an imbalance of power, and exploits the victim to serve his or her agenda.

Most manipulative individuals have four common characteristics:

They know how to detect your weaknesses.
Once found, they use your weaknesses against you.
Through their shrewd machinations, they convince you to give up something of yourself in order to serve their self-centered interests.
In work, social, and family situations, once a manipulator succeeds in taking advantage of you, he or she will likely repeat the violation until you put a stop to the exploitation.

Root causes for chronic manipulation are complex and deep-seated. But whatever drives an individual to be psychologically manipulative, it’s not easy when you’re on the receiving end of such aggression. How can one successfully manage these situations? Here are eight important keys, with excerpts from my books (click on titles) "How to Successfully Handle Manipulative People" and "A Practical Guide for Manipulators to Change Towards the Higher Self". Not all of the tips below may apply to your particular situation. Simply utilize what works and leave the rest.

1. Know Your Fundamental Human Rights*

The single most important guideline when you’re dealing with a psychologically manipulative person is to know your rights, and recognize when they’re being violated. As long as you do not harm others, you have the right to stand up for yourself and defend your rights. On the other hand, if you bring harm to others, you may forfeit these rights. Following are some of our fundamental human rights.

You have the right:

to be treated with respect.
to express your feelings, opinions and wants.
to set your own priorities.
to say “no” without feeling guilty.
to get what you pay for.
to have opinions different than others.
to take care of and protect yourself from being threatened physically, mentally or emotionally.
to create your own happy and healthy life.

These fundamental human rights represent your boundaries.

Of course, our society is full of people who do not respect these rights. Psychological manipulators, in particular, want to deprive you of your rights so they can control and take advantage of you. But you have the power and moral authority to declare that it is you, not the manipulator, who’s in charge of your life.

2. Keep Your Distance

One way to detect a manipulator is to see if a person acts with different faces in front of different people and in different situations. While all of us have a degree of this type of social differentiation, some psychological manipulators tend to habitually dwell in extremes, being highly polite to one individual and completely rude to another—or totally helpless one moment and fiercely aggressive the next. When you observe this type of behavior from an individual on a regular basis, keep a healthy distance, and avoid engaging with the person unless you absolutely have to. As mentioned earlier, reasons for chronic psychological manipulation are complex and deep-seated. It is not your job to change or save them.

3. Avoid Personalization and Self-Blame

Since the manipulator’s agenda is to look for and exploit your weaknesses, it is understandable that you may feel inadequate, or even blame yourself for not satisfying the manipulator. In these situations, it’s important to remember that you are not the problem; you’re simply being manipulated to feel bad about yourself, so that you’re more likely to surrender your power and rights. Consider your relationship with the manipulator, and ask the following questions:

Am I being treated with genuine respect?
Are this person’s expectations and demands of me reasonable?
Is the giving in this relationship primarily one way or two ways?
Ultimately, do I feel good about myself in this relationship?

Your answers to these questions give you important clues about whether the “problem” in the relationship is with you or the other person.

4. Put the Focus on Them by Asking Probing Questions

Inevitably, psychological manipulators will make requests (or demands) of you. These “offers” often make you go out of your way to meet their needs. When you hear an unreasonable solicitation, it’s sometimes useful to put the focus back on the manipulator by asking a few probing questions, to see if she or he has enough self-awareness to recognize the inequity of their scheme. For example:

“Does this seem reasonable to you?”
“Does what you want from me sound fair?”
“Do I have a say in this?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“So, what do I get out of this?”
“Are you really expecting me to [restate the inequitable request]?"

When you ask such questions, you’re putting up a mirror, so the manipulator can see the true nature of his or her ploy. If the manipulator has a degree of self-awareness, he or she will likely withdraw the demand and back down.

On the other hand, truly pathological manipulators (such as a narcissist) will dismiss your questions and insist on getting their way. If this occurs, apply ideas from the following tips to keep your power, and halt the manipulation.

5. Use Time to Your Advantage

In addition to unreasonable requests, the manipulator will often also expect an answer from you right away, to maximize their pressure and control over you in the situation. (Sales people call this “closing the deal.") During these moments, instead of responding to the manipulator’s request right away, consider leveraging time to your advantage, and distancing yourself from his or her immediate influence. You can exercise leadership over the situation simply by saying:

“I’ll think about it.”

Consider how powerful these few words are from a customer to a salesperson, or from a romantic prospect to an eager pursuer, or from you to a manipulator. Take the time you need to evaluate the pros and cons of a situation, and consider whether you want to negotiate a more equitable arrangement, or if you’re better off by saying “no,” which leads us to our next point:

6. Know How To Say “No”―Diplomatically But Firmly

To be able to say “no” diplomatically but firmly is to practice the art of communication. Effectively articulated, it allows you to stand your ground while maintaining a workable relationship. Remember that your fundamental human rights include the right to set your own priorities, the right to say “no” without feeling guilty, and the right to choose your own happy and healthy life. In my book “How to Successfully Handle Manipulative People,” I review seven different ways you can say “no,” to help lower resistance and keep the peace.

7. Confront Bullies, Safely

A psychological manipulator also becomes a bully when he or she intimidates or harms another person.

The most important thing to keep in mind about bullies is that they pick on those whom they perceive as weaker, so as long as you remain passive and compliant, you make yourself a target. But many bullies are also cowards on the inside. When their targets begin to show backbone and stand up for their rights, the bully will often back down. This is true in schoolyards, as well as in domestic and office environments.

On an empathetic note, studies show that many bullies are victims of violence themselves. This in no way excuses bullying behavior, but may help you consider the bully in a more equanimous light:

"When people don't like themselves very much, they have to make up for it. The classic bully was actually a victim first.”—Tom Hiddleston
“Some people try to be tall by cutting off the heads of others.”—Paramhansa Yogananda
“I realized that bullying never has to do with you. It's the bully who's insecure.” —Shay Mitchell

When confronting bullies, be sure to place yourself in a position where you can safely protect yourself, whether it’s standing tall on your own, having other people present to witness and support, or keeping a paper trail of the bully’s inappropriate behavior. In cases of physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, consult with counseling, legal, law enforcement, or administrative professionals. It’s important to stand up to bullies, and you don’t have to do it alone.

8. Set Consequences

When a psychological manipulator insists on violating your boundaries, and won’t take “no” for an answer, deploy consequence.

The ability to identify and assert consequence(s) is one of the most important skills you can use to "stand down" a difficult person. Effectively articulated, consequence gives pause to the manipulative individual, and compels her or him to shift from violation to respect. In my book (click on title) “How to Successfully Handle Manipulative People,” consequence is presented as seven different types of power you can utilize to affect positive change.

Having No Regrets Means Having Not Lived

Frank Sinatra had a few (albeit too few to mention). We’re talking regrets. By the dictionary, regret is defined as feeling sorry or unhappy about something you did or were unable to do. The word "regret" probably originated in the Old Norse word "grata," to weep.

Regret presents as an emotion, a feeling, yet generating it requires heavy cognitive lifting. To feel regret, we have to conjure up some alternative scenarios ("counterfactuals," or "possible worlds," in psychology speak) in which the choice we’ve made and the outcome we got are undone and other choices and outcomes happened. We then have to make a judgment, a decision about how those possible choices and outcomes compare with the actual one. If one of them appears to us to be better, then we may experience regret. For its cognitive complexity, regret appears deeply human. You have a hard time imagining it in a zebra.

We regret most what is lost forever; those opportunities that existed in the past but no longer exist. Social regrets, particularly over romance, are the most common. Most often, our regrets are linked to specific actions, taken or not taken.

Many people believe that in life, you regret what you didn’t do more than what you did. Research on regret (not to be confused with regretful research, a separate issue), however, paints a more nuanced picture. In fact, classic work by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky has shown that on the whole, we regret negative outcomes more when they are a result of action compared to inaction. This is known as the Action Effect (Kahneman & Tversky, 1982). More recent research, however, has shown that the Action Effect holds mostly for the short term. In the long term, an Inaction Effect emerges, whereby we regret more what we haven’t done.

Action and inaction effects may factor differently in different types of decisions. For example, research has shown that people’s material purchases are more likely to generate regrets of action (i.e., “buyer’s remorse”) while experiential purchase decisions are more likely to produce regrets of inaction.

Regret experiences cut quite similarly across genders, yet some consistent gender differences exist. For example, women more than men report love rather than work regrets. Women are more prone to regret casual sex than men. Moreover, with casual sex, men regret inaction over action while women regret inaction and action similarly. Casual sex regrets are brought on mostly by feelings of worry, disgust, and being pressured. They’re lessened when one is the initiator, finds the partner competent, and feels sexually gratified.

People in rural areas may experience more interpersonal regret than those who grew up in large cities. This difference appears to be shaped by concerns about informal social control. In rural areas, where social commerce is managed more by informal means (word of mouth) than formal ones (resume), the "public eyes" produce heightened concerns for one's reputation, which in turn primes interpersonal regret.

A commonly heard sentiment about regret is that one should strive to end life having no regrets. This sounds good (particularly when Old Blue Eyes sings it), but on second look, the sentiment falls apart. The great writer James Baldwin explains this best (Baldwin explains best everything he explains):

“Memory, especially as one grows older, can do strange and disquieting things. Though we would like to live without regrets, and sometimes proudly insist that we have none, this is not really possible, if only because we are mortal. When more time stretches behind than stretches before one, some assessments, however reluctantly and incompletely, begin to be made. Between what one wished to become and what one has become there is a momentous gap, which will now never be closed. And this gap seems to operate as one’s final margin, one’s last opportunity, for creation. And between the self as it is and the self as one sees it, there is also a distance, even harder to gauge. Some of us are compelled, around the middle of our lives, to make a study of this baffling geography, less in the hope of conquering these distances than in the determination that the distances shall not become any greater. Chasms are necessary, but they can also, notoriously, be fatal. At this point, one is attempting nothing less than the recreation of oneself out of the rubble which has become one’s life.”

Given our complex world, and our long lives, it’s unlikely that any thoughtful person will come out at the end unscathed, unblemished in their decision making, and regret-free. Losing some games does not indicate that a team is bad, only that it is involved in serious competition. Similarly, having regrets over decisions that did not pan out does not mean that your decision-making process is bad. It means that you're involved in making serious decisions. In fact, one could argue that having no regrets is a sign of having not lived fully. Regret is a common human emotion. If you haven’t experienced it, you lack experience; if you haven’t hit that note, you haven’t played all the keys.

Regret is a common emotion because it serves a function—it may motivate action to avoid repeating the same mistake (an effect shown to exist even in young children ). Anticipating regret may also serve to move us to take, or avoid, action. Both anticipated action and inaction regrets can influence behavior. For example, anticipated regret of smoking (if it caused cancer) discourages smoking, while anticipated regret of not trying cigarettes (if it led to being shunned by friends) encourages trying cigarettes.

Many people assume that having regret is a sure sign that they’ve made a mistake, a bad choice. Yet this is often a false inference. Just as feeling afraid is not always an indication that you are in danger, so feeling regret is not always an indication you’ve made a mistake or chose badly. This is because, for one, regret often comes from realizing later what we didn’t know, and couldn’t have known, earlier. It’s unfair to judge oneself in retrospect without acknowledging that the context has changed. Things are clear in retrospect that cannot be clear prospectively, but we live and make decisions prospectively.

Another problem with assuming that regret denotes a past mistake is that in life, it is often quite difficult to know, even in retrospect, whether you have made a mistake or not. Often, initial misfortune turns to eventual fortune (and vice versa) given enough time, as exemplified by the famous "good thing, bad thing, who knows?" fable.

Moreover life—lived once and forward as it is—does not let us conduct experiments on imagined alternatives. In life, you cannot make one decision, see how it turns out, then go back in time to the decision point, make a different decision, see how that turns out, and then go back and pick the best of the two. Thus, once we pick option A, option A is all we actually know. If it turns out worse than we imagined, we may feel regret, since we can easily imagine that taking option B would have led to better consequences. But in fact, we often can’t know that. It is also likely that option B would have led us to much worse consequences. If I picked one woman to marry over another, and the marriage ended in divorce and heartbreak, I still cannot know whether I’d have fared better with woman B (or not marrying at all). Thus, my feelings of regret do not in this scenario denote failed decision-making.

In therapy, I see many people who have regrets about actions taken and not taken. Having bought into the aforementioned fallacies that regrets necessarily denote failure and error, many chide themselves harshly and evaluate themselves negatively for it. The work of therapy thus often involves normalizing regret, using it for self-learning and growth, and accepting it as part of one’s functional inner architecture and, often, the mark of a life lived in earnest.

Backstabbing, misogyny and a miracle: The decade of disposable prime ministers

As we approach the end 2019, nine.com.au is looking back at ten stories that shaped the decade. In the second part of our series we take a look at Australia making history with a first female Prime Minister - and the remarkable turn of events that followed.

Five prime ministers in 10 years, more backstabbing than Game of Thrones, and an election result that even the winner believed was a miracle.

In Australian politics, the decade that has followed John Howard's "relaxed and comfortable" era has been anything but.

Australia started the decade by making history by electing Julia Gillard as the country's first ever female prime minister. But it marked the beginning of a series of leadership spills on both sides of politics that would dominate parliament over the next 10 years.

The first spill

Kevin Rudd scored a Labor landslide in 2007 to end Mr Howard's more than 11 years in power. Ms Gillard was his deputy and right-hand woman, and part of Labor's "gang of four" strategic thinkers that included Wayne Swan and Lindsay Tanner.

But Mr Rudd's public poll numbers had slipped, and support within the party was waning amid the failure of the government's home insulation scheme and rising internal dissatisfaction with his leadership style.

On June 24, 2010, despite months of denying she would overthrow Mr Rudd, Ms Gillard pounced. A late-night meeting with her closest Labor supporters combined with a sudden swell of support, saw the former lawyer seize power and become Australia's 27th prime minister.

Never before had Labor, or Australia, had a female leader. Additionally, Mr Rudd's sudden and spectacular downfall made him the first Labor prime minister to be dumped from office before completing a first term.

History is made

Two months after seizing power, Australians went to the polls and Ms Gillard was able to cling to power in a minority government after doing a better job than Liberal leader Tony Abbott negotiating support from crossbench MPs.

The narrowness of the win spurred a fractious period in politics.

One of Ms Gillard's defining moments was her speech to parliament in 2012 on misogyny.

"I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man," Ms Gillard declared, pointing at Mr Abbott across the parliamentary chamber.

"If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror."

The 15-minute speech went viral and amassed hundreds of thousands of views around the world.

It was sparked by Mr Abbott's motion to have Peter Slipper removed as speaker over texts Mr Slipper had sent to an aide. Mr Abbott said that each day Ms Gillard continued to support Mr Slipper was "another day of shame for a government which should have already died of shame".

By 2012, the bruising political battles were taking their toll and the second-wave of spills began to hit.

Rudd resigns

Murmurings began that Mr Rudd, who was the Foreign Minister, wanted to have another go at the leadership. He resigned from cabinet and said he did not think Ms Gillard could win the next election. The Prime Minister called Mr Rudd out, spilling the Labor leadership in a party room vote on February 27. She won, 71 to 31, and Mr Rudd was banished to the backbench.

The drama wasn't over, however, with tensions continuing in the Labor Party. There was a failed bid in March 2013, and then it was time. Ms Gillard called a leadership spill live on television on June 26, urging the would-be opponent to join her in pledging that the loser would retire from politics. Mr Rudd swooped, and the ousted became the anointed and he once again became Australia's prime minister.

His reign was short lived. Just 83 days after taking power Mr Rudd was ousted in the September election and Mr Abbott achieved his dream of becoming prime minister. Mr Rudd quit parliament.

Liberals lead

New party in power, fresh start. Not quite. While the Liberal-led Coalition has held power ever since, it too has been marred by infighting, backstabbing, scandals and leadership spills.

From the start, Mr Abbott struggled in the polls, something enemies within his party would not let go of. After 30 consecutive losses in opinion polls, Mr Abbott may have cast the final straw when he reinstated the knight and dame systems into the Order of Australia honours and appointed Prince Philip a Knight of the Order of Australia.

In September 2015, Minister Malcolm Turnbull made his move. Resigning from his post at Communications Minister, Mr Turnbull made it clear he would run for the party leadership. The punt paid off, and he won the ballot 54-44.

Turnbull's time

Mr Turnbull's reign wasn't much smoother. An election in 2016 saw the Liberals retain a majority government by a single seat.

As the years went on, so too did the chaos at Australia's highest level. In August last year, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton challenged Mr Turnbull's leadership. That bid failed but only served to heighten tensions within the Liberals. Mr Dutton announce he would seek a second spill. Mr Turnbull said if he received a petition with at least half the party's signatures, he would call vote and step down from the leadership. That petition came through, and Scott Morrison was elected leader as an compromise candidate amid a bitterly divided Liberal party room.

A shock win

Mr Morrison had just months to try to repair the Liberals' tattered image before an election due in early 2019. Bill Shorten, who had held steady as Labor leader since the Rudd-Gillard debacle, was considered a shoe-in despite his unpopularity in opinion polls.

In May, voters defied the polls and delivered the Coalition to a second term in government. Remarkably, Mr Morrison government not only held onto power, but increased the government's majority.

"I have always believed in miracles," Mr Morrison told his supporters in his victory speech.

So after four spills and five leaders, Australia leaves this decade in a state of flux.

Decade in numbers: Australian politicsOne thing that is certain however, is that most are hoping the 2020s brings with it more stability, strong leadership, and less political backstabbing.

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