Coronavirus Impact

[Cary Knoop]

It's impossible not to get contaminated as I'm sure you've all gone through the exercise of noting what you touch when you go shopping. Just the fact that you picked up a food item or touched the screen at the self check out at the store means you touched something that someone else touched or your consider your parcels and mail. Then your car handle and steering wheel get contaminated as well as your wallet and key and shopping bags and ARGHHH! It's gets everywhere. Even taking a wet wipe with me and wiping everything down in the car and my hands, invariably things get contaminated.

My experience tells me that not touching the face is very effective. For years in the winter I made a habit of not touching my face when out of the house and then washing my hands. I never got sick.

Some tips for shopping: Put on a glove in the non-dominating hand, that's you "outside only" hand.

When shopping at the supermarket:
- Use the glove hand to push the card and touch any things you do not bring home.
- Get your food items with the non-glove hand.
- Use self-checkout, scan your food items with your non-glove hand
- Use Google Pay or Apple Pay for a touchless checkout
- Dispose of your glove when exiting the supermarket.
- Wipe them clean before you take them inside your home, or when items are non-perishable you can leave them in the sun for awhile (UV rays kill the virus)

For getting gas:
- Use the glove-hand to hold the gas handle (and use the touchpad for payment if it is not enabled for touch-free payment)

When you get parcels:
- Leave them out, preferably in the sun, the virus can be on carton for up to 24 hours.

If you can't get hand sanitizer you can make your own: take 3 to 4 parts of 90-99% ethanol and one part of aloe vera gel and blend it. It will smell like acetone but it evaporates quickly.

Also, care for your spiritual health, what that means is a personal conviction, whether you are a die-hard atheist or a deeply religious person or somewhere in-between, you should find ways to cope with this disaster.

 

[patrickbaldwin]

It's impossible not to get contaminated as I'm sure you've all gone through the exercise of noting what you touch when you go shopping. Just the fact that you picked up a food item or touched the screen at the self check out at the store means you touched something that someone else touched or your consider your parcels and mail. Then your car handle and steering wheel get contaminated as well as your wallet and key and shopping bags and ARGHHH! It's gets everywhere. Even taking a wet wipe with me and wiping everything down in the car and my hands, invariably things get contaminated.

My experience tells me that not touching the face is very effective. For years in the winter I made a habit of not touching my face when out of the house and then washing my hands. I never got sick.

Mechanics latex gloves work on touch screens and smartphones. Put them on when you leave the car. Do all your shopping, discard them safely before you get back in your car. Put on another pair at home if you feel the need to wipe down the shopping before handling it and then safely discard them.
A box of 50 pairs is £10 in the UK

 

[Barry_Green]

From a doctor in Louisiana, his detailed, grim description of the illness he's seeing--

https://www.propublica.org/article/...ilure-from-covid19-even-in-his-young-patients

Anyone who still thinks this is overblown, or who still thinks "letting it run its course" is a good idea, should read this article.

We each must make up our own minds as to how we will deal with this. Exposing yourself to the virus may not be a good idea, but exposing yourself to information usually is. Assuming this is a true account, it mirrors what's been happening in Italy, but this is right here in the USA and it's eye-opening.

 

[markfpv]

Anyone who still thinks this is overblown, or who still thinks "letting it run its course" is a good idea, should read this article.

We each must make up our own minds as to how we will deal with this. Exposing yourself to the virus may not be a good idea, but exposing yourself to information usually is. Assuming this is a true account, it mirrors what's been happening in Italy, but this is right here in the USA and it's eye-opening.

+1. And just to add - those who think sarcasm and a lack of empathy during a pandemic are funny or cute - fit the definition of a sociopath / pyschopath.

 

[ozmorphasis]

+1. And just to add - those who think sarcasm and a lack of empathy during a pandemic are funny or cute - fit the definition of a sociopath / pyschopath.

+1

 

[Mitch Gross]

I just found out that a friend of mine was hospitalized with COVID-19. She's in her 40s and was otherwise in perfect health with no pre-existing conditions or health issues. And she doesn't know where she got it, either. It was purely transmitted by the community, not because she traveled to China or anywhere else.

Don't let anyone tell you that this virus only affects the elderly or people with compromised immune systems. Things are going to get really bad really fast. And if it hasn't hit your community yet, it seems like it's now a matter of when not if. Stay in your home, stay away from others and stay safe. A few weeks of being smart can save lives.

I know a 15-year old boy who tested positive for COVID-19 here in NYC.

 

[DLD]

763 positives in Florida; 11 dead in the state proper, +1 passed away in California.

My FB friend update, "It's her, her two cats and a book of 1,000 crossword puzzles"

 

[ahalpert]

I know a 15-year old boy who tested positive for COVID-19 here in NYC.

Good luck to him! I think my wife, myself and our 4-year old daughter got it about 2 weeks ago. But we couldn't get a test to confirm. (I had my flu shot though.) I cancelled all my work and put us all on bedrest. My daughter and I are pretty much completely recovered. My wife still has a bit of a sore throat, is possibly recovering more slowly because she's pregnant or insomniac or both.

Take care of yourselves! Maximize your immune system! Minimize drug use, maximize sleep, and stay hydrated!

 

[ahalpert]

The truth is we cannot effectively hide - you will probably get it at some point. You will most likely be fine, but try to stay healthy.

 

[ahalpert]

One thing I'd add: IF indeed we had COVID19, the symptoms were less severe for us than the last time we had the flu. But the recovery took 3x+ as long. (Our fevers lasted 3-4 days but the headache/sore throat/fatigue tapered off for another 10+ days.)

 

[cyvideo]

Things are about to get fricking bleak. Not only are hospitals about to run out of resources to treat patients (which means they will have to start letting people die), but we've almost run out of protective gear for the doctors. This means more doctors will get infected and die. Or they'll just strike. Either way, the death toll will skyrocket.

As it is documented here. This train is coming down a track near you and the fallout from it is close to nothing any of us have seen or experienced. The latest news is one dying every two minutes. Truck loads of dead bodies being hauled out because the cemeteries and crematoriums can't handle the load.

Chris Young

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J60fQr0GWo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmEciVm-6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os1TJHJ_ijc

 

[ahalpert]

As it is documented here. This train is coming down a track near you and the fallout from it is close to nothing any of us have seen or experienced. The latest news is one dying every two minutes. Truck loads of dead bodies being hauled out because the cemeteries and crematoriums can't handle the load.

Chris Young

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J60fQr0GWo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmEciVm-6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os1TJHJ_ijc

That's horrifying. But there will be national/regional variation in outcomes. S. Korea got things under control with a massive testing regime. NYC (where I live) is on track to end up like northern Italy. The USA as a whole may have the worst outcome of the developed world. Time will tell.

 

[DLD]

The US has 348 deaths from ~ 27,000 positives.

 

[cyvideo]

That's horrifying. But there will be national/regional variation in outcomes. S. Korea got things under control with a massive testing regime. NYC (where I live) is on track to end up like northern Italy. The USA as a whole may have the worst outcome of the developed world. Time will tell.

That's very true, regional differences. I fear it's places like the US, Australia, and Europe that will face some of the worst outcomes. Only to be eclipsed by the poorest places in the world like the shanty towns of S. Africa and the Favelas of Rio and the truly underdeveloped parts of the world where medical support and facilities are minimal at best.

What is becoming very apparent though is the total failure of western governments to learn from events like the SARS outbreak where places that got hit with it then said "Never again." Like Taiwan which got hit with SARS in 2003. Taiwan is now leading by example on how these outbreaks need to be handled to contain them. If you think Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong have done pretty well check out the Brookings Institute report on Taiwan. Taiwan has so far managed to contain infections to 108 people and 1 death. How are they achieving this? Quote:

"...playing an important role in constraining the spread of the virus has been Taiwan’s strong background in information technology. Databases belonging to the National Health Insurance Administration, National Immigration Agency, and Customs Administration were integrated, allowing artificial intelligence and big data techniques to be employed to identify those at greatest risk through their travel and medical history." We in the west can learn a lot from governments like Taiwan.

As for certain people calling this Covid outbreak "The Chinese Virus" well to me that is just beyond comprehension and does absolutely nothing constructive into trying to advance ideas and research into combating it.

Chris Young

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/orde...e-in-coronavirus-crisis-while-the-who-is-mia/

 

[ahalpert]

The US has 348 deaths from ~ 27,000 positives.

Is that supposed to be comforting? that's over 1% fatality. It takes weeks to die from covid19. And the real problems will happen once the care system is over capacity and we also run out of PPE for medical personnel. We have to predict the future.

 

[ahalpert]

That's very true, regional differences. I fear it's places like the US, Australia, and Europe that will face some of the worst outcomes. Only to be eclipsed by the poorest places in the world like the shanty towns of S. Africa and the Favelas of Rio and the truly underdeveloped parts of the world where medical support and facilities are minimal at best.

What is becoming very apparent though is the total failure of western governments to learn from events like the SARS outbreak where places that got hit with it then said "Never again." Like Taiwan which got hit with SARS in 2003. Taiwan is now leading by example on how these outbreaks need to be handled to contain them. If you think Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong have done pretty well check out the Brookings Institute report on Taiwan. Taiwan has so far managed to contain infections to 108 people and 1 death. How are they achieving this? Quote:

"...playing an important role in constraining the spread of the virus has been Taiwan’s strong background in information technology. Databases belonging to the National Health Insurance Administration, National Immigration Agency, and Customs Administration were integrated, allowing artificial intelligence and big data techniques to be employed to identify those at greatest risk through their travel and medical history." We in the west can learn a lot from governments like Taiwan.

As for certain people calling this Covid outbreak "The Chinese Virus" well to me that is just beyond comprehension and does absolutely nothing constructive into trying to advance ideas and research into combating it.

Chris Young

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/orde...e-in-coronavirus-crisis-while-the-who-is-mia/

The big issue with Western response to pandemic is cultural - in USA we chafe at federal management. We have no centralized healthcare system but a patchwork. And fragmented federal, state and local authority.

Then of course we're committed to personal freedom. China already had more surveillance and police control before the draconian quarantine measures they implemented. I read a column by a conservative Brit saying it was fascist to close the pubs in England. Westerners won't understand that we're dooming ourselves until it's too late.

Trump calls it the Chinese virus to shift blame from his dismal response. Equally troubling is the Chinese state propaganda claiming that the US army developed COVID19 and seeded it in China. To deflect blame from their own cover-up.

 

[cyvideo]

Australia.

I have just watched our Prime Minister announce that Australia has convened for the first time since WWII a wartime cabinet. They have just issued Stage 1 directives. Australia has just locked down. All public venues, pubs, clubs, sports arenas, gyms, places of worship, churches, cinemas, theaters, beaches and restaurants, bar take out delivery will now be closed as of midday tomorrow Monday the 23rd. All state governments are now under Federal Health Dept regulation controls. These controls will be mandated for the next six months. They will be reviewed as time proceeds. If necessary Stage 2 directives will be introduced if deemed necessary.

Well it has arrived down under and not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned. Should have happened earlier. Better late than never. Distancing and isolation are the only things that will work when you have an enemy that you have no antidote for.

https://www.wsls.com/features/2020/...-the-results-couldnt-have-been-more-opposite/

Chris Young

 

[ahalpert]

Australia.

I have just watched our Prime Minister announce that Australia has convened for the first time since WWII a wartime cabinet. They have just issued Stage 1 directives. Australia has just locked down. All public venues, pubs, clubs, sports arenas, gyms, places of worship, churches, cinemas, theaters, beaches and restaurants, bar take out delivery will now be closed as of midday tomorrow Monday the 23rd. All state governments are now under Federal Health Dept regulation controls. These controls will be mandated for the next six months. They will be reviewed as time proceeds. If necessary Stage 2 directives will be introduced if deemed necessary.

Well it has arrived down under and not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned. Should have happened earlier. Better late than never. Distancing and isolation are the only things that will work when you have an enemy that you have no antidote for.

https://www.wsls.com/features/2020/...-the-results-couldnt-have-been-more-opposite/

Chris Young

Wow. 6 months is a long time. I was hoping we could relax a bit in 2. Maybe some antiviral treatments will surface and that will still happen...

I read that the death toll from covid may be under reported in some places. An Italian town had 4x the deaths in one week as the same period last year, but only 1/4 were diagnosed with coronavirus. So there could be a large number of undiagnosed coronavirus deaths. I could imagine that being true in USA as well, considering our dearth of test kits.

 

[DLD]

... that's over 1% fatality. .

No. You're assuming that everyone who has been infected was identified as such. In fact, the majority of the infected don't even realize they are actually infected due to having no symptoms of note. During the "regular" flu seasons, about 30 million get infected and, of those, 300,000 might require hospital stay.

 

[ahalpert]

No. You're assuming that everyone who has been infected was identified as such. In fact, the majority of the infected don't even realize they are actually infected due to having no symptoms of note. During the "regular" flu seasons, about 30 million get infected and, of those, 300,000 might require hospital stay.

You're assuming that everyone who dies of coronavirus is diagnosed. Evidence suggests that's not the case.

South Korea has extensive testing, a controlled outbreak, and universal healthcare, and the mortality rate there is upwards of 0.6%.

If everyone in the US were infected and there were only a 0.1% mortality rate, 330,000 people would die. Many who recover from critical condition sustain permanent lung damage. And if we don't flatten the curve and lower the number of simultaneous hospitalizations, the fatality rate will rise dramatically (as in Italy). Non-coronavirus patients will also be more likely to die for lack of healthcare resources and personnel. There are a lot of variables at play, but it's imperative to slow or halt the spread of the disease until we have a vaccine or at least antiviral treatments.