major_merrick Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Only eight people in the US were diagnosed with SARS. I suspect this coronavirus will spread much farther. Link to post Share on other sites
Author gaius Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 One big positive is we haven't seen any new cases in the US in a few days and the 2nd one in Toronto was the guys wife, so it hasn't spread outside immediate family (that we know of). A Chinese visitor in Germany for a work conference has apparently spread the virus to at least 3 other people. Appears it was a woman and she didn't feel sick until she was on the flight home which means she infected 3 other people while asymptomatic. We'll have to wait and see if that spreads any further. Link to post Share on other sites
pepperbird Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 I expect that, like many diseases, it's not always that bad. It sounds very much kike it could easily be mistaken for the flu or even a bad cold. The individual doesn't get that sick, and they recover and go about their day. I use social media for work a lot, and there's an awful lot of panic out there. That helps nobody. Common sense does. The same measures that help to keep seasonal flu away can work with corona virus too. Link to post Share on other sites
Author gaius Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 I don't think people should be panicking, but shrugging shoulders and saying everything will be ok is not that helpful either. I've been seeing a lot of articles on liberal sites criticizing China for the methods they've taken to contain the spread and emphasizing a human rights based approach to the virus. Which is sheer idiocy. Refusing to quarantine or screen people and only educating them on the virus, we might as well just all take a trip over to Wuhan and breathe deeply. Not that the world is going to end if it ends up spreading everywhere, but based on what we know so far we should be taking strong measures to try and dull the spread before it happens. People should be concerned and pressuring their governments to act. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jspice Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 It’s really much ado about nothing. I lived in Asia for 12 years and I was exposed to H1N1, SARS, MERS, Foot and mouth and TB. I went about my business through a dengue fever outbreak in my current home. I’m having a hard time mustering up any kind of fear, nor do I think the US is seriously in any kind of danger. your guns will kill you first. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Libby1 Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 23 minutes ago, gaius said: Not that the world is going to end if it ends up spreading everywhere, but based on what we know so far we should be taking strong measures to try and dull the spread before it happens. People should be concerned and pressuring their governments to act. I get the impression that there's increasing pressure on WHO to declare a global emergency. I was looking for surgical masks on Amazon, but they're sold out. I haven't seen anybody where I live going out wearing masks. Any sign of people elsewhere doing so, or is it still just in Asia? I'm dubious about how effective they'd be, though I understand they provide some limited protection - with regular and scrupulous handwashing being more important. Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 23 minutes ago, Libby1 said: I get the impression that there's increasing pressure on WHO to declare a global emergency. I was looking for surgical masks on Amazon, but they're sold out. I haven't seen anybody where I live going out wearing masks. Any sign of people elsewhere doing so, or is it still just in Asia? I'm dubious about how effective they'd be, though I understand they provide some limited protection - with regular and scrupulous handwashing being more important. Only N95 masks work - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/29/800531753/face-masks-what-doctors-say-about-their-role-in-containing-coronavirus 1 Link to post Share on other sites
RecentChange Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 I am in the SF Bay area, and have definitely seen an uptick of people wearing masks... Those little surgical masks help keep sick people from spreading particles due to coughs and sneezes, and may help in the reverse - keep you from inhaling particles but aren't nearly as effective as N95 masks. I still have some around from when we had bad fires here but at this point I don't intend on wearing them. What I DO - is make sure I am taking care of myself in a way that keeps my immune system at it's best. That means getting enough quality sleep (this has a HUGE impact immune function), that I am eating well including vitamin C rich fruits, I take live probiotics daily, and stay hydrated. And of course no smoking, limited drinking. Knock on wood, last time I had a flu was over 15 years ago. I very rarely get sick. I credit spending time in both downtown San Francisco each day - and out in the country in a barnyard taking care of my horse. I get exposed to a lot, so my immune system can do its thing. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
K.K. Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 They’re investigating 3 cases of possible corona virus in Virginia where I am. I’ve been feeling sick for days. I know it’s just my mind playing tricks on me but I can’t help thinking of all the Chinese Food I’ve eaten lately and wondering if any of the employees made any trips back home to China recently. 😂 😧 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Libby1 Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 2 hours ago, Elswyth said: Only N95 masks work - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/29/800531753/face-masks-what-doctors-say-about-their-role-in-containing-coronavirus I have a JSP dust mask which I bought for decorating but never actually used. Just did a google and apparently that serves as a respirator...so I guess I can use that. I just went to Sainsburys and saw a woman there wearing a mask. Somebody else was also looking for one. I think those of us who are contemplating buying one feel a little silly at the moment, but who knows how things could change in a week or so? It must be a nightmare being stuck on that cruise ship that's docked in Italy. Carnival shares have apparently plummeted, and I can't help but wonder when the makers of Corona beer will announce a name change. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author gaius Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 The problem with mask buying is that once you're sure you need one you probably won't be able to find any. I picked up a few N95s from home depot last Friday and they're all sold out today, according to their website. And we don't even have any suspected or confirmed cases near by yet. Nobody in town is wearing any yet and I won't be unless there's a local case but I'm glad I got some. I was also reading that despite the lower death rate than SARS, the rate at which cases are serious enough to require hospitalization stands at around 20%. So still something you want to try and avoid catching. Link to post Share on other sites
major_merrick Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Thankfully, we had a large stockpile of N95's on hand already. My husband and I have lived through the repeated scares of SARS, bird flu, etc... and MIL is a doctor, so we hear about it all the time. We've been "pandemic ready" for a while, but he went out and got some extra stuff anyways. For me, the worst part is staying home for a while just in case. Link to post Share on other sites
Piddy Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) My wife deals with China on a daily basis for her job. Her company has several facilities in four cities over there. The Chinese Government has extended the new year holiday to February 10th and the employees cannot go back to work. The government is trying to contain the virus the best they can. Her corporation is halting business travel to several major cities in China also. The information changes from day to day. It's impacting manufacturing facilities in China and customs is shut down in China for their products. Nothing is going in or coming out as far as their products are concerned. Edited January 31, 2020 by Piddy 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Gaeta Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 We were advice by our government that wearing mask won't protect us. The masks are made for hospital staff, they wear them only the time of a surgery then they are discarded. A nurse/doctor go through several masks in a day. If you wear the same mask you will create a condensation inside and you'll end up getting sick by your own doing. The virus can be caught by the mouth, the nose, also can be caught by the mucus of our eyes, masks don't protect that part. Also lets say you touch something that someone infected touched and you carry your hand to your mask to adjust it, you'll get infected. We were advice to simply sneeze or cough in our elbow like we do for a common cold and to wash our hands often. We have 0 case in my Province and yet our city is turning into a circus. Parents pulling their kids out of school, people avoiding Chinese buffet, people wearing mask to go grocery shopping. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
elaine567 Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 2 confirmed cases in the UK - Chinese tourists from the same family, now in hospital. No other info about them. Link to post Share on other sites
major_merrick Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 7 minutes ago, Gaeta said: We were advice by our government that wearing mask won't protect us. The masks are made for hospital staff, they wear them only the time of a surgery then they are discarded. A nurse/doctor go through several masks in a day. If you wear the same mask you will create a condensation inside and you'll end up getting sick by your own doing. The virus can be caught by the mouth, the nose, also can be caught by the mucus of our eyes, masks don't protect that part. Also lets say you touch something that someone infected touched and you carry your hand to your mask to adjust it, you'll get infected. We were advice to simply sneeze or cough in our elbow like we do for a common cold and to wash our hands often. We have 0 case in my Province and yet our city is turning into a circus. Parents pulling their kids out of school, people avoiding Chinese buffet, people wearing mask to go grocery shopping. Well, a mask is better than nothing. If you are keeping a proper distance from people, it will filter out droplets in the air. And yeah, you can get it in your eyes. So pairing it with goggles would be a good idea. Things aren't turning into a circus here in my portion of the South, but masks are totally sold out. My husband has told me that at the Sams Club in town, there's REALLY long lines and people are buying food in bulk. I think folks are preparing to stay home for a few weeks if things get bad. I've heard stories of runs on food at other locations, but that is probably just a rumor. Gasoline has dropped 25 cents so far....I guess less consumption in China is helping us. It hasn't been below $2 in over a year. Gas stations are full, and lots of people are filling gas cans..... I don't know if it is due to the good price or nervousness. I don't like staying home all day, but I'm using the time to get some work done. Doing some accounting and working on my cars. I'm 4 months pregnant, so I've got a couple more months to go before my body will start telling me to sleep all day.... Link to post Share on other sites
Gaeta Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I am taking the subway twice a day and I admit I am uneasy about it. We are piled on top of each other in a tin can breathing used air. My bf suggested I start driving to the office. I don't want paranoia to get to me but... Link to post Share on other sites
pepperbird Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I'm just happy I have now. become fashionable. I have custom made face masks with nice cloth covers with different patterns. Oddly enough, I've had a couple of people ask me today where they can get them. There's been a few more cases her in TO. No fatalities. One hospitalization, that I know of up at Sunnybrook. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
pepperbird Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 4 hours ago, Gaeta said: I am taking the subway twice a day and I admit I am uneasy about it. We are piled on top of each other in a tin can breathing used air. My bf suggested I start driving to the office. I don't want paranoia to get to me but... The TTC? It's not too bad, except at rush hour. I'd be more concerned about the SRT tipping over. That thing rattles and shakes so much I thought the track would collapse. Seriously, we're up visiting TO for a few days. Last time were up this way, hardly any face masks. Now, I've been noticing a lot more, even over the past few days. No panic yet though, which is good. Both my daughters go to school with a lot of exchange students from China. I do know they are very worried about their families back home. They don't feel they are getting accurate information from home, but they've also said they don't feel these a need for panic. One made the good point that it may not be possible to determine how fatal is actually is, as it can often seem like a common cold or flu. People get it, they hang around home until they feel better, never knowing what was the cause of their illness. Link to post Share on other sites
pepperbird Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 On 1/30/2020 at 3:59 PM, gaius said: The problem with mask buying is that once you're sure you need one you probably won't be able to find any. I picked up a few N95s from home depot last Friday and they're all sold out today, according to their website. And we don't even have any suspected or confirmed cases near by yet. Nobody in town is wearing any yet and I won't be unless there's a local case but I'm glad I got some. I was also reading that despite the lower death rate than SARS, the rate at which cases are serious enough to require hospitalization stands at around 20%. So still something you want to try and avoid catching. I'm well stocked up. I'm sorry to gloat, but I hate wearing my mask. It itches, it's hot and it just plain sucks. It does keep me from getting sick with every stupid piss arsed cold that comes around though, and it will work for this too, should I come into contact with it. (it's not the disposable type) For what it's worth, there are some simple steps that can help to stop a virus from spreading. They were recommended to me by my doctor a while back. Hand washing ( not just hand sanitizers, actual hand washing with hot water and soap for at least two minutes, including scrubbing your nails), wear a. mask, avoid crowds if you can and don't eat out. I hate that last one. I really do. So far, even though my white cell counts have bottomed out, I have been able to avoid getting sick. If a scatterbrain like me can do these things, anyone can. Link to post Share on other sites
pepperbird Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 19 hours ago, Piddy said: My wife deals with China on a daily basis for her job. Her company has several facilities in four cities over there. The Chinese Government has extended the new year holiday to February 10th and the employees cannot go back to work. The government is trying to contain the virus the best they can. Her corporation is halting business travel to several major cities in China also. The information changes from day to day. It's impacting manufacturing facilities in China and customs is shut down in China for their products. Nothing is going in or coming out as far as their products are concerned. My brother's working in Singapore and travels all over Asia/Australia/New Zealand. he hasn't reported seeing any cases or hearing much panic. That's good. A calm response is what's needed, not panic. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
lana-banana Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) I don't understand the mask buying panic in the US. Masks are primarily to keep you from spreading infection to others, so wearing one when you aren't sick or aren't exposed to other probably infected people won't do anything. If we were in China, I'd get it, but there's only been one person-to-person transmission in the US and that was between a husband and wife. With flight restrictions and more people quarantined, infections here are likely to stabilize. Furthermore, no one outside China has died. So far this is looking to be roughly as contagious and much less deadly than the flu. Obviously things can change but this doesn't seem to justify the apocalyptic coverage. It's certainly a major issue for China and southeastern Asia. I was in the Arabian Peninsula during one of the MERS (far more deadly than coronavirus or SARS, but harder to transmit) outbreaks and masks weren't very common among the men or in the workplace. Maybe all the women in niqabs had the advantage. Edited February 1, 2020 by lana-banana 5 Link to post Share on other sites
Author gaius Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 This strain is infecting more people in a day than MERS did in 5 years. If the current death rate stands, 15 million people infected would end up with over 300,000 dead. The flu infected that many this year and 8,600 died. They just released some information about the coronavirus case in Washington state. He was a healthy 30 something male with no pre-existing conditions, who still developed pnemonia anyway. Even if the individual doesn't die and isn't over 50 it seems there's a still a decent risk for the case to turn somewhat serious. Surgical masks do nothing but N95 masks have been shown to offer protection in certain cases. Elswyth posted a helpful link earlier. Getting a few of those is a reasonable precaution at this point. Wearing a gas mask on an airplane or avoiding the chinese buffet, not so much. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SincereOnlineGuy Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 On 2/1/2020 at 12:48 PM, gaius said: This strain is infecting more people in a day than MERS did in 5 years. If the current death rate stands, 15 million people infected would end up with over 300,000 dead. The flu infected that many this year and 8,600 died. They just released some information about the coronavirus case in Washington state. He was a healthy 30 something male with no pre-existing conditions, who still developed pnemonia anyway. Even if the individual doesn't die and isn't over 50 it seems there's a still a decent risk for the case to turn somewhat serious. Surgical masks do nothing but N95 masks have been shown to offer protection in certain cases. Elswyth posted a helpful link earlier. Getting a few of those is a reasonable precaution at this point. Wearing a gas mask on an airplane or avoiding the chinese buffet, not so much. that's the same kind of crap they offered with regard to AIDS nearly 40 years ago. But aren't you having fun fanning the flames and telling everyone the sky is falling in... 2 Link to post Share on other sites
elaine567 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 11 minutes ago, SincereOnlineGuy said: that's the same kind of crap they offered with regard to AIDS nearly 40 years ago. BUT AIDS 40 years ago WAS a deadly disease, it WAS a death sentence. to those infected. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
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