Coronavirus COVID-19 *Global Health Emergency* #15

[zecats]

My husband, who has COPD and CHF, just informed me that he wants to go to church tomorrow.

Can't he pray at home? We already had an argument about it. Stomping off to cook dinner.

Break out the handcuffs.

 

[gregjrichards]

Women seem to be less likely to die from coronavirus than men; and children appear to be less likely to die than other age groups.

Most people will get a mild infection, but the pattern is clear in the most severe cases. So, what is going on?

All the information we have is coming from a massive study by the Chinese Centres of Disease Control.

It looked at 44,000 people and showed 2.8% of infected men died compared with 1.7% of women.

And 0.2% of children and teenagers died compared with nearly 15% of people over the age of 80.

Coronavirus: Are women and children less affected?

Link BBC News U.K

 

[jjenny]

That's the same protocol UNMC used with the Ebola virus and they haven't lost anyone yet but this one is different. The ill woman is an excellent example of someone feeling ill even before she returned to the U.S. from the UK. Five days later--a week ago today-- she chose to attend a Special Olympics Event at a YMCA in Fremont, NE. Now, an entire community is having to shut down its schools and many are asked to self-quarantine. Let's hope they do so.

Woman with COVID-19 visited YMCA in Fremont for Special Olympics event; players, coaches and team staff are asked to self-quarantine

It starts off with mild symptoms, like a cold. Most people in US don't stay home because of a cold.

 

[SandyQLS]

Some more anecdotal reports from flyover...

Walmart at 8AM on a Saturday after restocking - NO rubbing alcohol, NO toilet paper, but lots of paper towels and hydrogen peroxide. Had limited water bottles after being sold out day before (probably sold out today by 10AM). Finally had my single use food prep Poly gloves, but I bought 8 of the 12 small packages on shelf for ME (sorry I really need them) so those would be sold out by 10AM too.

Restaurant supply store - I went there last night looking for Poly gloves because they usually have 50-100 overpriced boxes on the shelf... they had zero, big empty shelf. They had 3 boxes black nitrile and some stray latex boxes. But they also had NO toilet paper, NO regular water bottles, NO hand sanitizer and NO disinfectant wipes, low on bleach and low on all disinfectant sprays. They had regular soaps and anti-bacterial soaps like Dial. Employee told me a male customer had been so belligerent about no TP that they almost called police. She also said an employee had to drive an hour to another county to pickup hand sanitizer that then sold out. I stopped back before 8AM looking to see if gloves restocked overnight and NONE were added. They did now have about 10 packages of toilet paper, would be sold out by 10AM.

Grocery - I went to two groceries this week and they both had toilet paper and paper towels, bleach, regular cleansers, seemed well stocked. But I did not check other items like hand sanitizer which is probably soldout.

Friday night outings - driving around I really noticed that in spite of good weather the restaurant and bar parking lots were half empty. Usually very crowded, hopping, on weekend nights you cannot even park.

So I think people are last minute shopping, and then hunkering in all weekend. People I know are staying home all weekend, don't want to go anywhere. Gym attendance that I saw is down among seniors & middle-aged, but the younger adults are still going. Seems like we have a whole range of reactions here from Don't Care to Zombie Apocalypse Imminent.

 

[OhioBlues]

Do we know why there are an unusually large number of COVID positives in Italy?

I don't want to violate TOS by copying more than 10% but here is a Wikipedia link:

2020 coronavirus outbreak in Italy - Wikipedia

 

[firebird]

It starts off with mild symptoms, like a cold. Most people in US don't stay home because of a cold.

And it stays as relatively mild symptoms for most, apparently. I think it's clear a ton of people are going to get this, and the extreme majority to be negatively impacted are going to be the elderly and health compromised - as usual. The good thing about Corona is that it's generally relatively mild and that the young seem to be insignificantly impacted by it -- unlike the flu. I'm moving beyond "annoyed" to "pretty po'd" about the hysteria. jmo

 

[gregjrichards]

Anxious shoppers across the US line up at stores to stockpile water, toilet paper and cleaning supplies as coronavirus death toll rises to 19

Anxious shoppers across the US line up at stores to stockpile water, toilet paper | Daily Mail Online

Coronavirus: Why are people panic buying and why toilet paper?

Sky News speaks to the experts about the science behind stockpiling and why toilet roll has become a sought after commodity.

Coronavirus: Why are people panic buying and why toilet paper?

 

[jjenny]

And it stays as relatively mild symptoms for most, apparently. I think it's clear a ton of people are going to get this, and the extreme majority to be negatively impacted are going to be the elderly and health compromised - as usual. The good thing about Corona is that it's generally relatively mild and that the young seem to be insignificantly impacted by it -- unlike the flu. I'm moving beyond "annoyed" to "pretty po'd" about the hysteria. jmo

Well, this particular woman is 35 and is in critical condition. So she is hardly elderly.

 

[x_files]

A lot of employers put immense pressure on people to not call in sick, from requiring doctor's notes to disciplinary actions.

I think in light of what is currently going on they may want to rethink their policies.

 

[gregjrichards]

Leading doctor's chilling warning on coronavirus goes viral - as he claims people need to EXPECT they will get the disease and reveals why panic buying could 'prove disastrous'

Toronto-based doctor Abdu Sharkawy said a recent spate of panic buying across the globe in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak was unnecessary and 'perpetuated even more fear'.

In a viral Facebook post Dr Sharkawy said what was most important was a change in attitude towards the disease - with the specialist claiming its ability to spread rapidly means that at some point it will likely 'affect them or their family'.

Coronavirus specialist says people need to EXPECT they will get virus | Daily Mail Online

 

[Windsorite]

Do we know why there are an unusually large number of COVID positives in Italy?

Do we even know it’s an unusually large number? I don’t think we can really say. MOO

 

[Amonet]

Tesco to start limiting the number of some types of items that a customer can buy in one visit. I think this is a good idea, and I hope other supermarkets will follow suit.

We need this to calm down and ensure that people who really need the products can get them. We're not talking about luxury cars here, we're talking about basic necessities like toilet rolls, and items that are going to be important for public health as well as individual health (hand sanitizers and medicines).

Supermarkets begin RATIONING as Tesco limits pasta, baked beans and hand sanitiser | Daily Mail Online

 

[x_files]

Unfortunately people seem to have forgotten that lesson and many people don’t have parents who teach them. I see it everywhere. Kids sneezing and coughing freely and parents not saying a word. Worse, ADULTS sneezing and coughing freely.

Apparently 25% of the population do not cover their mouths or noses when they sneeze or cough.

Here some photos of the impact of that:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/10/new-research-the-common-sneeze-is-a-dangerous-infectious-cloud-cover-your-mouth/?outputType=amp

And the rest of the public not in that 25%? Most of them sneeze or cough into their hands and then spread those germs everywhere. Only 5% of the population uses a tissue or the crook of their arm:

One in four people don't cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze | Daily Mail Online

P.S. most of the colds I’ve caught have been three days after someone coughed near me.

I believe you. I went out last week and a guy coughed right on me. It was as if he did it on purpose. I'm a bit nervous, to say the least. He looked pretty feverish too.

 

[Amonet]

This is a great visual if you would like to use it on your social media....

This is what we are faced with....

From the numbers I'm seeing projected, I think that dotted line should be a lot lower.

 

[jjenny]

That's ONE PERSON and we have no idea what her background is. None. #fearporn

No, we don't, but people with pre-existing conditions want to live too. You seem to be arguing that because it mostly affects elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, there is nothing to panic about? As if those people don't count?

 

[xtrain]

No doubt some homemade hand sanitizer recipes have already been posted, but with these threads being so many pages, I'll drop this recipe here in case someone coming along to read now is interested. I personally purchased the aloe, alcohol and silicone squeeze bottles today on Amazon. (I'm not making wipes - just the sanitizer that I'll bottle.)

Homemade Disinfecting Wipes and Hand Sanitizer
Make your own disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer for pennies. Made with nontoxic ingredients with reusable paper towels option for safe, convenient sustainability.

Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 80 wipes
Author Sarah Pope MGA

Ingredients

• 1 roll paper towels preferably made of sustainable, reusable bamboo.
• 2/3 cup 99.9% isopropyl alcohol
• 1/3 cup aloe vera preferably organic
• 2 drops anti-microbial essential oil optional (clove, tea tree, or thyme suggested)

Instructions

1. Mix the alcohol, aloe vera, and optional essential oil together in a glass jar to make a gentle but highly effective disinfectant. Pour into a cleaned, recycled hand sanitizer bottle. To make wipes, continue with additional steps below.
   
   
2. Cut each paper towel in the entire roll into four squares.
   
   
3. Make two stacks of the cut paper towels in a large glass bowl and pour the alcohol mixture evenly over them. Let stand until the liquid is fully absorbed.
   
   
4. If you find you need more liquid depending on the thickness of the paper towels you are using, mix up more alcohol/aloe vera mixture at a ratio of 2:1
   
   
5. Place the wipes in a large ziplock bag for convenient use at home or when traveling.
   
   
6. If using bamboo paper towels in order to re-use, store used wipes in a separate double seal ziplock bag for easy laundering as needed.

Recipe Notes
Make three batches of disinfectant wipes so that you have plenty of time to launder before you reach the end of the third bag.

If only 70% isopropyl alcohol is available at your pharmacy, reduce the amount of aloe vera in the recipe to 1 tablespoon to compensate for the lower strength of the alcohol.

If stores are out of all strengths of isopropyl alcohol, in a pinch you can use ethanol or 190 proof vodka to make your hand sanitizer or wipes.

DIY Disinfectant Wipes and Hand Sanitizer | Healthy Home Economist

 

[OhioBlues]

Do we even know it’s an unusually large number? I don’t think we can really say. MOO

Italy has 5883 cases. (The 3rd highest in the world)
Italy has had 233 deaths (The 2nd highest in the world) and 589 have recovered.

Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS

 

[galiuro1]

Leading doctor's chilling warning on coronavirus goes viral - as he claims people need to EXPECT they will get the disease and reveals why panic buying could 'prove disastrous'

Toronto-based doctor Abdu Sharkawy said a recent spate of panic buying across the globe in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak was unnecessary and 'perpetuated even more fear'.

In a viral Facebook post Dr Sharkawy said what was most important was a change in attitude towards the disease - with the specialist claiming its ability to spread rapidly means that at some point it will likely 'affect them or their family'.

Coronavirus specialist says people need to EXPECT they will get virus | Daily Mail Online

If we're all going to catch it then how will hospitals be able to handle the rather large number of extreme cases that seem quite possible by other experts' difference of opinion? Cause that's the part that scares me...not the 'unnecessary folk' clogging up the ER, though it would help if that didn't happen...but what happens when all the beds are full, especially considering they've already been close to the edge with a kinda bad flu season that's not over yet either? Not mentioned by him at all,not addressed by those who are unhappy about all the panic...

 

[jjenny]

If we're all going to catch it then how will hospitals be able to handle the rather large number of extreme cases that seem quite possible by other experts' difference of opinion? Cause that's the part that scares me...not the 'unnecessary folk' clogging up the ER, though it would help if that didn't happen...but what happens when all the beds are full, especially considering they've already been close to the edge with a kinda bad flu season that's not over yet either? Not mentioned by him at all,not addressed by those who are unhappy about all the panic...

That's exactly right. If a lot of people get it, even if only a small percentage of these people needs hospitalization, those are going to be huge numbers of people who need hospitalization. And we don't have huge numbers of hospital beds waiting for them.

 

[firebird]

No, we don't, but people with pre-existing conditions want to live too. You seem to be arguing that because it mostly affects elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, there is nothing to panic about? As if those people don't count?

No, I don't "seem to be arguing" that. I'm saying that, as usual, there's nothing for MOST people to be concerned about. And, in this case, thankfully, not a lot to be concerned about wrt to the young.