COVID-19 Coronavirus UPDATES, BANS, CLOSURES, ADVISORY, etc.

[WebleyGreene455]

The issue I have is that there is a lot of "experts" saying "will infect" or "would be" or "could". I feel at this current time to say millions will die in the US, even millions will be infected, is not supported with any data.

Based on US numbers, we have seen 55 deaths so far (I know it will go up) but that is about the same as the first warm weekend in Chicago. We have around 2500 known cases, there are a lot of steps being taken to minimize large gatherings. We will see an increase over the next week due to better testing and more cases being correctly diagnosed but to get to millions of infected is a stretch, millions of deaths would require more almost 20% of the population to be infected....I just dont see it happening.

If we look at China (I know they are not the most honest with data) but they only have had 81,000 cases and 3,200 deaths. They are much more populated, have a larger population and were at the epicenter/start of it all before we knew it could be contagious for 5 days before even showing symptoms. This should be the worse case example, however for whatever reason "experts" are predicting way worse for the US and Europe. I keep hearing the hospitals will be overloaded and there will be no beds, however I had not seen any data that supports this, I also havent seen any that says we will be fine and I also havent seen any plan for what we will do once we hit critical mass.

As someone told me yesterday, I have a false sense of reality based upon my use of data. I dont feel the current level of fear or panic is warranted, I will also say I dont think it matches reality, for example refinances are up 79%, would someone worried about dying or large hospital bills be getting 30 year mortgage? Be safe, be vigilant, be prepared, but also dont live in fear.

The deaths in China, as I've said before, are not simply attributable to the virus. China's healthcare, sanitation, food quality, housing, and above all air quality are in many cases very far behind that of the USA. Bad air quality = respiratory problems/damaged lungs and mucus membranes = increased risk of infection from even basic illnesses like a common cold. As for their food and sanitation, well, this virus is said to have originated in a meat market where they were selling meat that just plain shouldn't be consumed by humans, and I've seen more than a few news articles about what amount to medical horror stories coming out of China (one man was somehow unaware of an insect living in his ear).

The population of the USA is some 330 million people, give or take some thousands; of that population, less than 100 have as of this writing died from coronavirus-related illnesses. The idea that it will somehow kill millions of people is somewhat baffling to me, but I'm not a medical expert and I expect they know a great many things I don't.

But I'm trying my damnedest not to live in fear of this illness; my mid-7os-YO parents, however, seem to be buying into the panic and fear a bit too much for my liking and it's difficult to try and reason with them about the whole situation.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

No shortage of humidity in the summer in the south. Humidity kills me.

Indeed. Actually last summer was fairly mild and pleasant, which was a nice change. But that's one thing I might rather enjoy about visiting Africa one day. The right countries and seasons are toasty-hot but nice and dry. Can actually sweat there and get cool.

 

[Newboomer]

If heat kills it, then that is one positive thing of living here in the Arizona desert.

A friend of mine's wife works for CDC and keeps up on all the latest intel. She says the latest findings show that the virus lives only three hours on any surface then dies. After that time period it is harmless. It is still good practice to wipe down anything you may come in contact with because you don't know how long ago someone touched it who may have been contagious. The surest way to contact it is airborne through coughing, sneezing, etc.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

A friend of mine's wife works for CDC and keeps up on all the latest intel. She says the latest findings show that the virus lives only three hours on any surface then dies. After that time period it is harmless. It is still good practice to wipe down anything you may come in contact with because you don't know how long ago someone touched it who may have been contagious. The surest way to contact it is airborne through coughing, sneezing, etc.

Something I read today said it can last for up to several days on a surface before it dies.

 

[BRICKBURN]

............
“The Namibian government is suspending inbound and outbound travel to and from Qatar, Ethiopia and Germany with immediate effect for a period of 30 days,” Geingob said.

Quote from the President of Namibia via Twitter March 14, 2020

"The Namibian Government is suspending inbound and outbound travel to and from QATAR, ETHIOPIA and GERMANY with immediate effect for 30 days."

https://twitter.com/hagegeingob?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

[sgt_zim]

View attachment 335781

IATA Flu Guidelines for

There is a key element missing from that graphic: do NOT open the public men's room door with your bare hand, or you just wasted all of the effort. I haven't bare-handed a men's room door handle/knob since I took microbiology and had to swab the men's room for lab cultures. Grab the handle with another paper towel, or your shirt tail if there are no paper towels available.

I'm truly not a germ-o-phobe, just skeeves me out to know there are particles of turd and God-only-know-what-else on the door handles.

 

[Royal27]

View attachment 335827
Highly intelligent reply PHASA, they may be using Who statistics, but not they are hell bent on not following their advice.

The @PHASA statement seems to be made either from a position of greed or ignorance. I'm not sure which bothers me more....

They are basically saying that people should take a "calculated risk" and come to SA for the adventure, risk to a client, or a client's family's health be damned. This is 2020, not 1855. If this really goes bad the plane trip, not the hunt, will be the dangerous part.

The ultimate decision is up to the individual, no doubt, but I wouldn't recommend anyone take advice from PHASA on this matter.

 

[BRICKBURN]

There is a key element missing from that graphic: do NOT open the public men's room door with your bare hand, or you just wasted all of the effort. I haven't bare-handed a men's room door handle/knob since I took microbiology and had to swab the men's room for lab cultures. Grab the handle with another paper towel, or your shirt tail if there are no paper towels available.

I'm truly not a germ-o-phobe, just skeeves me out to know there are particles of turd and God-only-know-what-else on the door handles.

All goes to hell without common sense.
Hand washing is a point in time measurement. Clean until......

 

[YancyW]

I'm not a medical professional, but I am a government affairs exec with the largest health care company in the world. We have some of the top biostatisticians in the industry and they are providing daily briefings to senior leadership. Every single briefing has left more concerned, the next month or so going to be far worse than I thought possible 10 days ago.

 

[Brent in Az]

I'm not a medical professional, but I am a government affairs exec with the largest health care company in the world. We have some of the top biostatisticians in the industry and they are providing daily briefings to senior leadership. Every single briefing has left more concerned, the next month or so going to be far worse than I thought possible 10 days ago.

That doesn't sound good.

 

[Brent in Az]

There is a key element missing from that graphic: do NOT open the public men's room door with your bare hand, or you just wasted all of the effort. I haven't bare-handed a men's room door handle/knob since I took microbiology and had to swab the men's room for lab cultures. Grab the handle with another paper towel, or your shirt tail if there are no paper towels available.

I'm truly not a germ-o-phobe, just skeeves me out to know there are particles of turd and God-only-know-what-else on the door handles.

That is something I have practiced for years. I try not to touch any handles, or surfaces that have been touched by the masses.

Kinda like the drama show "Monk"

 

[YancyW]

A friend of mine's wife works for CDC and keeps up on all the latest intel. She says the latest findings show that the virus lives only three hours on any surface then dies. After that time period it is harmless. It is still good practice to wipe down anything you may come in contact with because you don't know how long ago someone touched it who may have been contagious. The surest way to contact it is airborne through coughing, sneezing, etc.

Not saying that is wrong by any means, but I think that might be the case where UV light is involved. We have had several reports that exposure to UV light dramatically reduces the time the virus can survive in an aerobic environment. Which is great news.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Just had to....

 

[WebleyGreene455]

That is something I have practiced for years. I try not to touch any handles, or surfaces that have been touched by the masses.

Kinda like the drama show "Monk"

 

[sgt_zim]

All goes to hell without common sense.
Hand washing is a point in time measurement. Clean until......

While true, public toilets may be the most high-traffic areas that exist. Everybody has to pee sometime, several sometimes a day.

Some guys hit the coffee urn several times, some eschew coffee. Some bring their lunch, some eat out. But everybody hits the office head at least once a day, chicks and dudes alike. There are fomites everywhere, but the toilet is the focal point.

I think you probably understand this intuitively, but maybe some folks don't.

As with toxic chemicals, the poison is in the dose. Some microbes are so potent that just a few dozen introduced to the human body over a few seconds is enough to induce an infection. Others may require several hundred thousand or million microbes over several days to induce infection. Good hand hygiene, and avoiding the door handles of public toilets, simply reduces the odds. Short vaccines (and strict quarantines), that's the best we can achieve for prevention. And if you stop and think about it, hygiene, vaccines, and antibiotics all became "things" at about the same time, at least in the West. Since that time, Western mortality rates from pathogenic microbes have gone from about 55-60% to about 5%. Pathogenic microbes for which there are no vaccines still kill lots of people, but not in the numbers they once did. It is difficult to determine which have been a greater bulwark against those (ABX vs good hygiene), but it is a certainty that hygiene factors into the equation.

 

[Brent in Az]

Maybe it's a good time to invest in T.P stocks.

 

[EricB]

Maybe it's a good time to invest in T.P stocks.

Proctor & Gamble should see some great returns this quarter!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Maybe it's a good time to invest in T.P stocks.

PG was up 8% the other day before Don's announcement. Now, I can only imagine. (Have not looked)

 

[Brent in Az]

PG was up 8% the other day before Don's announcement. Now, I can only imagine. (Have not looked)

+12%. Looked it up out of curiosity.

 

[Brent in Az]

I don't know much about trading. I wonder what Pharma company will be the first to get an FDA approved Vaccine, and what it would do to the company stock value?