Media hype and coronavirus

Well, there is a treatment and preventative.

To prevent, if you have it or any airborne virus, wear a mask without an easy exhale vent. The point is for the infected person to not spread it. Masks are useless if worn by someone uninfected since the virus can get through it. But for the infected a mask stops the mucous particles that carry the virus and such since they're too large to get through the mask. Too, most folks don't seal the mask by squeezing the aluminum strip to form fit their nose. The strip is there to achieve a seal and not to make the mask shiny and attractive to crows.

Also part of prevention, don't touch mucous membranes, and wash and disinfect hands regularly.

To treat we have Tamiflu (sp?) but it has to be used within 2 days of the first signs from what little I know of it.

At this point I'm not worried about it. We can hole up for quite some time and not see or contact anyone. I feel sorry for folks who live their lives like a bee in a hive and can't stay away from people. But people make choices that they live with (or not).

The problem with the reporting now is that it's deliberately done to hype it and make it much worse than it presently is. That is bad for the weak minded to encounter, and others just tune it out. Too, much of the reporting is done to politicize it and make certain people that the media absolutely hates assume guilt for something over which they have no control. Throwing $ at it does nothing, but educating folks would. But the media doesn't see that as being their job. That's how I see it anyway.

"It spreads much faster than a regular flu.

If an infected person touches an item, this item becomes infected for 9 days and you can easily get the virus that way. This does not happen with a regular flu.

It's much more complicated that what you say and we shouldn't oversimplify things."

From the Journal of Hospital Infection ALL the coronaviruses were/are capable of surviving for up to 9 days not just the current CoVid-19.
" The analysis of 22 studies reveals that human coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus or endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV) can persist on inanimate surfaces like metal, glass or plastic for up to 9 days, but can be efficiently inactivated by surface disinfection procedures with 62–71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute"

Source  https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.c...3/fulltext


Hype - New York Post headline
 Coronavirus could survive up to 9 days outside the body, study says

Source https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/...-says/amp/

Funny they reference the journal I posted above. Over simplification indeed.

CDC says airborne droplets most likely vector.
"Person-to-person spread

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

• Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
  
  
• Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
  

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Spread from contact with infected surfaces or objects

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

Source. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nco...ssion.html

And your point is what exactly?

We don't have antibodies for this new virus. That's why it's almost comical to compare it to a regular flu.

If it's not something serious, as you propose, then why the infected people are being put in quarantine and negative pressure rooms in hospitals? Is it due to the ease of being transmitted from person to person? Or maybe beacuse we know little things about it? Both I guess. There is not enough epidemiological information that can answer all the questions that are being arisen. Yet you're suggesting that we shouldn't be worried as a seasonal flu has killed more people so far.

I'll just stick to what scientists and doctors say.

This is why I hate it when I read such threads. If science does not have the answers, who do you think you are?

You get nothing by oversimplifying things. You just posted some numbers that prove nothing.

As I see it, you just wanted to belittle your president. Your last sentence shows where you wanted to end up, why you started this thread and sums it up all. If you don't like your president, next time vote wiser. Until then, leave it to the experts.

A good source: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coro...ns-answers

The seasonal flu mutates and isn't the same from year to year so you won't have antibodies for the seasonal flu either that's why you need a vaccine - if you had antibodies for the seasonal flu there would be no need for vaccination.  The healthcare people take a guess at what the upcoming seasonal flu is going to look like and prepare vaccine for the 2 or 3 viruses they figure will show up.  Some times they guess right and sometimes not.  I'm confident that a vaccine for this one will be available soon.

And your point is what exactly?

We don't have antibodies for this new virus. That's why it's almost comical to compare it to a regular flu.

If it's not something serious, as you propose, then why the infected people are being put in quarantine and negative pressure rooms in hospitals? Is it due to the ease of being transmitted from person to person? Or maybe beacuse we know little things about it? Both I guess. There is not enough epidemiological information that can answer all the questions that are being arisen. Yet you're suggesting that we shouldn't be worried as a seasonal flu has killed more people so far.

I'll just stick to what scientists and doctors say.

This is why I hate it when I read such threads. If science does not have the answers, who do you think you are?

You get nothing by oversimplifying things. You just posted some numbers that prove nothing.

As I see it, you just wanted to belittle your president. Your last sentence shows where you wanted to end up, why you started this thread and sums it up all. If you don't like your president, next time vote wiser. Until then, leave it to the experts.

A good source: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coro...ns-answers

The seasonal flu mutates and isn't the same from year to year so you won't have antibodies for the seasonal flu either that's why you need a vaccine - if you had antibodies for the seasonal flu there would be no need for vaccination.  The healthcare people take a guess at what the upcoming seasonal flu is going to look like and prepare vaccine for the 2 or 3 viruses they figure will show up.  Some times they guess right and sometimes not.  I'm confident that a vaccine for this one will be available soon.

Yes, this is true, but still there are plenty of things that are unknown about this new virus. I don't think it's safe to take a guess in this occasion. I was listening to an epidemiologist the other day who said that there is still a long way before having a vaccine ready. It could take months or years, there is no timetable On the contrary, as you said, there is a vaccine about the influenza every year for the vulnerable groups. That's why I insist on saying it makes no sense to compare these two very different viruses.

I was listening to an epidemiologist the other day who said that there is still a long way before having a vaccine ready. It could take months or years, there is no timetable.

I also saw an estimate that it could take at least a year to develop a vaccine for this one. There never was a vaccine developed for SARS (which is another Corona virus), so who knows where we’ll actually be in a year.

I agree with the original post that the media hype is overblown and gets a bit tiring. On the other hand, I do believe we should exercise caution. Right now, the only ways I know how are to:
• try to stay away from people who cough or sneeze
• wash hands with soap frequently
• refrain from touching any part of the face with hands that have not been washed.

I have to ask PhilNH5 why he would even bring up this subject in a shave site.  It just opens up subjective politics where it has no place.

I have to ask PhilNH5 why he would even bring up this subject in a shave site.  It just opens up subjective politics where it has no place.

Freddy,
You know me. That is not my MO. I felt and feel it was a legitimate topic for discussion. I have posted about hype vs weather and even about hype vs an asteroid and its associated meteor shower (which was a bust by the way). To me this was no different.
You know I worked in pharmaceutical labs my whole career. We have access to subscription and open data bases to help with research. I get plenty of info there. As well as the CDC and journal sites.

I mostly was interested in Covid-19 as a parent. We have an immuno and pulmonary compromised adult child. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome scared the heck out of ML and I. I paid attention to the latest bug for the same reason.

How the media presentation affected us came up a week ago. Two of my team suit up for a clean room environment. Hair nets, gloves, gowns and face masks. These personal  protective equipment (ppe) serve to ensure safety of the team but also safety of the product. No one wants an impure nor contaminated drug.

Our routine order of ppe met a hitch. No face masks available. These are large particulate masks. On their website 3M attributed the demand to CoVid-19.  We have a good supply and should be stocked until back orders can be filled.

At lunch someone pointed out that if we can't get them then healthcare professionals can't either. If this becomes a deadly pandemic we want our frontline heath workers to be protected and safe so they can continue to help. Would be bad if they all got sick or refused to work. It was an interesting discussion.

Then the headlines broke about the 9 days viable on smooth surfaces. Very scary. The researchers point out that all carnoviruses have this ability. Most stories did not mention it or buried it in the article. This 9 day window is not just  covid-19 trait. Yet neither SARS no MERS became the planet altering diseases the media predicted.

Before being named CoVid-19 it was called novel corona virus. Niko is correct in pointing out we don't know much about it. You pointed that out as well in your post.

The  CDC takes what we do know and plugs it into models. They explain these on their site. Predictive outcome is posted as well. It changes every day as new data is entered. Judging from my brief sojourn into the ECDC they use the same approach. Real data in real time.

They also admit what they don't  know. Covid went from an epidemic(China) to a pandemic (global). For now that is attributed to modern travel as opposed to easy transmission. The CDC says they do not have enough info to claim covid-19 is spread more easily than the other recent coronaviruses SARS and MERS.

Juxtaposition that against the media presentation and you see why I called it hype.

That being said feel free to lock, remove or even quarantine this thread.

Phil, I thought it a valid topic for discussion also.

But a question... I looked into buying masks, but not just for this but primarily for smoke in indoor ranges. The data I found told me that unless one is infected and is actively spewing snot and mucous, masks were useless since the virus is smaller than what masks filter. True? Basically masks are useful for the infected to help prevent them spreading it and useless to prevent infection when worn by the uninfected?

Many masks have an easy exhale valve and would be totally useless by the infected. Too, the aluminum strip on masks... I see so many in the videos from the east wearing masks without having fitted the strip to the bridge of the nose... useless and wearing the mask as a form of magic.

I figure I'll buy a gallon of bleach (I bought a gallon of quat' concentrate a month ago just because we were low) and no matter what happens it'll be used. Other than that, should it come to it, just stay home and keep people away and bleach things that must come in.

Phil, there is nothing to warrant the locking of the thread, so no worries there.

And, just because I think the media is over-hyping this issue much the same way they overhype everything, doesn't mean that I'm not taking reasonable precautions.  I take reasonable precautions around the seasonal flu and most other health related issues. Wash your hands, get vaccinated where possible and stay home when you're sick.

I refrained from commenting on the thread where someone asked about buying a badger brush from China right now. I was going to say that I would hold off but I choose not to post as I was thinking it would only enflame responses of "believing the hype". Anyways, there should be a healthy balance of being precautious and prepared as well as waiting for information to come in. But that's another issue, we all trust different sources and even those at times inherently will be dishonest. We never get the full story or complete set of facts. Is there a right way to handle fear of the unknown?