Facemasks

[whiskywill]

So you wear a mask and come into contact with somebody infected with the Corona virus. That person breathes/coughs/sneezes on you. The mask protects your nose and mouth but what about your hair, face, neck, hand, clothes and, of course, the outside surface of the face mask. The virus is able to survive on various surfaces.

 

[Trevanion]

Probably wise but since I posted about this earlier today the local news has reported 2 possible cases that are close to home for me. They are 2 people who have just returned from Tenerife. One of the suspect cases is in the town (population 140 000) where my wife's office is located and the other is in the town (population 50 000) where my son is studying. I will visit both towns this weekend. I assume there is little to no risk at the moment but I will monitor what happens. It is certainly a tad more real for me today than yesterday.

I can understand the concern, but realistically that's two people out of 190,000 total between the two towns you mentioned, the confirmed current active cases across the whole world is 80,000 with most in far more densely populated countries with little or no real medical care comparatively. You also mention they're "possible cases" which means they aren't even confirmed, not every bugger coming back from Tenerife is going to have Coronavirus but even the local media will make a big fuss about it because, again, it generates clicks. If there is a confirmed case in either said town I suspect the individual and anyone who may have made contact would be very quickly quarantined much like the rest that have been discovered.

If things get dire, you could always get one of these bad boys and wash it down with Dettol loaded into a pressure washer after being out and about to the shops.

 

[Just4Fun]

I can understand the concern, but realistically that's two people out of 190,000 total between the two towns you mentioned

Agreed. As I said, I assume little to no current risk but ... the evening news reported a 3rd case in the country and this one is confirmed, not suspect. Again, just one case and this one is not local to me but it does make you think.

If things get dire, you could always get one of these bad boys ...

I am notoriously sartorially incompetent but even I draw the line at that!

 

[SammyQ]

"The virus is able to survive on various asurfaces."

Whiskeywill, that is a VERY sweeping statement, not true of viruses in general.
As regards Corovid 19, I would like to see specific medical or scientific reference to which surfaces and in what circumstances it can survive.
So far, the biomedical information suggests 'sustained close proximity (under 2m) to an infected person for 15 minutes' is needed for transmission.
This facilitates droplet infection, not aerosol; ergo, you have to be coughed on, by someone practically inside your personal space, for infection, not by handling the same doorknob or toilet flush handle.

Sam

 

[lurker]

Just to get this into proportion, 300 deaths per year due to influenza in the uk, would be a very conservative estimate.
And, I imagine this new bug is by no means as infectious.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I would worry more about influenza than this scaremongering excuse for a world recession. (In three weeks time I could be proven monumentally wrong, but for now I see no reason to panic).

Now we are more than 3 weeks down the road so can I ask if your view has changed?

Certainly the media coverage is considerable and spread does seem to be rapid. The death rate still seems open to some debate but a figure of 20 to 25 times higher than for the flu has been quoted. Is it time to worry? Is anyone taking any action, and if so, what are you doing?

I do not normally pay much attention to these scares but I have been following this quite closely. I have been trying to work out why that is and come up against a chicken & egg situation. Am I paying more attention to this one because it is more serious or does it seem more serious because I have been following it more closely? Or is it just that modern online media makes information more, and more quickly, accessible?

A good question. I have been following several "alternative" news sites, because I don't trust the mainstream media. If you want to frighten the willies out of yourself, and anyone who knows you, have a look at Zerohedge who are convinced the human race will be extinct next week. MoonofAlabama are noting that the China numbers are coming under control, and it will be iradicated fairly soon (a matter of a few months).

I have a few thoughts - firstly, the disease is mostly harmless. Secondly, it is a Corona virus i.e. the common cold: everyone gets it. It seems to be randomly fatal for smokers, old/immunocompromised people, but not for everyone else. On that basis, I don't worry for myself, or my immediate family - the 'flu kills thousands every year, but we mostly don't lose sleep over it.

However, there will be economic fallout that may well be worse than if no one took any protective measures - I don't think many cruises will be booked in the next few months. Anyone enthusiastic to get on an aeroplane? I earn the majority of my income from tourism - that may not happen this year. This could all be a cunning ruse to precipitate the economic reset that has been so obviously necessary since 2009 (warning: paranoid conspiracy theorist at work).

More fun conspiracy theorising: both China and now Iran seem to be hard hit - could it have been a weaponised biowarfare attack? (Answer:almost certainly not, but it is entertaining to consider the possibility). Also, given that pensioners are the most likely victims, any government with a pension system has an interest in not controling the outbreak. Fewer pensioners makes for a better balance sheet.

In conclusion, I'm not worried about catching the virus, but I expect to be significantly poorer by the end of this year, because of government measures and public panic. We'll have to see how it all pans out.

 

[sunnybob]

I flew back from the UK to Cyprus yesterday after 10 days in the west country :shock:

On the way there, one girl was wearing a mask all the way through the journey and both airports, but she did look of asian origin, so maybe she is more used to that than most westerners.

On the way back there were no masked marauders.
Strangely, I heard a lot less random coughing than usual in a public place, I think people are now scared to in case they start a panic :roll:

But Having sat in the front seat (No, not THAT front seat) and seen just how many people use the toilet that I HAD to use in a 5 hour flight, I made sure to shower and wash all my clothes as soon as I got home.

(at least 180 on the plane, only three toilets, I saw one woman go into that toilet at least 6 times. But on the other hand, the man sitting next to us didnt even get out of his seat the whole journey. I estimate 70 people as a minimum used the one nearest to me)

Thankfully, thats my last flight this year 8) 8)

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I flew back from the UK to Cyprus yesterday after 10 days in the west country :shock:

On the way there, one girl was wearing a mask all the way through the journey and both airports, but she did look of asian origin, so maybe she is more used to that than most westerners.

On the way back there were no masked marauders.
Strangely, I heard a lot less random coughing than usual in a public place, I think people are now scared to in case they start a panic :roll:

But Having sat in the front seat (No, not THAT front seat) and seen just how many people use the toilet that I HAD to use in a 5 hour flight, I made sure to shower and wash all my clothes as soon as I got home.

(at least 180 on the plane, only three toilets, I saw one woman go into that toilet at least 6 times. But on the other hand, the man sitting next to us didnt even get out of his seat the whole journey. I estimate 70 people as a minimum used the one nearest to me)

Thankfully, thats my last flight this year 8) 8)

Well done for making it back to civilization. Your next mission, should you chose to accept it, is to survive the next 14 days unscathed

The real issue with being in a crowd of people is that you will be liberally plastered with virus and bacteria particles - nothing you can do about it. You just need to try not to get them inside your body. The face mask does very little (although it helps to not give your diseases to other people), but it does stop you putting your fingers in your mouth, which is probably the number one means of disease transmission.

Oh, and do you wash your vegetables? All those people prodding and poking the tomatoes, and sneezing and coughing and nose-picking just before they dive in to find the best produce...and don't forget that the hermetically sealed, plastic wrapped half-cucmber was cut in half by an east-european wage-slave with questionable hygiene.

Not that anyone should panic, or anything...but best to never leave the house again, just in case (/sarc off?)

 

[Tris]

Don't forget that by now we were all meant to have been wiped out by H5N1, SARS, ebola, and yet here we are.

 

[sunnybob]

I think if I had done that journey in a months time, I would have been arrested. :? :shock:
Due to a very old nasal injury my nose is sometimes blocked for days, and then runs like a tap for a while to catch up. That actually happened 6 hours after I got home, and I have to admit I had a doubt for a couple of hours. :roll: :roll: :roll:
But I'm back to normal today, basking in the 18c sunshine, after a week in the wet and cold. =D> =D> =D> =D> 8)

Did you see the clip of the Iranian health minister? proclaiming there wasnt a problem while frantically wiping his face like he had just come out of a shower, and 5 hours later admitting he had self quarantined.
Oh how much we trust all politicians.........

 

[John15]

Probably unnecessary but until the Coronavirus scare has passed I'm having my Sainsburys groceries delivered rather than mixing with people coughing and spluttering in the store. Also avoiding the busy times at the pub. I know I'm daft so no need to tell me so!!

John

 

[sunnybob]

I notice youre not having the booze delivered... just avoiding busy times.
But what happens if the barman has just contracted it, and then (I REALLY, REALLY hate this!) puts his fingers INSIDE your glass to pull it from the shelf?

 

[John15]

I notice youre not having the booze delivered... just avoiding busy times.
But what happens if the barman has just contracted it, and then (I REALLY, REALLY hate this!) puts his fingers INSIDE your glass to pull it from the shelf?

I haven't noticed dirty fingers in the glasses. What a horrible thought - I wondered why my Guinness sometimes looses it's head rather quickly. At least I avoid contaminated cash by running a tab.

John

 

[sunnybob]

Now that I've mentioned it, you will see how often that happens.
I dont do much pub drinking anymore, thats one of the reasons.

 

[RogerS]

Those naysayers are missing one very important point. One I've mentioned elsewhere - namely that the bad thing about Covid-19 is that its morbidity is worryingly high at 20%. Translated in to English, that means that if you catch the disease and hospitalised that the severer symptoms tie up an awful lot of healthcare professionals. It won't take many cases to overwhelm the NHS.

Information from a qualified source - not a tinhat Facebook thread.

 

[Nigel Burden]

There's little point in worrying too much about it as there's no vaccine at present. Influenza is a bigger risk from what I've heard. Take sensible precautions by all means if you go to an area where the virus is known, but otherwise why worry too much, you'll only increase your stress levels.

Nigel.

 

[Tris]

Roger- what is the source? A study published by the Lancet using data from January gives 8% morbidity, just wondering if it has become more virulent.

 

[RogerS]

Roger- what is the source? A study published by the Lancet using data from January gives 8% morbidity, just wondering if it has become more virulent.

A medic at the coalface.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Greece has its third case today, shipped in from Italy. To show that they care, the government has cancelled all the carnivals due to happen this week and next. The really big one is in Patras, which can attract 35-40,000 people taking part in the parade (according to the rather gushing wikipedia article, that is). Allegedly millions watch. Probably best to cancel it then. Our rather more modest village carnival has also been cancelled, just in case. There's always next year, I suppose.

We are going shopping this afternoon, to stock up on essentials such as bread flour, antibiotics and cold relief medicines. This is not because I am panicking, but because I know that everyone else will be panicking, and he who panics first, panics best (works in the stock market, too). Bear in mind that come mid-March, the lack of production in China is going to start to feed into the system - Amazon is going to be out of stock quite a bit, I believe. Apparently China also manufactures the vast majority of prescription drugs (certainly the case for America, I don't know if this is also the case for Europe), so lack of production could have some interesting knock-on effects.

We are certainly living in interesting times.

 

[RogerS]

Greece has its third case today, shipped in from Italy. To show that they care, the government has cancelled all the carnivals due to happen this week and next. ....

We should be cancelling little Greta's eco-gathering in Bristol later on. But they won't. Our police are now spineless and the judiciary have seen to that by the ruling re those Excretion Revulsion twits. So any Tom, Dick or Harry can go and dig up a lawn anywhere, get the police to close the streets and inconvenience you and I plus delay ambulances etc because they are too scared to do diddly-squat.

Must confess that when I was at the doctor's surgery this morning I waited in the car until the last possible moment and any whisper of a cough from anyone then I was out of there. I do have an appointment at the local hospital. It's not urgent and I'm tempted to postpone.