Corona…

[Belle Rose]

Yah… The coronavirus is here. At least where I live it is. The school district we live in is shut down for two weeks. Crazy. Wondering if you guys think this virus is as dangerous as they are making it out to be. I am somewhere between wanting to hide in my house and not come out for a couple of months, or just say fuck it, I’ll probably end up getting sick at some point anyway it’s just like the flu. Although I am not older per se, I do have a pretty weak immune system so it’s kind of scary because I also have a child and if I die… Well… What would happen to my child… So it is pretty scary.

[JadeBlackOlive]

Yes, it’s scary. We older people with other health issues don’t need/want something like this to kill us off! I have collected foods & non perishables for years to make sure we’re covered through the winter months, now I’ll have to make sure my stocks don’t get down. We could last for 6 months or more on my canned, frozen, & dried goods, as well as the household & personal goods.

[Belle Rose]

Wow @JadeBlackOlive that is impressive. I wish I had that much food saved up like that. I would give anything to be able to escape to Taos NM right about now….lol

[JadeBlackOlive]

@Ivy…..It’s just something I’ve always done, starting with getting married 53 years ago, & having the kids. I’d take advantage of case lot sales, 2 for 1 sales, coupons, etc. every payday until I had things built up to make sure we never got caught without, due to any kind of circumstances.

Now we’re older with the kids on their own, I continue it for the simple fact we can have rough winters & don’t want to ask the neighbours too often to help us with rides for shopping, appointments, etc.

With this virus now, I can limit my time in stores as I only need the fresh stuff, my mobility scooter becomes my shopping cart, & nobody touches it but me. I shop online for non-perishables as much as possible, & it’s all delivered to the house.

I don’t need enclosed buses to get me to town as my scooter is great for all that. My husband also drives a scooter.

 

 

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by JadeBlackOlive.

[PopeBeanie]

People are over-reacting. All hand sanitizer seems to be sold out everywhere, even on amazon, and so is isopropyl alcohol from which you could make your own. (FYI, 70% isopropyl alcohol is equivalent to 99% rubbing alcohol, which is also sold out.)

I started writing a topic that points to detailed updates by experts, but I’m sidetracked at the moment.

See http://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-sars-cov-2/ for a brand new, informative podcast.

Wash hands often, especially after being in public places, and remember that masks only work to help stop infected people from spreading the virus, although they do help everyone from touching most of their face with their hands.

Some virologists think that China is over-doing the isolation of entire populations, in that even if they’re successful after some time, infections will rebound because not enough of the “herd” will have been exposed to gain immunity.

[Belle Rose]

Ugh, my son is suddenly sick. Will probably take to the ER. Hoping this isn’t “it”….fingers crossed.

[PopeBeanie]

Ivy, no! Doctors say to call them. It’s more likely he has a typical virus, and ER would be one of the riskiest places to go to.

I should add, typically, covid19 ramps up slowly, not suddenly. And no kid (under 9, at least) has died from it.

[Belle Rose]

@PopeBeanie that’s good to know….He’s asleep right now so will see when he wakes up…

[PopeBeanie]

I think you must know this by now, but for others, I should have also added (e.g. from https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020/ChildCare):

What are common symptoms of COVID-19?
Patients with COVID-19 have had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath. It takes 2 to 14 days after a person gets the virus in their body to become ill.

Again, in spite of its current unpredictableness, even those symptoms are not specific to covid19, and would much more be likely due to typical viral infections other than covid19. In fact, typical viral infections are statistically much more serious than even what we’re currently seeing happening with covid19. It’s just that the typical stuff isn’t “news”.

Except that one needs to be more aware of what’s happening locally. Especially in cruise ships!

[Unseen]

PopeBeanie wrote:

People are over-reacting. All hand sanitizer seems to be sold out everywhere, even on amazon, and so is isopropyl alcohol from which you could make your own. (FYI, 70% isopropyl alcohol is equivalent to 99% rubbing alcohol, which is also sold out.)

I found something from the CDC about creating hand sanitizer from diluted bleach (see below). The problem is that it seems to be oriented toward creating cleaners and sanitizers in institutional rather than personal quantities. Clearly, diluted sanitizer has a short effective life as well.

Anybody want to figure out a formula for making a cup or half cup at a time and omitting making the strong solution? like how many tablespoons full to a half cup of water, or something like that? You can use chlorine bleach to sanitize wilderness lake, creek, and river water so in very small quantities it’s not lethal.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Unseen.

[Unseen]

And of course, since we’re having to go through this with the clown President in charge, he’s spreading all kinds of wishful thinking mixed with dangerous nonsense like if you’re infected and feel up to it, you should go back to work.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Unseen.

[PopeBeanie]

Unseen wrote:

dangerous nonsense like if you’re infected and feel up to it, you should go back to work

No way!? I hope he was speaking for himself, at least. 🙂

I’ll back off on my statement that people have been over-reacting with the hand sanitizer buyout. It’s much better than ignoring the warnings. But non-symptomatic people buying out the face masks is a bad idea, except for those who won’t otherwise get over the habit of touching their face. (Everyday workers like painters need those masks for health, too.) I feel fine with just using soap and water and only a baggy of a few wipes when going out… the disinfectant wipes are just a handier convenience.

Yesterday Costco had a worker outside handing out 9 x 9 (or so) thick, wet paper hand towels. I took one and it was good for the whole time I was there, including while at its food court afterwards. I bike, walk, and take public transportation for my health (albeit somewhat ironically atm), and have become extra-aware of everything I touch, and more aware of everyone who coughs and touches too many things around them.

[Jody Lee]

The panic is media driven. Everybody needs to wash their damn hands and if/when they come into contact with it, be responsible enough to self quarantine until they are no longer contagious.  Stockpiling is ridiculous. If you have at least enough supplies to hold you for at least a 14 day period,  you’re good. Face masks are being used wrong. Appropriate PPE includes a N95 respirator mask, goggles and gloves. Because of people’s panic and selfish behavior,  healthcare facilities now don’t have access to these masks until JUNE.

[Unseen]

PopeBeanie wrote:

But non-symptomatic people buying out the face masks is a bad idea, except for those who won’t otherwise get over the habit of touching their face.

The typical kind of face mask is NOT effective for preventing exposure. It’s more useful for keeping infections from spreading from the person wearing the mask to others. I fear most of the people buying and hoarding and using these masks don’t understand this. When a doctor or nurse wears one, it’s to prevent inadvertently spreading a germ they carry but isn’t making them sick. This is to protect vulnerable patients. There are masks useful to some extent to protect from disease. They are designated N95 and I just checked Amazon. Out of stock until July 3 in one case. Those that are still available are not cheap, which may explain why they are still available.

These little precautions they keep piling on are becoming absurd. I actually heard one “expert” ask “Are you disinfecting your keys when you come home?” That seems a bit far. Maybe I should burn my clothes when I get home.

And with what. My grocery store and drug store are out of hand sanitizer, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and antibacterial soap.

May I suggest that hand sanitizer, alcohol, etc., become by prescription only until the industry can catch up with demand.

Touching one’s face is almost impossible to control. Most of the time, it’s not an intentional act (“And now I shall itch my nose”). There are hilarious videos of healthcare advisers saying we should not touch our face and then going ahead and doing so themselves.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Unseen.

[Davis]

Indeed. My city in Spain is under limited quarentine (very likely to be full blown in the next couple of days). But you wouldn’t notice out in the street. There is calm was even with schools shut down, people told to work from home and theatres and cinemas closed down. Flights will probably stop in a few days. There’s less bread in the supermarket but the shelves aren’t empty. People are actually embarrassed to buy toilet paper in case it looks like the videos we’ve seen on YouTube of Americans buying tons of it and even fighting over it. The news is informative…not panic inducing. The doctors and pharmacists I know think even in this state it’s being overblown. One difficult thing here in the Mediterranean is handwashung is less than popular. I would say that when going to a public bathroom perhaps 20% of men wash their hands after doing their business which almost none of them use soap. Quite hot water for hand washing or even dishes washing is almost unheard of.

[Author]

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