SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Isn’t it more spread out in Ontario? Did you hear about that lady who flew from Iran to Toronto (via Copenhagen I think) and took the Go Bus to somewhere like Richmond Hill, all whilst being infected with the virus? It’d be a miracle if she didn’t infect anyone else.

The GTA is big but it all congregates into downtown Toronto five or six days a week.

That extensive public transit network could be one hell of a vector.
 
So, for several personal reasons I mostly ignored this so far.

Then I obsessively devoted myself to reading about it this weekend. My mind is a bit numb.

Has this actually ended somewhere that has been affected? Like, has life in Wuhan returned to normal? It seems not but I struggle to confirm some things. Expected I guess, need more time.

So this is happening in real time. It seems to me that a worst case scenario is a choice between mortality levels comparable to Spanish flu (even if in a different demographic) or levels of economic and personal restraint that we don't even know for how long might have to be maintained? Economic crisis without precedent?

Am I reading this right? Even if we can't quantify how likely that worst case scenario is it definitely seems to be there and is very grim. This requires the utmost attention. Even individually, you have to think stuff like "can I handle two weeks without working? What about a month? Do I have frail people under my care? What do I have to learn if so?"

Massive stuff I think. Will be hard to think about anything else in my spare time from now on. I want to devote myself tobunderstanding this to the utmost of my abilities.
 
So, for several personal reasons I mostly ignored this so far.

Then I obsessively devoted myself to reading about it this weekend. My mind is a bit numb.

Has this actually ended somewhere that has been affected? Like, has life in Wuhan returned to normal? It seems not but I struggle to confirm some things. Expected I guess, need more time.

So this is happening in real time. It seems to me that a worst case scenario is a choice between mortality levels comparable to Spanish flu (even if in a different demographic) or levels of economic and personal restraint that we don't even know for how long might have to be maintained? Economic crisis without precedent?

Am I reading this right? Even if we can't quantify how likely that worst case scenario is it definitely seems to be there and is very grim. This requires the utmost attention. Even individually, you have to think stuff like "can I handle two weeks without working? What about a month? Do I have frail people under my care? What do I have to learn if so?"

Massive stuff I think. Will be hard to think about anything else in my spare time from now on. I want to devote myself tobunderstanding this to the utmost of my abilities.


Don't forget Liverpool being cheated out of a league title though.

every cloud and all that....
 
Group chat response from a World Geography teacher to me texting about how there’s been a covid-19 case confirmed on the East Coast...
Flu will kill way more people than this virus. Don't buy into this fear mongering nonsense
 
Plenty of research suggests otherwise. The masks make little to no difference in what you might breathe in and the increased urge to touch your face to adjust them means you are more likely to transfer germs to your face.

Research I saw reported (no idea how reliable it was) suggested an up to 5 fold decrease in transmission, as the primary mechanism of transmission is droplets from a sneeze. And it also varies according to the type of mask and how well it fits.
 
Depends what mask you're wearing.

If you've purchased an N-95 for example, then you would undoubtedly be safer. You'd also be a bit of a nutter most likely.

If you're wearing a surgical mask, as a member of the public as well, you're likely to a) not be wearing it correctly b) not forming a tight seal around your mouth and nose, c) disposing of it incorrectly and touching the mask with your hands and d) not being very efficient in shutting out viruses regardless of the above as most are smaller in size than the pores in surgical masks.

Hand hygiene is as important as the mask.
 
Two positive cases reported in Tampa Bay area, one being in Hillsborough County where I live. No fecking way I’m traveling back there by plane from Colorado. A 1000% feck no. Nope.
 
He does realise coronavirus deaths will be on top of flu deaths?
Hell no he doesn’t. His a bit of a smug prick. He likes Ben Shapiro.
It won't be exactly on top though, surely?
I'm guessing there's a relatively big overlap between people in danger of dying from this virus and people in danger of dying from a regular flu. People are not gonna die twice.
Of course this is a bit pedantic, by the way.
 
Group chat response from a World Geography teacher to me texting about how there’s been a covid-19 case confirmed on the East Coast...
Does he realize a flu shot exists and that our immune systems have developed antibodies to the flu already?
 
It won't be exactly on top though, surely?
I'm guessing there's a relatively big overlap between people in danger of dying from this virus and people in danger of dying from a regular flu. People are not gonna die twice.
Of course this is a bit pedantic, by the way.
Obviously there will be some overlap but assuming it will be relatively big seems precipitous to me. Unless someone provides me with a detailed reasoning for why that should be the case I'm actually estimating it might very well be small. Certainly less than 50%, perhaps as low as 5% or 1%. I'm thinking "on top" of that seems relatively close to the truth.
 
No news here. I live in Doral though :nervous:

You can come and crash at my place if you need :lol:
I appreciate the offer man but I’ll feel safe at my own place. I definitely want to avoid the airport though and my mom and her SO who is in his late 70s feel the same too. The first three months after a transplant are absolutely crucial and I’m taking zero chances. A little paper mask isn’t going to fill me with confidence.
 
There’s some hoarding/stocking up going on.
On Friday in another Costco I saw carts with tons of toilet paper, water bottles, bleach, etc. mostly by Asian folks it seemed, but now that has spread down my way as the water has all gone in my local Costco. I’ve seen this before but not for quite a while.
 
So how bad has the price gouging been in your personal experiences? I’m seeing masks go for up to $400 for a 20 count on Amazon here :eek: Granted they are N95 medical masks but still...

Oh and Prime 2day delivery... forget about it!
 
There’s some hoarding/stocking up going on.
On Friday in another Costco I saw carts with tons of toilet paper, water bottles, bleach, etc. mostly by Asian folks it seemed, but now that has spread down my way as the water has all gone in my local Costco. I’ve seen this before but not for quite a while.

These are the key things you need to get before the costs triple ina few weeks:

1) Three types of Masks -- Surgical, N95 and also reusable masks
2) Alcohol-based wet wipes
3) Hand sanitizers
4) Thermometer
4) Anti-septic soaps

Even if you are healthy or undetected (since it has a 2 week incubation period) , mask is a community thing -- help control the spread.
 
Hand hygiene is as important as the mask.
It won't be exactly on top though, surely?
I'm guessing there's a relatively big overlap between people in danger of dying from this virus and people in danger of dying from a regular flu. People are not gonna die twice.
Of course this is a bit pedantic, by the way.

I guess some people who die from corona virus might have died from flu anyway but I'm not sure how much overlap there would be. I guess it will largely depend how widespread infection becomes.
 
Hand hygiene is as important as the mask.

And most precautions aren't much use as a preventitive step unless there is widespread infection.

I have some masks but I won't be using them any time soon (I hope) as there are so far no cases where I live not connected to China, Iran or evacuees from that cruise ship. Probably just a matter of time though.
 
And most precautions aren't much use as a preventitive step unless there is widespread infection.

I have some masks but I won't be using them any time soon (I hope) as there are so far no cases where I live not connected to China, Iran or evacuees from that cruise ship. Probably just a matter of time though.

Most place are past the phase of being a tendril. They are multiple, complex webs now. Tracing the contacts needs to be done quickly and then isolate them.
The problem is prediction since there is at least a 14 day incubation period and each person meeting at least 10 other people per day.
In fact there was even a case of a patient who was isolated and then tested positive a few days after he was released.
 
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Obviously there will be some overlap but assuming it will be relatively big seems precipitous to me. Unless someone provides me with a detailed reasoning for why that should be the case I'm actually estimating it might very well be small. Certainly less than 50%, perhaps as low as 5% or 1%. I'm thinking "on top" of that seems relatively close to the truth.
You're a medical doctor, right? So you'll obviously be better placed to say.
Anyway, I thought it was mainly people with underlying conditions or lowered immune systems etc. in risk of dying from covid-19. I just thought that would be the same for regular flu. If that's true, and given the higher infection rate of covid-19, you'd imagine that covid-19 casts a wider net, so to speak, and would then get to people already in risk of succumbing to the flu before the flu gets there. If that makes sense.

That's coming from a type of probabilistic perspective though.
 
You're a medical doctor, right? So you'll obviously be better placed to say.
Anyway, I thought it was mainly people with underlying conditions or lowered immune systems etc. in risk of dying from covid-19. I just thought that would be the same for regular flu. If that's true, and given the higher infection rate of covid-19, you'd imagine that covid-19 casts a wider net, so to speak, and would then get to people already in risk of succumbing to the flu before the flu gets there. If that makes sense.

That's coming from a type of probabilistic perspective though.

But the same number of people will get the flu and coronsvirus infections will be an additional is how I was thinking about it. Only a few will die of one who would have caught and died from the other I would have thought.
 
I legit think I have it. Yesterday morning I couldn't barely breathe, have headaches and at least no cough, but have a fever. Ive been a bit sick these past few days but I'm probably being paranoid. Dunno who to ring. I'm from cork. No way it's even here yet surely. Is it possible to get a virus from a package? I bought something from Amazon. Ever since, I feel so fecked up right. I've never in my life felt like this. It is a tiny bit worrying
 
I legit think I have it. Yesterday morning I couldn't barely breathe, have headaches and at least no cough, but have a fever. Ive been a bit sick these past few days but I'm probably being paranoid. Dunno who to ring. I'm from cork. No way it's even here yet surely. Is it possible to get a virus from a package? I bought something from Amazon. Ever since, I feel so fecked up right. I've never in my life felt like this. It is a tiny bit worrying

Take care man.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters

Packages are OK.
 
I legit think I have it. Yesterday morning I couldn't barely breathe, have headaches and at least no cough, but have a fever. Ive been a bit sick these past few days but I'm probably being paranoid. Dunno who to ring. I'm from cork. No way it's even here yet surely. Is it possible to get a virus from a package? I bought something from Amazon. Ever since, I feel so fecked up right. I've never in my life felt like this. It is a tiny bit worrying

A report I saw was rubbishing the idea that packages from China could carry the virus via surface moisture because it can only live on surfaces for up to 8 hours.

Considering how quickly Amazon Prime dispatch and deliver from a wide catchment area then using that logic it doesn’t sound impossible, especially considering it wouldn’t have to be infected at source, it could have been done at any of their facilities along the way.

Not meaning to alarm you here and I’m just hypothesising based on what I’ve read. Always good to be cautionary.
 

No, that says packages from China are OK. If a delivery person has the virus and sneezed on your package (chortle) then you could definitely get it. Now considering it can live on surfaces for up to 8 hours (12 according to some reports) then a parcel could feasibly become infected and stay infected along an Amazon Prime delivery network.

If that’s actually the case then we would be royally screwed.
 
I legit think I have it. Yesterday morning I couldn't barely breathe, have headaches and at least no cough, but have a fever. Ive been a bit sick these past few days but I'm probably being paranoid. Dunno who to ring. I'm from cork. No way it's even here yet surely. Is it possible to get a virus from a package? I bought something from Amazon. Ever since, I feel so fecked up right. I've never in my life felt like this. It is a tiny bit worrying
According to my sisters friend who’s mother is a nurse and brother who’s a guard say it’s in Tipp, also a school from cork was in northern Italy last week, so ya never know
 
I legit think I have it. Yesterday morning I couldn't barely breathe, have headaches and at least no cough, but have a fever. Ive been a bit sick these past few days but I'm probably being paranoid. Dunno who to ring. I'm from cork. No way it's even here yet surely. Is it possible to get a virus from a package? I bought something from Amazon. Ever since, I feel so fecked up right. I've never in my life felt like this. It is a tiny bit worrying
Someone might have come through Cork with the virus though.

Anyway, call your doctor and have someone test you at your home. Don't go to the doctor yourself.
 
I legit think I have it. Yesterday morning I couldn't barely breathe, have headaches and at least no cough, but have a fever. Ive been a bit sick these past few days but I'm probably being paranoid. Dunno who to ring. I'm from cork. No way it's even here yet surely. Is it possible to get a virus from a package? I bought something from Amazon. Ever since, I feel so fecked up right. I've never in my life felt like this. It is a tiny bit worrying

If you have trouble breathing you need medical.attention no matter the cause.
 
So, for several personal reasons I mostly ignored this so far.

Then I obsessively devoted myself to reading about it this weekend. My mind is a bit numb.

Has this actually ended somewhere that has been affected? Like, has life in Wuhan returned to normal? It seems not but I struggle to confirm some things. Expected I guess, need more time.

So this is happening in real time. It seems to me that a worst case scenario is a choice between mortality levels comparable to Spanish flu (even if in a different demographic) or levels of economic and personal restraint that we don't even know for how long might have to be maintained? Economic crisis without precedent?

Am I reading this right? Even if we can't quantify how likely that worst case scenario is it definitely seems to be there and is very grim. This requires the utmost attention. Even individually, you have to think stuff like "can I handle two weeks without working? What about a month? Do I have frail people under my care? What do I have to learn if so?"

Massive stuff I think. Will be hard to think about anything else in my spare time from now on. I want to devote myself tobunderstanding this to the utmost of my abilities.

Its almost inevitable that we're heading towards loss of lives and a huge economic crash. Which is why suggested extreme measures of isolation which would have prevented the deaths.
 
Research I saw reported (no idea how reliable it was) suggested an up to 5 fold decrease in transmission, as the primary mechanism of transmission is droplets from a sneeze. And it also varies according to the type of mask and how well it fits.

To be clear I'm only talking about the flimsy surgical masks, and assuming you are wearing one to avoid catching it. If you already have something then they do prevent spread.
 
No, that says packages from China are OK. If a delivery person has the virus and sneezed on your package (chortle) then you could definitely get it. Now considering it can live on surfaces for up to 8 hours (12 according to some reports) then a parcel could feasibly become infected and stay infected along an Amazon Prime delivery network.

If that’s actually the case then we would be royally screwed.

From what I can gather there's no consensus at all on how long this can persist on surfaces. Other strains of coronavirus have been known to persist from a few hours up to 9 days depending on strain and type of surface.

Current WHO Q&A says:

It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems to behave like other coronaviruses. Studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).

If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

For whether it's possible to be exposed via a package:

Is it safe to receive a package from any area where COVID-19 has been reported?

Yes. The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low.
 
Its almost inevitable that we're heading towards loss of lives and a huge economic crash. Which is why suggested extreme measures of isolation which would have prevented the deaths.

This is what I don't get. Why wait for it to inevitably spread to the majority rather than actually take action and go straight to isolation now?
 
To be clear I'm only talking about the flimsy surgical masks, and assuming you are wearing one to avoid catching it. If you already have something then they do prevent spread.

Agreed. Although they do have limited benefit if you are exposed to the infected.
 
From what I can gather there's no consensus at all on how long this can persist on surfaces. Other strains of coronavirus have been known to persist from a few hours up to 9 days depending on strain and type of surface.

Current WHO Q&A says:



For whether it's possible to be exposed via a package:

I appreciate that but the is it safe to receive a package? answers all seem to be inferring that the context of the question is international shipping or at least logistics that spans over a longer time and/or distance. What I am questioning is whether that logic applies to Amazon style logistics where you can order something, it be dispatched and reach you within a day. With that sort of quick turnover and short supply chain I don't see why it wouldn't be feasible that someone infected at the picking warehouse or depot couldn't infect a tonne of parcels which then sometimes reach their destinations in a matter of hours.
 
I talk about the fact I might have it and now ads on this site are showing me safety mask to buy. Real fecking funny internet.