Coronavirus in the US

Take it for what it’s worth, because it’s from a long post, on another forum, from someone who was a CEO of an anti-microbial manufacturer. (Yes, I did run him down, and he probably was, but will only paraphrase what he said.)

There’s ample evidence as to transmission mode, in regards to coronaviruses, since they cause a significant number of colds. Infection is predominately hand to face (eye’s, nose, mouth), though if you’re in too close a proximity a sneeze will do it. (Or, even inhaling someone’s breath, I suppose.) Someone infected touches something that you later touch and move to your face, etc.

Not aerosol, because it won’t survive drying, which brings up the question of: how dry is dry enough?

Masks, at least ones that were wetted, weren’t an effective barrier to something that needed moisture to survive. That breathing through a moist, infected one, wasn’t particularly wise.

Alcohol as a hand sanitizer is fairly effective because the virus has an envelope that alcohol denatures.

Wash your hands, don’t touch your face.

Rud Istvan, and he was speaking generally, not as an expert on this. As I said, take it for what it’s worth.

edited to add: general information post… the quote it begins with just seemed like a good place to start it.

The lighter side of the Wuhan quarantine. Short video to watch.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/coronavirus-residents-cope-life-lockdown-wuhan-200128133200292.html?

Australia is evacuating ( citizens in Wuhan wanting out) to Christmas Island, but it is not clear who is going there. To the detention center. God knows if they will have unaccompanied citizen children, or what? And will white Australians agree to go? Plenty of those dual citizenship kids will have no adult dual citizens carers.

The plane evacuating US citizens from China will not land at Ontario. Instead it will land at March AFB.

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2020/01/28/flight-from-epicenter-of-coronavirus-outbreak-redirected-to-march-air-force-base-in-riverside-county/
Doesn’t really give a reason but makes more sense to me.

The transmission in Germany worries me, and not just for the obvious reasons. I mean, “attended a training session with a colleague“? I told my husband I’d feel so much better if it turned out there’d been some hanky panky at least, but now there are another 3 colleagues confirmed sick, so it can be enough to just spend some time in the same room.

And the Chinese colleague isn’t even from Wuhan but Shanghai, merely had her parents from Wuhan visit her before she left for Germany. If we accept that none of these three adults noticed they might be carriers at any time before spreading the infection, that is very worrisome indeed.

First cases in the Middle East confirmed - a family in UAE, number of people not given. (AP)

A journalist has a well-written account of being in quarantine and unable to get back to Beijing.

https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2020/01/hubei-family-face-unexpected-quarantine-200127073524926.html?utm_source=website&utm_medium=article_page&utm_campaign=read_more_links

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/01/29/coronavirus-cases-in-china-overtake-sars-and-impact-could-be-more-severe.html

Quote: “We believe the economic impact of the coronavirus could be bigger in comparison to SARS in 2003,” wrote analysts from Nomura in a Wednesday report.

China’s real GDP growth plunged by 2 percentage points (pp) from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2003 due to the SARS outbreak, Nomura analysts noted. “Based on our assumptions, real GDP growth in Q1 2020 could materially drop from the 6.0% pace achieved in Q4 2019, on a scale perhaps bigger then 2pp registered during the SARS outbreak in 2003.”

The question in my mind is whether there are cases that are extremely mild, with much less severe symptoms.

If there are, it would mean those people probably wouldn’t seek healthcare, so reported numbers might be lower; it would also mean the mortality rate is lower.

British Air suspends all flights to mainland China.

@catahoula,
Okay, but what you just described is the droplet transmission mode, not the airborne transmission mode.

^^A lot more airlines are going to suspend their flights to and from China, regardless of governmental actions. I was told some recent flights to/from China had only a dozen or two passengers. These flights are simply not sustainable economically.

We know lots of kids there so were reading about it last night. My understanding is the school they were playing cancelled.

I believe classes are just back in session there this week. A student who was in China went to health services with mild symptoms, maybe a low fever (not sure on that detail) Monday. He and his “travel companion” are quarantined in their off campus housing. Most kids at Miami live off campus after freshman year. Hopefully the fact that kids were just returning, he doesn’t live in a dorm, and he sought medical help quickly means this will be easily contained should he actually test positive.

Personal accounts from Americans in Wuhan.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/29/coronavirus-china-americans-quarantined-wuhan-bored-information/4597323002/

There are 135 students from the Wuhan region at my D’s school and over 3000 students and staff from China. Thankfully everyone came back to campus nearly 3 weeks ago and no cases have been reported. Hopefully the incubation period is past by now.

That said, there are articles in the local paper about students and staff sending care packages with surgical masks and such back home. Lots of concerns for their families.

I am also thankful my daughter’s school has been in session for a few weeks as I hope it means her school has also been spared (for now). She said last week that she was seeing some kids wearing masks. She thought maybe they were kids who had visited China over break who were just being cautious but wasn’t sure.

^^Schools that are on quarter system, or on semester system but started their semester early in January, should be fine. The ones that start their semester late in January should be of more concern.

That said, the regular flu is definitely making its way across campus.

Apparently there was a coronavirus scare at USC caused by a tweet on twitter. Over 10,000 students signed a petition demanding classes be postponed. USC has to issue a statement denying there’s any coronavirus related case.