@BunsenBurner, I don’t like crowds so always avoid crowded indoor places ;). Let me know if you’ll be in the area and want to meet!
Another cruise ship mess? At least one passenger is confirmed to have the coronavirus and Malaysia has banned all passengers/crew members from that ship entering the country. Some passengers have already left Cambodia while others are still in that country and some, along with crew members, are still on the ship. Cambodia, unlike Japan, is unlikely to have the resources to handle the situation (Japan, even with its resources, arguably didn’t handle the situation well either).
1415 about a mask, IOW, it doesn't do any or much good and there's no need to panic because of shortage, unlike toilet paper?
@Iglooo we actually have a stockpile of masks because we live in an area that’s been affected by wildfire smoke for the past few years. However, even in that situation, there’s conflicting info about whether the masks actually do any good and I think some of the concerns are relevant here. (1) most people wear the masks incorrectly. They have to be very snug in order to keep particulate matter out. They are not very comfortable and you have to change them out fairly frequently. (2) the masks give people a false sense of security. I saw people with masks on who were out running in the height of the smoke! Really, the best thing you could do was to stay inside, but people saw the masks as something that made going outside safe and so they took more risks. (3) apparently the masks can be dangerous to people with heart conditions/lung conditions because you have to work harder to breathe while wearing them. Again, the better choice is to not go out if there is a genuine threat.
Even those may not stop the virus. The particulate matter is probably bigger than the virus. The virus could very well slip through what stops particulate matter.
I apologize if this was already posted. I do try to keep up.
Article in the Washington Post (may have a paywall) about a mask manufacturer in Texas who has been warning for years that there is not enough production in the US of critical medical supplies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/02/15/coronavirus-mask-shortage-texas-manufacturing/
“…Instead of celebrating the business boom, Bowen was indignant. This is the precise scenario he began warning about almost 15 years ago, when he pleaded with federal agencies and lawmakers to boost U.S. production of medical masks. He had predicted an eventual health scare and not enough manufacturers. He was right…”
The American woman who got off the boat in Cambodia and flew to Malaysia tested positive again on the second test. That means everyone who was on the boat is a potential carrier of the virus. And they are all over the place.
@“Snowball City” I hope this time they pay attention to what he says. It is not just the masks. All the supplies are under threat. What if a war breaks out between China and the US? Not too long ago, China poured concrete over coal reefs and built a military air strip and freely intimidated its southeast asian neighbors. They do have a military ambition or ambition to dominate the world. If they get strong enough and the US gets in their way, I doubt they will hesitate to act.
As far as masks are concerned, I agree for the most part. However from personal experience I think mask are helpful to a certain degree. We were evacuated during the Thomas fire in So Cal. The smoke was horrible. The N95 masks did help in filtrating the smoke that was inhaled. My H has allergies/asthma. He wears a mask when doing yard work. He says that there is a noticeable difference in whether he wears a mask or not. Finally, if/when (mostly when) this virus becomes more common here in the US, I for one, would rather be near someone who coughs or sneezes who is wearing a mask than someone who is not.
As my mom use to say “A little bit of something is a lot better than a whole lot of nothing.”
The N95 mask makes it harder to exhale CO2. Those of us with lung disease already have difficulty exhaling CO2, so wearing masks which cause CO2 buildup can be dangerous for us.
All those Westerdam people that are still in Cambodia will be horribly vulnerable. They would have been better off not disembarking, as the disembarked won’t be anyone’s problem.
An update from HI:
Most likely, the person was exposed to the virus prior to coming to the islands.
The official CDC briefing transcript. Many questions answered here:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/t0214-covid-19-update.html.html
Or one can listen here:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/t0214-covid-19-update.mp3
Our state is hoping the couple didn’t infect anyone while visiting. We still don’t have any usable test kits and have to mail things to Atlanta for 1-2 week analysis before we get results. Ugh! Don’t see how we can wait that long for results!
First death in Taiwan - 60 year old male with chronic health issues. Taxi driver.
Lockdown in rural Hubei
All villages in Hubei will go into lockdown in a fresh escalation of measures to contain the epidemic, provincial authorities announced on Sunday.
Under the new rules, all villages will be sealed off with only one guarded entrance, all residents and vehicles from outside the communities will be banned from entering, and one person from each household will be allowed out every three days to buy supplies.
Residents who do go outdoors should keep a minimum distance of 1.5 metres from each other. Mahjong and card games are banned, weddings should be postponed, and funerals should be as simple as possible, according to the provincial government."
(SCMP)
So you all know a lot more than me, and maybe you can help with a couple questions:
First, what was the reason that the Westerdam had all that trouble docking? Aren’t there, at any given time, many cruise ships in the Asian Pacific area? What singled this one out?
Second, I know she tested positive twice, but isn’t it weird that no one else has appeared sick or tested postive (and yes I know the testing may have been lax, but still), when in a similar amount of time, hundreds have come down with the virus on the Yokohoma ship? Why the disparity–not even her husband has tested positive, and they were presumably together for weeks in the cabin.
Also, where did she get it?
I’m guessing there’s answers to all of this, but I’m hoping those here who have been researching more steadily might have ideas.
Details have been very sparse. Many infected don’t show symptoms.
I posted this back in #555, so when I heard that Cambodia opened its port to the ship 5 other countries turned away, I had some concerns. This is a country that kisses China’s butt with a leader that likes attention.
That would be almost a miracle given how contagious the virus appears to be. Not saying a miracle is not possible. He was in Hawaii for about 10 days if I remember correctly. He was symptomatic on day 5. He was sick with the virus for half the time he was in Hawaii. Hawaii could be the first state with the uncontrolled virus unless they can identify everyone he interacted with during his visit. Hopefully, he was not as active as the rabbi who spread measles last year.
Well, if the same sample has been retested twice, it is possible that the sample was mislabeled. If she tested positive twice from different samples tested by different techs… then that is a mystery (or a political move).