Corona Virus Now Spreading

[glittercat]

Also watching the news here in the UK and they've just gone through the numbers for Italy - 70,000 cases and over 6,000 deaths. That's terrifying.

I did say somewhere back at the start of this thread that hopefully it wasn't too serious but I take it back whole heartedly!

I am so worried about my cats if I get this and it's bad. My sister and her family are over an hour away and she and her husband/kids are on lock down in any case so couldn't come here. Parents are again about an hour away and although no health issues are not going to be able to come here every day to look after them. No really close friends and although one of my colleagues lives in the same village she has health issues.

People here are largely ignoring the social distancing advice so I think the Government are going to be really clamping down...

 

[KittyFriday]

I struggled with health anxiety for years and it's honestly amazing what your mind can convince you of. Right now I feel a little poorly but no fever; I feel like my breathing is a little labored but that is not the first time this has happened to me with it ending up being all in my head. I haven't been to the mental health forum I used to frequent recently but I'm sure there are so many people who have been driven to madness over this.

Testing is tricky; I fully believe that it is better to test and then quarantine those who are positive, and of course I'd love to be tested and happily find out that I am not ill. But that falls into the classic "reassurance seeking" trap where in a day or so I'd be worried and want to be tested again.

One reason I think this all feels so insane is that we think that our modern medicine should have advanced enough that viruses like this shouldn't even be on our radar anymore. And yet they are. Honestly I wish this was more of a natural disaster (like the floods from last year) because I think that would be easier for my mind to cope with.

 

[Willowy]

Honestly I wish this was more of a natural disaster (like the floods from last year) because I think that would be easier for my mind to cope with.

We're going to have more flooding this year (here anyway). And tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes and all the usual natural disasters, PLUS we'll have to worry about corona :/. That's gonna stink.

The 3M factory in Aberdeen has been working 24/7 for at least a couple weeks now, and just released a shipment of 500,000 masks. I don't know what their regular output is, or how long it takes to make a mask, but that's pretty impressive. That's like. . .5 masks a minute if they've been doing it for 2 weeks.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Yep. I'm right near the New Madrid Fault and that is 200 years overdue for another quake, so we do have this worry as well as the virus in MO and surrounding states.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

The 3M factory in Aberdeen has been working 24/7 for at least a couple weeks now, and just released a shipment of 500,000 masks. I don't know what their regular output is, or how long it takes to make a mask, but that's pretty impressive. That's like. . .5 masks a minute if they've been doing it for 2 weeks.

That's good. The shortage in PPE is really, really bad. I saw this article today that goes into some of the reasons behind the shortages.
Imports of medical supplies plummet as demand in US soars

 

[Kieka]

I am asthmatic so breathing difficulty is kind of a normal factor in life. I highly recommend anyone who thinks they are having breathing difficulty download a breathing app (I use Breath Ball). They are usually free and if you think you are having breathing problems do 10 minutes of breathing exercises. If you are asthmatic and still having problems after the 10 minutes use your inhaler then do another 10 minutes (I do the asthma cycle but they have other cycles, try them out and see which feels right). In all cases since this has started doing these two things has gotten me back to normal so it is either anxiety related or asthma related. If you can't get through 10 minutes then you should probably call your doctor.

 

[les26]

I struggled with health anxiety for years and it's honestly amazing what your mind can convince you of. Right now I feel a little poorly but no fever; I feel like my breathing is a little labored but that is not the first time this has happened to me with it ending up being all in my head. I haven't been to the mental health forum I used to frequent recently but I'm sure there are so many people who have been driven to madness over this.

Testing is tricky; I fully believe that it is better to test and then quarantine those who are positive, and of course I'd love to be tested and happily find out that I am not ill. But that falls into the classic "reassurance seeking" trap where in a day or so I'd be worried and want to be tested again.

One reason I think this all feels so insane is that we think that our modern medicine should have advanced enough that viruses like this shouldn't even be on our radar anymore. And yet they are. Honestly I wish this was more of a natural disaster (like the floods from last year) because I think that would be easier for my mind to cope with.

Here in PA. there are a lot of people sick with things other than this Corona virus, I myself am getting over bronchitis but like you have no fever, others are suffering with things that are allergy related because we basically had no real Winter and everything is blooming like crazy right now. Plus today it is in the low 40's and a cold rain, and on Friday it was sunny and 75 degrees out, no wonder people are not feeling well!

I hear you about the anxiety part and wonder how some people are doing with it, and I hope that some haven't or are thinking about committing suicide over this, but it is constantly in your face on tv and on your mind, but I have a feeling that it'll be alright, it will take some time and effort and things will be rough for awhile but I think we'll slowly climb out of it. And I read that they don't want to waste their time and testing materials on people with only marginal symptoms, they want people who are doing poorly to see if it is it or not and I can't blame them. Plus I would think if one would get it one would know it, and it would feel worse than the usual allergy and sinus symptoms. But I surely can understand the worry and panic because it is a situation of "unknown", that is why we are reacting so strongly.

Stay safe and strong, it'll be alright......

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

The few people who they interviewed that recovered from it stated it was a pain and sickness like no other and at times extremely unbearable. And these were young people that tend to have a better pain tolerance than someone my age

 

[molly92]

Actually, soap and water is the easiest, best way to kill this particular virus. I'm a little bit surprised that no one's hoarding soap (and no, I do not recommend doing so).

Yes, so to clarify, soap works very well with a bit of agitation. Other disinfectants (alcohol, bleach, quaternary ammonium, etc) work well if left to sit on the surface, so depending on what you're cleaning, one type might be easier than another.

General disclaimer about chemicals: alcohol will not be nice to your skin without other protective chemicals (like in hand sanitizer), and bleach and ammonium should definitely not be used on skin. DO NOT mix bleach products with ammonium products. This will create toxic chlorine gas! Also be careful of using bleach on metal because it is corrosive.

 

[pearl99]

One reason I think this all feels so insane is that we think that our modern medicine should have advanced enough that viruses like this shouldn't even be on our radar anymore. And yet they are. Honestly I wish this was more of a natural disaster (like the floods from last year) because I think that would be easier for my mind to cope with.

Viruses are little monsters. They mutate all the time, they are not really alive like bacteria are, so have to be eradicated other ways. Soap strips away the coating around them, and makes them harmless- so that's why soap is the best. They have to be inside another cell to multiply and do their thing to us living things.
Also it jumped from animal to human, it's a whole new virus, and no one has immunity.
So it's virus makeup, not us, unfortunately.

 

[denice]

I just read about a 12 year old in Atlanta with no underlying conditions, she developed pneumonia and is on a ventilator. She is in stable condition. Either this is mutating in a way making it more serious or we have gotten some bad information.

 

[kittyluv387]

I just read about a 12 year old in Atlanta with no underlying conditions, she developed pneumonia and is on a ventilator. She is in stable condition. Either this is mutating in a way making it more serious or we have gotten some bad information.

Well it was never the case that 0 young people were going to get affected. Just that a large majority will not be affected too badly.

 

[molly92]

I don't even know what to think about this. Unless those are 15 days of people being physically barricaded where they are at, this will fail. Trump: 'We can't let the cure be worse than the problem itself'

We know in the US that we're not going to stop the spread entirely, but it is ESSENTIAL that we keep levels of the spread as low as possible, or else we're looking at a total collapse of our healthcare infrastructure and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of deaths. The reason the death rate is as low as it is is because ventilators breathe for people who can't. Run out of ventilators, and we're condemning people to die.

Expert economists from all sides of the political spectrum have different ideas for what to do next, but they all agree that the best thing for our economy is to address the public health first and get the virus under control, because as disastrous as this shutdown is, the alternative is infinitely more devastating to the economy.

 

[donutte]

We know in the US that we're not going to stop the spread entirely, but it is ESSENTIAL that we keep levels of the spread as low as possible, or else we're looking at a total collapse of our healthcare infrastructure and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of deaths. The reason the death rate is as low as it is is because ventilators breathe for people who can't. Run out of ventilators, and we're condemning people to die.

Expert economists from all sides of the political spectrum have different ideas for what to do next, but they all agree that the best thing for our economy is to address the public health first and get the virus under control, because as disastrous as this shutdown is, the alternative is infinitely more devastating to the economy.

Apparently someone (unfortunately, someone with a lot of authority) disagrees with all the experts

 

[Willowy]

Dr Fauci said it himself:
"I know, but what do you want me to do? I mean, seriously Jon, let’s get real, what do you want me to do?"

"“By the way, Mr. President, be careful about this and don’t say that.” But I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down."

‘I’m going to keep pushing.’ Anthony Fauci tries to make the White House listen to facts of the pandemic

 

[molly92]

I just read about a 12 year old in Atlanta with no underlying conditions, she developed pneumonia and is on a ventilator. She is in stable condition. Either this is mutating in a way making it more serious or we have gotten some bad information.

A lot of what we have been told is being updated daily. Partly because the virus is changing, but also because the data is new, keeps expanding, and constantly needs to be re-assessed. Journalists should be doing a better job of making it clear to the public to keep checking for the latest information and recommendations, because it will keep changing.

 

[molly92]

Viruses are little monsters. They mutate all the time, they are not really alive like bacteria are, so have to be eradicated other ways. Soap strips away the coating around them, and makes them harmless- so that's why soap is the best. They have to be inside another cell to multiply and do their thing to us living things.
Also it jumped from animal to human, it's a whole new virus, and no one has immunity.
So it's virus makeup, not us, unfortunately.

Yep. The insidious thing about viruses compared to bacteria is that they almost entirely depend on our own cells' natural mechanisms to reproduce. Interrupt one of those mechanisms, and you could be interrupting something very important to your own survival.

There are probably hundreds of millions of different viruses in mammals alone. Chances of any one of them jumping to a human are not high, but given the sheer number of viruses out there, the next to impossible is bound to happen sometimes. That's something that's very hard to prepare for or predict. Still, the limiting factor in scientific research these days isn't the amount of dedicated people ready to work on these problems, but the funding to do so. We can never fund the sciences too much!

 

[Lari]

I saw this infographic on facebook about how Kentucky vs Tennessee are handling the outbreak. It's a little heartening to see that the flattening the curve and social distancing thing we're doing seem to actually be helping, if Kentucky is any indication!

 

[denice]

I have seen the same sort of thing on Ohio vs Michigan. Ohio was out ahead with aggressive measures and it does seem to have made a difference.

 

[cheeser]

I had a sobering thought this morning...
I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to anyone who has or may lose a loved one in the coming weeks/months (to covid or other means). With social distancing, funerals and celebrations of life are something that many need to help the grieving process and is now something that no longer can happen.
Although they can be postponed to a later date, and phone calls and face time can be used, the need for closeness of family and friends during such a loss is something that is difficult to do without.

My father passed away from a chronic illness nearly two weeks ago, the day before a state of emergency was declared for our area. So we have no idea when we'll be able to have any kind of a funeral or memorial service for him.

I mean, we've been grieving a little bit each day for a long time as we took care of him ourselves to the very end, and were able to comfort each other during those dark days. But it's weird how utterly alone we feel to mourn Dad's passing, even though our relatives have been great about calling us nearly every day.