Public Health: Tips and information on how to prepare for the epidemic, avoid illness and protect our communities.

[greg nr]

Here's how long the coronavirus can live in the air and on packages
The contagious coronavirus can survive on a cardboard delivery box for at least a day and lives even longer on steel and plastic.

The germ survived longest on plastic and stainless steel, where it clung for as long as three days, according to Vincent Munster and a team at the National Institutes of Health virology laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, who describe their experiments in a new preprint.

Munster and his coworkers say spreading via the air likely explains “super spreader” events like one that appears to have occurred in Boston, where more than 70 people are believed to have been infected at a conference held by the biotechnology company Biogen.

The scientists looked at how long the virus lived on different materials, and also as it swirled in an air chamber. After waiting a few hours or days, they wiped the surfaces and checked to see if they could still infect cells in a petri dish.

Materials the virus liked best were stainless steel and plastic, where infectious germs could still be collected after three days and might endure quite a bit longer. It liked copper least: the virus was gone after just four hours. Swished around in the air chamber, the germs remained for about three hours.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615348/heres-how-long-the-coronavirus-can-stay-in-the-air-and-on-packages/?utm_medium=tr_social&utm_campaign=site_visitor.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1583951880

 

[captainmorgan]

His go to move, try to cover it up.

White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations, sources say

The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government's response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.

www.cnbc.com

 

[captainmorgan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1237188929272418304

 

[greg nr]

These images were pulled from the johns hopkins tracking site over the past 5 days. It shows the growth in reported cases by location WITH ALMOST NO TEST KITS IN USE.

 

[greg nr]

Biden campaign announces a public health advisory committee on the Virus
Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) Tweeted:
Inbox: @JoeBiden announces the formation of a public health advisory committee to address coronavirus.

It’s made up of academics and former administrators in health and security. https://t.co/OYgZPu7N9x

Andrew Solender@AndrewSolender
https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1237824634826952704

Inbox: @JoeBiden announces the formation of a public health advisory committee to address coronavirus.

It’s made up of academics and former administrators in health and security.


4,001
3:36 PM - Mar 11, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy

1,897 people are talking about this



?s=20



And this is why the apricothellbeast is doing s speech from the Oval Office

 

[captainmorgan]

MAGA, fuck the poor.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

From 2015, Bill is a prophet too. What Donald cut and tried to cut more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What Bill Gates is afraid of

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

The acting Homeland Security deputy secretary's comments come as the country tries to contain the spread of coronavirus

A top Department of Homeland Security official says US travel restrictions to Europe are 'under discussion'

(CNN)Acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said on Wednesday that coronavirus travel restrictions for Europe are under discussion.
"The question is a live question, congressman, about how to treat Europe as a whole. You've seen Department of State and CDC warnings go up. That is not to the level of using legal authorities to block travel yet, but it is under discussion," he told lawmakers during a congressional hearing.
Cuccinelli pointed out that Europe presents a "unique problem," because the Schengen Zone -- which allows for free movement throughout European Union countries -- creates a region where "they don't have borders for the purposes of travel." He added that there are 29 countries with which to contend.
He questioned whether it "even makes sense" to treat Italy as a unitary entity and said the Italian government is conducting exit testing for travelers on direct flights to the US.
more...

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Coronavirus Is Our Future | Alanna Shaikh | TEDxSMU

Global health expert Alanna Shaikh talks about the current status of the 2019 nCov coronavirus outbreak and what this can teach us about the epidemics yet to come. Alanna Shaikh is a global health consultant and executive coach who specializes in individual, organizational and systemic resilience. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in public health from Boston University. She has lived in seven countries and it the author of What’s Killing Us: A Practical Guide to Understanding Our Biggest Global Health Problems. Recent article publications include an article on global health security in Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper and an essay in the Annual Review of Comparative and International Education. She blogs on coaching and personal resilience at www.thisworldneedsbrave.com.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Italian doctor on treating COVID-19 patients

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Giovanni Guaraldi discusses lessons being learned by Italian doctors about the new virus – with advice for Canadian physicians.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Coronavirus is now a pandemic. What does that mean?

Coronavirus is now a pandemic. What does that mean?

The World Health Organization has officially designated the novel coronavirus a pandemic.

www.cbsnews.com

The World Health Organization on Wednesday officially declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic. The WHO defines a pandemic as "the worldwide spread of a new disease."

There are now more than 118,000 confirmed coronavirus cases reported across at least 114 countries.

"When we say pandemic we mean it's gone all around the world. Clearly we hit that a while ago," said CBS Medical Contributor Dr. David Agus.

"It is a term that raises the alarms," Agus added. "In many respects I want people on edge... but this definition probably should have happened weeks ago."

When he announced the new designation at a press conference Wednesday, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that pandemic is not a word the WHO uses "lightly or carelessly."

"It's a word that if misused can cause unreasonable fear or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death," he said.

So far, over 4,000 people have died from the coronavirus worldwide, and "thousands more" are still fighting off the virus, he added.

Agus said the WHO may have waited until now to make the distinction due to their premature use of the word during the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak. According to Agus, the WHO designated H1N1 as a pandemic, only to have the virus "peter out."

Neither the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak, nor the MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) outbreak, were designated as pandemics, according to Agus.

The WHO is not expecting the same to happen with the novel coronavirus.

"In the days and weeks ahead we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher," the WHO director said Wednesday.

"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we're deeply concerned, both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction."

Despite the new distinction, he emphasized that the WHO's strategy has not faltered.

"Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO's assessment of the threat posed by the virus," he said. "It doesn't change what WHO is doing, and it doesn't change what countries should do," he said.

"We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: All countries can still change the course of this pandemic."

More than 90% of coronavirus cases are in just four countries — and two of those, China and South Korea, have "significantly declining epidemics," according to the WHO. Almost 60 countries have reported 10 cases or less.

The director urged countries to "detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in response."

"Those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases from becoming clusters, and those clusters becoming community transmission," he said.

First published on March 11, 2020 / 5:14 PM

 

[captainmorgan]

Well my friend went to the doctor today, no diagnosis. Sent her home with antibiotics and a nebulizer. They took chest xrays and the doctor didn't like the look of things so they sent them to a radiologist.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Well my friend went to the doctor today, no diagnosis. Sent her home with antibiotics and a nebulizer. They took chest xrays and the doctor didn't like the look of things so they sent them to a radiologist.

She is better off home with a good supply of antibiotics, they probably couldn't test her, no tests, they should be testing anybody with fever and respiratory difficulties, an example of lack of test kits. She needs to stay hydrated, take vitamin D supplements and have someone watch out for her and call. Buying a digital thermometer might not be a bad idea for yourself, get ready to treat yourself at home, look into the stuff i mentioned, your doctor might give you a prescription if you have a survival plan. if you get sick at least he will know about it!

 

[greg nr]

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.... [View all]
From a friend on FB~

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.... NOR A JOKE!
If you don’t believe me, please read this!
The author is a senior doctor in a major European hospital. She asked to remain anonymous because she has not been authorized to speak to the press.


Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people!

I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans (and you, Brits) in these still-early days of the coronavirus pandemic is like watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split into pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement.

The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu; keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning up, we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu. We kept the economy going, pointed fingers at China and urged tourists to keep traveling. And the majority of us told ourselves and each other: this isn't so bad. We're young, we're fit, we'll be fine even if we catch it.

Fast-forward two months, and we are drowning. Statistically speaking—judging by the curve in China—we are not even at the peak yet, but our fatality rate is at over 6 percent, double the known global average.
Put aside statistics. Here is how it looks in practice. Most of my childhood friends are now doctors working in north Italy. In Milan, in Bergamo, in Padua, they are having to choose between intubating a 40-year-old with two kids, a 40-year old who is fit and healthy with no co-morbidities, and a 60-year-old with high blood pressure, because they don't have enough beds. In the hallway, meanwhile, there are another 15 people waiting who are already hardly breathing and need oxygen.

The army is trying to bring some of them to other regions with helicopters but it's not enough: the flow is just too much, too many people are getting sick at the same time.

We are still awaiting the peak of the epidemic in Europe: probably early April for Italy, mid-April for Germany and Switzerland, somewhere around that time for the UK. In the U.S., the infection has only just begun.
But until we're past the peak, the only solution is to impose social restrictions.

And if your government is hesitating, these restrictions are up to you. Stay put. Do not travel. Cancel that family reunion, the promotion party and the big night out. This really sucks, but these are special times. Don't take risks. Do not go to places where you are more than 20 people in the same room. It's not safe and it's not worth it.

But why the urgency, if most people survive?

Here's why: Fatality is the wrong yardstick. Catching the virus can mess up your life in many, many more ways than just straight-up killing you. "We are all young"—okay. "Even if we get the bug, we will survive"—fantastic. How about needing four months of physical therapy before you even feel human again. Or getting scar tissue in your lungs and having your activity level restricted for the rest of your life. Not to mention having every chance of catching another bug in hospital, while you're being treated or waiting to get checked with an immune system distracted even by the false alarm of an ordinary flu. No travel for leisure or business is worth this risk.

Now, odds are, you might catch coronavirus and might not even get symptoms. Great. Good for you. Very bad for everyone else, from your own grandparents to the random older person who got on the subway train a stop or two after you got off. You're fine, you're barely even sneezing or coughing, but you're walking around and you kill a couple of old ladies without even knowing it. Is that fair? You tell me.

My personal as well as professional view: we all have a duty to stay put, except for very special reasons, like, you go to work because you work in healthcare, or you have to save a life and bring someone to hospital, or go out to shop for food so you can survive. But when we get to this stage of a pandemic, it's really important not to spread the bug. The only thing that helps is social restriction. Ideally, the government should issue that instruction and provide a financial fallback—compensate business owners, ease the financial load on everyone as much as possible and reduce the incentive of risking your life or the lives of others just to make ends meet. But if your government or company is slow on the uptake, don't be that person. Take responsibility. For all but essential movement, restrict yourself.

This is epidemiology 101. It really sucks. It is extreme—but luckily, we don't have pandemics of this violence every year. So sit it out. Stay put. Don't travel. It is absolutely not worth it.

It's the civic and moral duty of every person, everywhere, to take part in the global effort to reduce this threat to humanity. To postpone any movement or travel that are not vitally essential, and to spread the disease as little as possible. Have your fun in June, July and August when this—hopefully—is over. Stay safe. Good luck.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Your are 9 days away from your hospitals getting over run, as tests become available cases will sky rocket, brace yourselves.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Hayes On How The U.S. Is On Italy's Coronavirus Trajectory | All In | MSNBC

Chris Hayes: “We are racing up this exponential curve at an almost similar rate to the countries that have gone before us. Like Italy. And Italy right now is in the midst of a full-blown public health crisis.”

 

[hanimmal]

She is better off home with a good supply of antibiotics, they probably couldn't test her, no tests, they should be testing anybody with fever and respiratory difficulties, an example of lack of test kits. She needs to stay hydrated, take vitamin D supplements and have someone watch out for her and call. Buying a digital thermometer might not be a bad idea for yourself, get ready to treat yourself at home, look into the stuff i mentioned, your doctor might give you a prescription if you have a survival plan. if you get sick at least he will know about it!

Antibiotics have zero efficacy with viruses.

It is worse than a placebo (because bacterial resistance) and is way over-prescribed in America (about 1/2 of the anti-biotic prescribed are worthless).

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Antibiotics have zero efficacy with viruses.

It is worse than a placebo (because bacterial resistance) and is way over-prescribed in America (about 1/2 of the anti-biotic prescribed are worthless).

I believe the doctor thinks she has bacterial Pneumonia, no test yet anyway, You don't want to be anywhere near a hospital right now unless you really need it.

 

[captainmorgan]

I've had a runny nose for about 10 days but now it seems to be moving into my chest. Feels like a regular cold but I had a slight headache all day yesterday,maybe sinuses. At this point it doesn't matter, you couldn't pay me to go to the doctor with the way things are now.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

I've had a runny nose for about 10 days but now it seems to be moving into my chest. Feels like a regular cold but I had a slight headache all day yesterday,maybe sinuses. At this point it doesn't matter, you couldn't pay me to go to the doctor with the way things are now.

I've had an upper respiratory infection myself for about as long, just a cold I think, I feel fine otherwise. No reported Cases in Nova Scotia.
I haven't visited my sister in a nursing home because of it.

There should be coronavirus testing available by the end of the week, call you doc and see, ask about the anti malarial drug, he will soon be overwhelmed and unavailable, Did you have a pneumococcal vaccine? You should have one already, you don't want to get pneumonia right now!

 

[greg nr]

YOUNG AND UNAFRAID OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC? GOOD FOR YOU. NOW STOP KILLING PEOPLE
I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans (and you, Brits) in these still-early days of the coronavirus pandemic is like watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split into pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement.

The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu; keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning up, we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu. We kept the economy going, pointed fingers at China and urged tourists to keep traveling. And the majority of us told ourselves and each other: this isn't so bad. We're young, we're fit, we'll be fine even if we catch it.

Fast-forward two months, and we are drowning. Statistically speaking—judging by the curve in China—we are not even at the peak yet, but our fatality rate is at over 6 percent, double the known global average.

Put aside statistics. Here is how it looks in practice. Most of my childhood friends are now doctors working in north Italy. In Milan, in Bergamo, in Padua, they are having to choose between intubating a 40-year-old with two kids, a 40-year old who is fit and healthy with no co-morbidities, and a 60-year-old with high blood pressure, because they don't have enough beds. In the hallway, meanwhile, there are another 15 people waiting who are already hardly breathing and need oxygen.

Snip

https://www.newsweek.com/young-unafraid-coronavirus-pandemic-good-you-now-stop-killing-people-opinion-1491797