n95 dust masks

[thistlebloom]

Just to keep the current media driven hysteria in perspective - 5x more deaths are attributable to the common flu every year.
Be sensible. Don't travel to Wuhan, eat right, get rest, and yes, wash your hands frequently.( A comment that once got me ridiculed here in the past.)

A little corroboration can be found here.

 

[so lucky]

I guess I still don't understand what all the fuss is about. Except maybe it is a lot easier to catch than other viruses? But still, many people who have it don't get sick enough to know they have it.
I am naturally fidgety. My nose itches, My eyes itch. My forehead itches. My lips get really chapped in cold weather. All these things make me touch my face, rub my nose, scratch the corner of my eye. Look out, I'm a walking petri dish!

 

[seedcorn]

The fuss is because it is a virus that current flu shot does not cover.

I will not go into what is happening while news media concentrates on this virus. Everything bad is being blamed on this virus.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

This new virus, in the class of the Corona Virus family (SARS, MERS, and more), is very different than what the epidemiologists have ever seen before. I was listening to a show interviewing a maker of flu shots, overseas, and its so different and virulent, that they are trying to replicate the DNA and RNA of this particular strain into other mediums (than eggs) to speed up the time for human trials. This virus's protein creates spikes, that invade the linings of the lungs and cause the respiratory illness. Maybe the extreme measures enacted by the world will slow the spread of the virus. Time will tell.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I myself, am prepped to help to NOT spread the virus. I'm not worried about getting it, just spreading it.

My Mother has been in a retirement home for a year now, and they have stepped up their protocols for protection. No visitors are allowed in the upper two levels of care (assisted living and critical end stage), no more newspaper delivery persons allowed to roam the halls, hourly sanitation of all door handles and other public surfaces, increased levels of sanitation by the housekeeping crew on the bi weekly cleaning of the resident's apartments. And more.

Me? I already had a stock of instant hand sanitizer. I use the wipes on the carts when I go to stores and have for maybe two years now. Let the handles air dry before placing your hands on the cart. Use your wrists to move the cart. The alcohol in the wipes desiccates while killing the outside membrane the virus and the air drying is critical to having that work. After handling a pen or a push pad at an electronic check out machine, use some instant hand sanitizer on your fingers to eliminate cross contamination from another person before you. Open doors with your wrist or pull down a sleeve to open the door with a covered hand.

Wash your hands when you come back from the stores. Yes, others have touched the items you just bought, but lets not panic. Just wash your hands, and then put away all the items and then wash your hands again.

Try not to touch your face. For me, its practically impossible as my dang nose drips all the time. I always have to have a tissue at the ready. Cough into your sleeve right next to your shoulder, not into your hand. If my eye itches or something near my open skin, try to use your knuckle to take care of the itch.

 

[seedcorn]

 

[flowerbug]

I guess I still don't understand what all the fuss is about. Except maybe it is a lot easier to catch than other viruses? But still, many people who have it don't get sick enough to know they have it.
I am naturally fidgety. My nose itches, My eyes itch. My forehead itches. My lips get really chapped in cold weather. All these things make me touch my face, rub my nose, scratch the corner of my eye. Look out, I'm a walking petri dish!

it depends upon what else you touch and what else other people have touched. here there are normally just the two of us, but one of us wanders out to visit friends several times a week so when she comes back i remind her to wash her hands before touching other things. it helps, as i don't get sick that often.

what the fuss is about is that it is a new disease and not everything is well known about it and even if the ratio of illness to severe illness is not that much it will still have a big effect the first year it gets around because nobody has any immune history with it. also they don't know how well it will persist or transmit or mutate, they have ideas, but they don't know.

since i have elderly parents and two siblings who are potentially at risk it may just happen that i lose one of them to this disease.

i'm not panicking, i'm being realistic. i don't think my one parent is taking this very seriously or changing her ways but i hope when it becomes more prevalent in my area i can get her to stay home for a week or two to see what happens. i'm not sure they have it contained... doesn't look like it to me...

 

[seedcorn]

Once virus is there ,it’s there. I wouldn’t knowingly expose infants/toddlers or low immune people to any virus.

I’m shocked that people have to be told to wash their hands. Really don’t want to eat at their place-although at the job, I’ve eaten in some raunchy, disgusting places without washing up. I lived. But I’m a tough Nawtherners.......

 

[flowerbug]

Once virus is there ,it’s there. I wouldn’t knowingly expose infants/toddlers or low immune people to any virus.

I’m shocked that people have to be told to wash their hands. Really don’t want to eat at their place-although at the job, I’ve eaten in some raunchy, disgusting places without washing up. I lived. But I’m a tough Nawtherners.......

the other hard part of this one is that it seems to be transmissable even if you don't know you have it or aren't showing any symptoms.

 

[Ridgerunner]

what the fuss is about is that it is a new disease and not everything is well known about it and even if the ratio of illness to severe illness is not that much it will still have a big effect the first year it gets around because nobody has any immune history with it. also they don't know how well it will persist or transmit or mutate, they have ideas, but they don't know.

I think that's a good paragraph. There is a lot they don't know about it yet, it's still early days. Many of us remember the hype about SARS, Ebola, and MERS and how they managed to contain them. For the majority of us those turned out to not be a big deal. For the ones directly affected it was but that's not most of us. (That's one problem I have with percents. It's not 2% or whatever number you want to use, it's either 0% or 100%, depending on how you are affected. But that's just my opinion.) What we don't have is direct memories of how bad it can be. That's what the concern is about. Those that fail to study history are going to repeat it. The Black Death or Spanish Flu are the examples that those who study history often bring up.

Living on the Gulf Coast I compare this to a hurricane. When one forms you pay attention. If you are in the cone of probability you pay more attention. The closer it gets the more attention you pay until you get to a point where you either do something or consider yourself OK. There is a lot of hype about hurricanes. It's not about how bad it will be, but how bad it might be. Even if they are in this area, most hurricanes aren't going to affect me that much. A small fast-moving one that hits directly is more about inconvenience than danger as long as I don't do something silly though people do sometimes die even if they take reasonable precautions. I don't want to sound callous about that, there is risk. But occasionally you get a hurricane that destroys a city and kills a lot of people.

I look at it as the Coronavirus is a developing storm. The early signs from the hurricane hunters and hurricane experts is that it has the potential to be a big one. Those in the immediate area take precautions. Shipping avoids that area being compared to trying to isolate the sick to stop it from spreading. But study it to see how bad it can become and where it might go so you can take reasonable precautions. Don't panic and rush out to buy a bunch of perishable hurricane supplies, but it might be a good time to check that your non-perishable hurricane supplies are up to date. Pay attention but don't freak out.