outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

xpost to JiC: it's really not ideal. when you use it you are killing beneficial bacteria on your skin for one thing. and then there's:

New research published by Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday shows that several strains of these bacteria have begun adjusting to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. They're not resistant to the alcohol — at least, not yet — but they're becoming "more tolerant" of it, the authors write. That means the bacteria were able to survive for longer periods of time after being doused with alcohol.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/08/02/635017716/some-bacteria-are-becoming-more-tolerant-of-hand-sanitizers-study-finds

the airport in chile did the forehead scan temperature check for us when we arrived. I was stressing it because it was hot and I was walking very very fast the entire way there.

xp same

my friend's daughter came back from China after the company she was working for there laid her off. not long after arriving home, the CDC made a house visit to check on her.

(she doesn't have coronavirus as far as she knows at this time)

xpost lotsa other stuff you can catch in New Orleans ....

So, let's see what the news is around here.

• A 'community-source' case of COVID19 was discovered at an elementary school about 3 miles from my house.

• Today was the day our refrigerator decided to die.

• Not verified, because I haven't ventured out, yet, but I have a strong hunch there might be a tad bit more panic-buying going on around here, so restocking our fridge may be a bit tricky.

First death in US just reported

xpost lotsa other stuff you can catch in New Orleans ....

No doubt! You can control your risks a bit more tho.

An angry crowd set fire to a clinic in Bandar Abbas, south of #Iran because it had patients in it suffering from #coronavirus. Some people say the patients were from Qom -very far away- and this had angered the mob. There is a sense of panic. Still hard to believe this happened. pic.twitter.com/e6nRRrlKDx

— Ali Arouzi (@aliarouzi) February 29, 2020

We have a friend who told us *her* friend in Palo Alto just had to cancel dinner with friends because someone in that other family tested positive.

tough break for Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon is eventually going to give us all coronavirus.

Patient zero:
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/actress-elizabeth-mcgovern-and-actor-kevin-bacon-attend-carroll-a-picture-id144464264?s=2048x2048

I can count in one hand the number of I HATE TRUMP posts I've shared here, but, really, what he said today about the dead American encapsulates his depravity and loathsomeness:

In a news conference on Saturday, President Trump identified her as “a wonderful woman, a medically high risk patient in her late 50s.”

He should've just said, "Oh, well, shouldn't have had a heart condition."

Do we reckon he's shitting it behind the bravado?

it would be funny if he caught the coronavirus, even more funny if he succumbed to it

Oh hey btw Donald the woman who died was actually a man and not a woman. Maintain that sterling standard of presidenting. And then, yes, succumb as quickly as possible to your inevitable infection. Thanks.

Regarding the White House’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, Trump said he would meet with pharmaceutical companies on Monday to discuss expedited vaccine development.

👍

the people I know directly (so not hearsay) who work at hospitals and military hospitals or with the medic teams are all pissed with what they are being told (basically only info protecting the administration) and that they (healthcare workers) are not being protected.

in the US.

ironically enough I just started watching Chernobyl

join us! Seriously though, that movie (although very good) was so aggravating.

I am watching Chernobyl right now and it just reinforces how little faith I have in the people that ultimately make decisions of communication about these things.

― Yerac, Sunday, 23 February 2020 08:39 (one week ago)

Kinda inevitable this epidemic will be a politicised shitshow with this administration. As my display name suggests, I'm hoping this leads to a recognition that probity, work ethic, and expertise matter in November. If it clears out a few cognitively impaired politicians and their cognitively impaired supporters, its unfortunate, but for the best.

I'm hoping this leads to a recognition that probity, work ethic, and expertise matter in November

otm

I wouldn't count on this being a winner for sane or progressive politics

Or punk rock for that matter

I wouldn't discount the effects of 15% of the infected requiring 3-4 wks hospital care and receiving the bills. Or choosing to forgo hospital care and about a third (of that subpopulation) dying.

Lol the fatality rate is not 30% you fixate on the weirdest shit

Oh wait sorry glanced over yr caveat

Correction noted, but justifying: In China, 5% of cases needed critical care. 50% mortality rate among them, and I don't think many with the acute repiratory distress syndrome and/or organ failure (esp. kidney) would have survived without respirators and oxygen. 5% mortality without ICU care isn't unreasonable.

In the US, my understanding is there's ~100k ICU beds, and they're 66% occupied. Very key and important to slow Covid19 down so that most of those needing the respirators get access. Pretty unlikely, TBH.

I've been very busy all day dealing with our broken refrigerator situation, but in doing so I dropped by a local supermarket for ice and milk. I'm happy to report that the shelves were still well-stocked and while there seemed to be a bit of heightened nerves among the shoppers, there was no indication of panic-buying. For this I am truly grateful, as about 70% of the food in our refrigerator is now trash. The replacement refrigerator will be arriving next Thursday.

Zero evidence of hoarding on the shelves/baskets at the local Wallyworld. No runs on shelf-stable foods, and my glances at 2 dozen baskets didn't indicate a single other shopper planning for the worst with outsized purchases of dried rice/beans or canned goods.

The numbers in the US that are even vaguely aware of how this could evolve are under 5%. Enough to clear out masks and hand sanitizer, not enough to affect the canned goods aisles.

Why do I constantly get random itches on my face whenever I make a concerted effort to not touch my face like I'm not usually scratching itches on my face I just touch it a lot fuck coronavirus

Quit huffing poison ivy

hey so just wanna confirm if you have a runny nose you definitely DON'T have the coronavirus right?

I'm counting on it

unfortunately, it's like the common cold, this guy in a lab coat says: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/01/health/coronavirus-symptoms-treatment/index.html

someone made music from the coronavirus DNA sequence

https://youtu.be/3nPK_O1dRmY

catchy!

My preferred shop for dried beans etc. is a bit out of the way so I always buy extra and the cashier staff regularly comment or crack wise about it. Which is hilarious every time of course. Well I'm not dealing with the public all day every day so laugh it up food guy!

Shop I buy 10 lb bags of rice or 4 lb of lentils, there's commonly someone in line buying a 50 lb bag.

Trad Asian cultures never needed Mormon admonitions to buy in bulk.

Above, I was listing the symptoms from reading academic publications with "clinical characteristics".

Fever, fatigue, dry cough are common. Runny nose isn't.

Andy Cuomo's speechifying on the virus is nearly as dumb as the Grifter's

sorry to recap, but, just to check my assumptions as I understand them (not very far):

hand-washing is good;
just plain soap is fine as it breaks down the lipid coating around the virus (apparently);
so no particular need for antibacterial soaps AIUI as it's a virus not a bacterium and they're harsh on skin, kill good bacteria too, and may promote resistance among bacteria (bad)...

...so, just a bar of soap or generic squirty hand soap, then. but - and this might be a weird question - are all shop-bought bars of soap approximately equal? If I buy a cheap soap or a fancy colourful perfumed one or one which is sold for its skincare properties rather than its actual cleaning abilities, am I getting a less good clean, or is soap such a basic simple thing that any soap is good, just wash for longer and more thoroughly?

(I note that something like Dove doesn't even call itself "soap" any more, at least in the UK it's now a "beauty cream bar" which leaves you "looking and feeling beautiful" but doesn't mention "clean", but maybe I shouldn't read anything into that?)

my longwindedness prob makes me sound panicked, I'm fine (more worried about shortages etc than the disease for myself, though more of a worry for some older/chronically ill relatives + other loved ones) - but I'm running out of soap and thought it would be useful to know if there's something I should be looking for when I go to buy more

so please don't anyone else panic just because I'm a windbag

I think any soap is ok. It's the scrubbing that is important, and soap (any soap) helps loosen particles on your hands. And from his buzzfeed piece a couple of years ago, so pre-panic: (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinekee/lets-settle-the-hand-sanitizer-versus-hand-washing-debate):

You might've heard that you shouldn't use hand sanitizer because it kills all of the good bacteria on your hands, which could be bad for your health because these bacteria help protect you. "Sure, it does kill the good bacteria, but there is no evidence that this actually leads to any adverse health effects, and the good bacteria will repopulate immediately if you just touch your arms or your hair or another part of your body," said Reynolds.

it's ok to use hand sanitizer but it's much more important to wash your hands regularly. you can go through life without ever using hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizer is good. The awful perfume smell of this floral hand sanitizer has prevented me from touching my face, and has ruined a highly caloric meal for me.

I will never stop touching my face

i also refuse to stop touching wins' face

Isn't there some disgusting-tasting stuff you can apply to stop kids biting their nails?