n95 dust masks

[flowerbug]

i've already read so far that it might be possible to catch it more than once, but i'm not certain how soon they would know this, perhaps it just wasn't cleared from the body yet? so we'll see. i'm certainly hoping it is nothing to worry about, but signs are that some people are at risk. like i would not want to be working in the hospitals right now...

 

[seedcorn]

Here is where free enterprise Is of value. Do something good and make money at same time. Win win.

 

[flowerbug]

i can say that what was helped by the SARS and MERS incidents is that hospitals took more precautions and retrained their staff to handle infectious people and their environments and that has helped reduce other infections that were taking a toll on patients.

so perhaps the net change in lives lost ended up being to the better in the end.

this current pandemic though shows how vulnerable the entire world is to an infectious agent of the right kind... will we learn anything from it? remains to be seen IMO. in the meantime it is business as usual until everyone refuses to come to work to perform the business as usual. i guess then it would be business as unusual...

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's one thing I'm watching. Does this mutate like the flu so you can catch it repeatedly. That makes it real hard to come up with a vaccine. In the US we typically have about 36,000 deaths per year from the flu. Some years are better or worse than others. This link shows a range of 12,000 to 61,000 in recent years. This is with a vaccine that a lot of people get that prevents many from catching the flu or, if they catch it, often reduces the severity. But since the flu virus mutates they can't get a vaccine that is 100% effective.

Burden of Influenza

Learn about how CDC estimates the burden of seasonal influenza in the U.S.

www.cdc.gov

We seem to accept these numbers without that much of a fuss. Many people don't even bother to get the flu shot. Is this the future of Coronavirus or will it be like polio where they developed a vaccine that essentially removed polio from our vocabulary?

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Economic repercussions have begun to quiver.

A supplier just cancelled all demo jobs across the US for this month. Krogers, WinnDixie, Frys, etc. There goes $200 of my projected income this month.

Lowes and a supplier have cancelled a merchandising job, even though they mailed everyone the supplies. There goes $12.

Is it because of the corona virus or something else?

 

[majorcatfish]

the high point furniture market has had a 50% decline in hotel reservations/ cancellations due to the virus mainly from the asian vendors.. there goes millions of dollars to the local economy

 

[seedcorn]

Economic repercussions have begun to quiver.

A supplier just cancelled all demo jobs across the US for this month. Krogers, WinnDixie, Frys, etc. There goes $200 of my projected income this month.

Lowes and a supplier have cancelled a merchandising job, even though they mailed everyone the supplies. There goes $12.

Is it because of the corona virus or something else?

That is the blame. Everything is blamed on it. Dog ran away-Corona. Lost at Bingo-Corona. Appendix burst-Corona.

 

[flowerbug]

That's one thing I'm watching. Does this mutate like the flu so you can catch it repeatedly. That makes it real hard to come up with a vaccine.
...

so far the rate of mutation does not seem to be that high so they may be able to come up with an effective vaccine for it.

 

[Zeedman]

i can say that what was helped by the SARS and MERS incidents is that hospitals took more precautions and retrained their staff to handle infectious people and their environments and that has helped reduce other infections that were taking a toll on patients.

so perhaps the net change in lives lost ended up being to the better in the end.

this current pandemic though shows how vulnerable the entire world is to an infectious agent of the right kind... will we learn anything from it? remains to be seen IMO. i guess then it would be business as unusual...

Good points. The SARS, Ebola, and MERS scares did mobilize & standardize our medical responses to emerging infectious diseases, and forge better cooperation between countries (though China has thus far rebuffed offers of outside help). But we have become such a mobile worldwide culture that a highly contagious disease can outrace efforts to contain it, as the current outbreak is demonstrating.

My apologies if this post goes a little long, I have been thinking of this issue for quite some time, and have a lot to cover.

Personally, I don't like the way that the media is whipping up hysteria over the corona virus. Time will tell if that level of panic is a justifiable warning, but I don't think we are there yet. That being said, like many others, I've been trying to cut through the hype & hysteria to learn more from reputable sources. Came across this page on the John Hopkins site which compares COVID-19 to influenza:

Corona virus vs. the flu

The numbers appear to back up what I've been telling others since the Corona virus became front page news. That the flu kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. each year (in spite of a vaccine) with no notice from the press, and no crisis response expected from the health system or the government... so from that perspective, the current threat is overblown.

Then I looked closer at the statistics, and did some math.

If you look beyond the numbers themselves to the ratio of fatalities/infections, COVID-19 has a mortality rate much higher than that of influenza. That ratio is evolving on the Hopkins site as more numbers come in (they are updated often) but COVID-19 appears to have at least 25 times the mortality rate of the flu (it was over 50 when I checked again before posting). There are a lot of variables which could influence the accuracy of that result plus or minus, especially the small number of deaths currently attributed to COVID-19, the initially low number of tests available, and what the ratio is of those diagnosed vs. those infected, but not tested. And consider that without a vaccine, the deaths due to influenza might be more comparable. Regardless, that number is sobering.

COVID-19 may force a change in our national attitudes toward illness & society. I worked as a volunteer at a nursing home several years ago, and was astonished at the number of coughing & obviously ill people who came to visit their weak & elderly relatives. I really wanted to give them an earful about consideration for others. The same could be said for those who "tough it out" by bringing the flu to work, or who attend church, eat out, or go shopping when ill. It is not that I don't feel sympathy for those who are ill, because I do... it is that I resent their lack of sympathy for those around them.

More than any action or inaction involving this outbreak, it is this casual disregard for others by those who are ill which may pose the greatest threat. The initial research suggests that masks offer little protection when worn in the presence of those who are infected... but that masks worn by those who are ill can help to limit the spread. It should not be embarrassing to do so in public, and it shouldn't require government mandates for those who are ill to isolate themselves from others who may be more vulnerable. When/if such behavior becomes no longer socially unacceptable, peer pressure may bring about that change... there are signs, in responses by some churches & business, that COVID-19 may be the agent of such change. Until then, as @flowerbug stated, " in the meantime it is business as usual until everyone refuses to come to work to perform the business as usual."

One last note, concerning vulnerability. It has been reported that most of the fatalities have been those with existing pulmonary conditions, or those with weakened immune systems. For some time now, I have watched numerous commercials for new drugs, touting relief from several annoying but non-fatal conditions... but which weaken the body's ability to fight infections. I'm left wondering how many currently take those drugs, as those people are among those at greatest risk. Funny how there has been no mention of this in the current coverage.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

A good vaccine is about 1.5 years away, based upon the frantic steps that dozens of world wide companies must take before bringing a vaccine to market.