COVID-19

[shpalman]

Now at 30 cases in Italy and a second death, here in Lombardy this time.

The guy who seems to have been the first one to catch it in Codogno had an active social and sporting life so is likely to have infected quite a few people before eventually showing symptoms.

[lpm]

This Qom thing is a worry. Nothing like a pilgrim city to make things interesting.

[shpalman]

Now at 30 cases in Italy and a second death, here in Lombardy this time.

The guy who seems to have been the first one to catch it in Codogno had an active social and sporting life so is likely to have infected quite a few people before eventually showing symptoms.

32 actually link to Guardian

[shpalman]

this link in Italian says that there have been 46 people test positive in Lombardy. A 78-year-old resident of Sesto San Giovanni has been in hospital for a week or so, they seem to be the first confirmed case in Milan.

[shpalman]

Now at 30 cases in Italy and a second death, here in Lombardy this time.

The guy who seems to have been the first one to catch it in Codogno had an active social and sporting life so is likely to have infected quite a few people before eventually showing symptoms.

... and the guy he was presumed to have caught it from - a work colleague recently returned from China - apparently shows no signs of ever having had the virus, so that isn't who he caught it from.

[shpalman]

Seems like all the universities around here are going to suspend/postpone teaching for a week.

[Herainestold]

Are you wearing a mask?

[Brightonian]

Just watched this, another of Dr John Campbell's videos, and it's scaring the hell out of me. My father (in Ireland) has been talking about cutting out social activities, and now I'm wondering the same. Anyone else starting to panic just a little?

[bjn]

Assuming it’s going to go pandemic, short of moving to Saint Kilda, what should one being doing now to prepare for its arrival? Lay in stocks of baked beans and toilet paper? Cancel planned holidays that involve flights or trains?

[shpalman]

Are you wearing a mask?

FB_IMG_1582449652343.jpg (74.19 KiB) Viewed 4529 times

[shpalman]

Assuming it’s going to go pandemic, short of moving to Saint Kilda, what should one being doing now to prepare for its arrival? Lay in stocks of baked beans and toilet paper? Cancel planned holidays that involve flights or trains?

Given the long incubation period, and that I've been to Milan within the past couple of weeks both for work and socially, it's entirely possible that I've already been exposed.

[tenchboy]

Assuming it’s going to go pandemic, short of moving to Saint Kilda, what should one being doing now to prepare for its arrival? Lay in stocks of baked beans and toilet paper? Cancel planned holidays that involve flights or trains?

Avoid shaking hands with people.
Wash hands at every opportunity: esp. before eating and after touching door handles, tube (underground) hangers, poles, rails etc and handling loose change.
Don't rub your eyes when you get that itch*
Avoid rooms full of people.
Stay out in the open away from crowds.

Only rigorously: more so than usual


Feel free to add.


*that's the virus on your finger-tip sending a message to your brain saying, "let me in, let me in" that is.

[basementer]

Assuming it’s going to go pandemic, short of moving to Saint Kilda, what should one being doing now to prepare for its arrival? Lay in stocks of baked beans and toilet paper? Cancel planned holidays that involve flights or trains?

It's just a nasty respiratory infection, like the last round of 'flu about ten years ago, so no worries, we can easily take the same measures as then.
Such as battling the virus by putting antibacterial handwash in the office.

[lpm]

By far the best individual action would be to try to catch it now. In the unlikely event you are hit badly, there will be space in ICU.

Catching it at the peak is the worst timing of all, yet more people will catch it then than at any other time. Fools.

[EllyCat]

By far the best individual action would be to try to catch it now. In the unlikely event you are hit badly, there will be space in ICU.

Catching it at the peak is the worst timing of all, yet more people will catch it then than at any other time. Fools.

“I got into Covid before it was mainstream” *strokes scraggly beard*

[nefibach]

Some of the COVID19 experts I'm following on Twitter are now saying that a pandemic is basically unavoidable, and that we need to move from thinking about containment, wherein the government stop us from getting it, to what individual preparedness looks like, wherein we try to stop ourselves from getting it. There's a great blog post about it here:

https://virologydownunder.com/past-time ... epare-now/

As they point out, the transition from containment to preparedness is going to mean the end of contact-tracing and most quarantines. But that's not a bad thing, because the resources required to do that can then be applied elsewhere.

Their recommendations are:

• Try to get a few extra months’ worth of prescription meds, if possible.
• Think through now how we will take care of sick family members while trying not to get infected.
• Cross-train key staff at work so one person’s absence won’t derail our organization’s ability to function.
• Practice touching our faces less. So how about a face-counter app like the step-counters so many of us use?
• Replace handshakes with elbow-bumps (the “Ebola handshake”).
• Start building harm-reduction habits like pushing elevator buttons with a knuckle instead of a fingertip.
• Don't panic buy, but do build up stocks of essential supplies and non-perishable foods.
  
  To which I'd add:
• If you feel sick, stay home.

Obviously these are all on top of the list Tenchboy suggested.

In terms of masks, there's really no need to stockpile them, and certainly it's not helpful to be wearing them outside as a matter of course. But they do help cut infection a bit if worn by a sick person whilst they are being cared for by someone else. So if you really must buy masks, buy N95 masks and only use them if you get sick.

It's also worth remembering that whilst in many people, COVID19 is producing very mild illness that's rather like having a cold, like other respiratory illnesses, it's those with underlying health conditions and the elderly who are most at risk. So reducing transmission through taking the above steps is not just about protecting yourself, but protecting the vulnerable people in your community.

[shpalman]

Seems like all the universities around here are going to suspend/postpone teaching for a week.

In fact everything in Lombardy which involves gatherings of people - this includes dance lessons and the gym for example as well as schools and universities and sports fixtures - has been suspended for a week.

A third Italian has died from it (but she was already on the oncology ward), there are 53 people in hospital from it, and the rest (up to a total of 112) are in isolation at home.

http://www.today.it/attualita/coronavir ... crema.html

Of course Studio Aperto, being a serious news program, isn't doing anything stupid and fear-mongering like putting dramatic music under a tightly edited and seriously voice-overed summary as if this were the montage in a zombie movie.

[Lydia Gwilt]

Friuli Venezia Giulia have closed universities for this week

[shpalman]

3 COVID-19 Cases As Described By Doctors In China on Chubbyemu's youtube.

[lpm]

When people are gathering together in a queue to buy masks, one begins to wonder if the virus is smarter than us.

[Brightonian]

When people are gathering together in a queue to buy masks, one begins to wonder if the virus is smarter than us.

Which is the best queue to join? (Am being serious, want to get some. Even if they're ineffective, I'd want to appear responsible when nipping out to Tesco's during a lockdown.)

[Bird on a Fire]

When people are gathering together in a queue to buy masks, one begins to wonder if the virus is smarter than us.

Which is the best queue to join? (Am being serious, want to get some. Even if they're ineffective, I'd want to appear responsible when nipping out to Tesco's during a lockdown.)

Given that they're ineffective other than as a physical barrier, you don't need a medical-grade mask. So the safest option is probably to go to a spacious, unpopular hardware store at a quiet time and just buy a dustmask or similar.

[Gentleman Jim]

Serious question - what is the likelihood that this strain of coronavirus, will have the same or very similar disinfectant susceptibility as previously tested strains?

[Boustrophedon]

When people are gathering together in a queue to buy masks, one begins to wonder if the virus is smarter than us.

Which is the best queue to join? (Am being serious, want to get some. Even if they're ineffective, I'd want to appear responsible when nipping out to Tesco's during a lockdown.)

Given that they're ineffective other than as a physical barrier, you don't need a medical-grade mask. So the safest option is probably to go to a spacious, unpopular hardware store at a quiet time and just buy a dustmask or similar.

[Brightonian]

When people are gathering together in a queue to buy masks, one begins to wonder if the virus is smarter than us.

Which is the best queue to join? (Am being serious, want to get some. Even if they're ineffective, I'd want to appear responsible when nipping out to Tesco's during a lockdown.)

Given that they're ineffective other than as a physical barrier, you don't need a medical-grade mask. So the safest option is probably to go to a spacious, unpopular hardware store at a quiet time and just buy a dustmask or similar.

Got a couple of dustmasks last week when I was visiting my father. He dived into a small chemist's and asked if they had any masks, and they produced these single-use DIY masks. Only a euro each though so I'm pleased they weren't profiteering. In normal times there would be a huge explosion in producing and selling things that are in sudden high demand, but I'm guessing that almost all masks are produced in China...