Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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'Shocking’: 66% of new coronavirus patients in N.Y. stayed home: Cuomo

I'm wondering how things will be different in public a year from now, 2 years from now, etc. If the virus becomes a more or less permanent fixture like the common cold (ie being able to contract it any time during the year but increasing risk during seasonal peaks), will it be considered acceptable for workers to wear masks if they so choose even if their coworkers don't want to wear masks?

Example: 2 years from now if there is no vaccine and no guaranteed effective treatment course for everyone and if we find the virus once caught is incurable and remains for life, will it be accepted for grocery store workers to wear masks and gloves during their shifts if they choose? Or will there be peer pressure at some point to stop wearing masks even if there is still a risk?

Only time will tell.

Trump personal valet tests positive for coronavirus, but White House says president is negative

Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks
The coronavirus outbreak in New York City became the primary source of infections around the United States, researchers have found.

New York City’s coronavirus outbreak grew so large by early March that the city became the primary source of new infections in the United States, new research reveals, as thousands of infected people traveled from the city and seeded outbreaks around the country.

The research indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country before the city began setting social distancing limits to stop the growth. That helped to fuel outbreaks in Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and as far away as the West Coast.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/us/n ... break.html


And while that was happening:

My cousin almost certainly had it apparently (she lives an hr away from me and we haven't seen them in months) and just now recovering agter weeks but she wasn't severe enough to warrant emergency. However they did not test her as she isn't a frontline medical worker, essential services worker, elderly or at risk.

They didnt tell us till recently, but apparently she has been ill and in quarantine most of this time.

She had all the symptoms to look out for except she didn't require hospitalization for breathing.

It's funny because she rarely left home was always covered up properly even eyes and was studying online like every uni student. However some of her family who she lives with don't take precautions I believe. I cant imagine her brother actually took care till she got ill.
Hope they are now.

My dad has been with my mom in their hotel room .. Working from home since March
.

Food they take with covered hands and discard containers but mainly cook at home.

Wash groceries with soap and water etc

Do much of the stuff that Jimmym recommended (I sent them his PDF write-up)

Thank goodness as he is in the high risk category.

In Israel the intense infection concentration was in densely populated, cramped cities also, it makes sense.

COVID-19 AND VITAMIN "D"

When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The sun's ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur. Vitamin D has many roles in the body and is essential for optimal health.
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I remember reading in an important paper called Seasonality of Respiratory Viral Infections that was published in the Annual Reviews of Virology, that one of the recommendations was "Vitamin D supplement to compensate for short daylight–induced Vitamin D deficiency"

Source: Seasonality of Respiratory Viral Infections

"Direct pathogen clearance by phagocytosis or production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role as the nonspecific immune response. Seasonal oscillation of the daylight period modulates the physiological activity of mammalian species through dairy melatonin pulse. Exposure of Siberian hamsters to the short daylight period (8 h) decreased phagocytotic activities and ROS productions of granulocytes and monocytes compared to the long daylight period (16 h) exposure. In contrast, the short daylight period increased natural killer cell cytotoxicity. Vitamin D biosynthesis is also modulated by sunlight. During the winter season, vitamin D deficiency is common presumably because of insufficient sunlight. In vitro cultures of bone marrow–derived macrophages isolated from vitamin D–deficient mice impair macrophage maturation, production of surface antigen as well as lysosomal enzymes, and H2O2 production. Collectively, these data suggest short daylight as a contributing factor in the impairment of the innate immune responses in winter."

"Seasonal changes in the environmental factors can affect not only local defense mechanisms but also systemic physiological changes. Thermoneutral temperature housing potentiates anti-tumor immunity and GVHD onset in mice. In addition, a short daylight period and consequent deficiency of vitamin D impair nonspecific immune responses. In conclusion, the combination of low humidity, temperature, and sunlight may trigger an impairment of the local and systemic antiviral defense mechanisms, leading to the increased host susceptibility to the respiratory viruses in winter"
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There was an interesting article in the news today:

Researchers have discovered a strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates from the novel coronavirus, a new study reveals.

A research team led by Northwestern University analyzed data from hospitals and clinics across China, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates, such as Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients in countries that were not as severely affected, according to the study.

The researchers also found a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and cytokine storm, which is a hyperinflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system.

"Cytokine storm can severely damage lungs and lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death in patients," Ali Daneshkhah, a postdoctoral research associate at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, said in a statement. "This is what seems to kill a majority of COVID-19 patients, not the destruction of the lungs by the virus itself. It is the complications from the misdirected fire from the immune system."

Source: Vitamin D levels may impact COVID-19 mortality rates, study claims

So it seems like supplementing your diet with a little Vitamin D supplements during the winter to protect oneself from both the influenza virus and the coronavirus might not be a bad idea.

In the northern hemisphere, the days are longer in winter than summer. The days start getting shorter on the first day of summer, and longer on 21 December.

I understand the temperature / humidity variables but I find winter is very sunny, for the most part.

In Fairbanks, Alaska where my brother lives, on the shortest day of the year during the winter (December 21), they only have 3 hrs 41 mins when the sun is up.

On the longest day of the year in Fairbanks during the summer solstice, they have around 22 hours of daylight.