Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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Some interesting notes this morning. Many of the big box stores in the States are running out of toilet paper. Grocery stores such as Krogers are limiting the amount of toilet paper one individual can purchase.



In a sense toilet paper doesn't have a direct link to the coronavirus. But it is one of life's essentials in modern society. Try living without if for a month. And if one goes into quarantine, this is one item one will need. I suspect this type of shortage will quickly reverse as manufacturers accelerate production.

Household cleaners are also experiencing surge buying.

Starbucks has issued a temporary ban on personal and in-store cups to prevent the spread of germs.

Source: Amid coronavirus concerns, Starbucks temporarily bans personal and in-store cups

Costco has decided due to the coronavirus, they will no longer provide free food samples.

Dr. Marc Siegel asked the question "Is the coronavirus seasonal?"

It is almost 90 degrees in Singapore, and the humidity is almost 90 percent. There are over 130 cases of the novel coronavirus there and the country's officials are hypervigilant, on the lookout for more. People in Singapore may not realize it, but the numbers of cases may remain small, not as much because of public health measures but because the heat and humidity may present a natural barrier to the spread of a respiratory virus.

By comparison, South Korea and New York currently have temperatures in the low 40s and the humidity is very low, conditions conducive to the spread of respiratory viruses. In South Korea, where over 200,000 people have been tested, there are over 6,000 confirmed cases and the coronavirus continues to spread.

The idea that many respiratory viruses (including influenza and other coronaviruses) follow a seasonal pattern is not a new one. It is based on the theory, believed by many virologists, that respiratory viruses travel farther on a cough or a sneeze in cold dry air than they do with hotter more humid weather where the water in the air causes the droplets to drop down to the ground.
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Back in the fall of 2002, a new coronavirus emerged from China, and rapidly spread around the globe, infecting close to 8,000 people with close to 800 deaths. In April and May the world geared up for a large pandemic – that never came.

Many public health officials pride themselves on having imposed timely quarantines and closed schools and other places in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Toronto, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restricted travel to these areas.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome was mostly gone by the following fall. I have always been more inclined to point to the weather for the drop-off, or as I wrote in "False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear" – the fact that the new virus wasn’t as contagious as we originally thought, but health officials at the time were patting themselves on the back for having squashed SARS.

The lesson from SARS is not that we shouldn’t have prepared, but that the hysteria and over-dramatizations and worst-case scenarios were completely unnecessary. Seventeen years later, we have forgotten this lesson, though we are still hoping for better weather to bail us out from a virus that is far more contagious, if less deadly, than was SARS.

Source: Dr. Marc Siegel: Is the coronavirus seasonal?

If you view the humidity as the main driver for influenza infection, there is a crossover. Influenzas begin in cold dry environments during the Winter and then as Spring arrives and humidity levels return to normal they begin to die out; but they crossover to hot dry desert environments with low humidity levels. And if influenza sticks around for several years, they will bounce back and forth between these two extremes.

Examples are the transition from China to Iran.

I saw a couple interesting stories about toilet paper today. One of the items people are buying in the event the coronavirus gets worse is toilet paper. People are stocking up.

In the first story: A family in Australia purchased 2,304 rolls of toilet paper. They placed an order on-line and thought they were ordering a 48 roll of toilet paper when in fact they ordered 48 boxes of the stuff.

Family accidentally orders 12 years' worth of toilet paper

In the second story: an Australian newspaper NT News, a tabloid in the country’s Northern Territory, printed eight blank pages in its Thursday edition so people can cut and use them if needed as toilet paper. Lots of people are freaking out right now. In the wake of the coronavirus panic buying, there is a fear that many stores are running out of the stuff.

This second story made me cringe a little. There are different types of waste treatment systems. In most major cities they use sewage treatment plants. But in the countryside, many people rely on septic systems. Newspaper isn’t designed to be flushed. It is a good way to clog up a septic system.

Another article point to a way to adapt, if the unavailability of toilet paper became an endemic problem. Use water instead.

The cheapest and safest alternative is plain old water.

The sewage or plumbing system in many Asian countries isn’t designed to cope with paper, plus loo roll isn’t always affordable or accessible.

The number one reason many people skip the toilet paper in favour of water, however, is that most of the planet thinks it’s more hygienic to wash.

It may have come about because of climate and even religious belief. But, in the same way you wouldn’t flick your body with a dry towel instead showering, washing leaves you cleaner than wiping (it’s also gentler on your skin).

Bidets may be the more acceptable way to wash in the west but, again, they’re more about comfort than necessity.

It’s common to find a ‘lota’ or washing jug in the bathroom in some Asian homes and restaurants, even in the UK. These are like teapots, with a long spout to direct water where it needs to go. Otherwise, you can use a clean bottle or something similar.

Source: How to cope without toilet paper (in case there’s a coronavirus-related shortage)

Italy death toll soars amid travel ban

https://politicalwire.com/2020/03/07/debate-in-white-house-raged-over-what-to-tell-public/

I've been using disinfectant sprays daily and scrubbing n washing all outer garments n shoes more often at least 2 times a week ...

I even used disinfectant spray when visiting my sister a few weeks ago... I sprayed the elevator buttons

Masks and hand sanitizers have been sold out since this coronavirus thing showed up on the news . in my region ..

I still cannot fi1nf it anywhere.. Even small tiny shops run by 1 person have signs saying no masks available.. Everywhere it is sold out!! !! !

Any city in this region... Not exaggerating...

As the user above notes the masks prevent u from touching your face as habitually..
My worst thing is trying to rub eye make up if im out and see it's too heavy or becoming messy...
I have to reminf myself to use wet wipes fr that especially now.. Have wet wipes everywhere

N Children's hand sanitizer is available, just recently , I grabbed it! Better than nothing

My son's nurse today was really sad because she couldn't find masks or sanitizer either. Her job means she has to be extra careful

The big worry is that my elder bvux of his severity of ASD and needs.. He mouths n bites n licks EVERYTHING. it's horrible.. If u take ur eyes off him momentarily...
Th1ats how he broke my phone this time around actually
I caught him today multiple times trying to bite socks..Used socks that were his own ! !!
He does things like this every few minutes if nobody is with him. You cant imagine unless u meet him..
He licks doorknobs etc

he can do it fr hours if he is left to his own devices..
N it's really bad in general but moreso when viruses are spreading n his immunity is already compromised compared to most ppl...
N his is a very fragile body ..

Ppl who aren't working with him or have not seen a case like his, say ohhh just get a replacement thing to bite n redirect him he will start doing that instead..

He is 7 going on 8 n still doesn't n we still do it daily multiple times to no avail..

Online shopping no longer supplies paper cleaning and sanistizers. Major shopping chains have queues starting at 5am in the morning waiting for the latest shipment of toilet paper every 3 days. Meanwhile black marketeers are making money from people's misery, why are they not being arrested?

In other news a young man in Tasmania who agreed to quarantine himself after being tested positive for COVID19 has gone on to work in his job waiting tables in a hotel and then visited a nightclub (potentially infecting hundreds). The state government is enacting legislation to arrest and charge people who recklessly ignore warning to quarantine themselves. The problem? i) won't they still be carriers after the curfew and ii) how do they buy groceries and not starve to death? How the heck do you police this?

Coronavirus Updates: U.S. Death Toll Rises; Americans Warned to Avoid Cruises; Senator to Self-Quarantine

Brian Greenberg, co-CEO of Touchfree Concepts, which, according to its website, sells touch-free restroom products and janitorial supplies said that he has sold out of hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus scare.

“We are absolutely being bombarded by phone calls, emails and people trying to place orders,” Greenberg said on Sunday. “We actually ran out of Purell about two-and-a-half weeks ago and we are completely out of every other type of hand sanitizer.”

“GOJO, the maker of Purell, has informed us that they will have more stock at the end of March and early April,” he continued.

Last week, Kroger, one of America's largest supermarket chains, capped the amount of sanitizing and cold and flu products customers can order on its website, due to the high volume of demand amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Greenberg said on Sunday that he recommends people get on the waiting list for hand sanitizer if it’s sold out.

“If you go online, you probably won’t be able to buy the products, it’s just the nature of shopping carts online,” Greenberg noted.

“But what you should do is actually e-mail the companies and let them know that you want to place an order and that if they’re not in stock, that you want to be placed on back order,” he advised. “This will ensure that you get the first batch that comes in. So as soon as it comes in, you don’t have to go to Walmart and try to catch it as soon as they stock it on the shelves.”

Greenberg noted that there is also a shortage of face masks. “We sold out of all the masks in mid-January and specifically the N95 [surgical and face] masks, we could not get,” he said on Sunday. “We contacted 3M, who are the manufacturers of the masks, and they are telling us that they will not be restocking it.”

“I believe they’re under contract with the government right now and they’re filling a massive order, not only 3M, but all the other manufacturers of the mask and they’re going to make sure that they divvy it out to the people that need it the most,” Greenberg added.

Source: Hygiene product supplier sells out of hand sanitizer amid coronavirus scare: 'We have never seen anything close to this'

There is now a confirmed case in the next town over from me,ugggg