Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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Yes, it does seem rather bizarre some of the time. Surely a disease this relatively "mild" can't be such a problem, etc ...

I think that one factor has made a huge difference ...

... whereas a similar disease 50 years ago would have taken a year or two or even more to spread around the world, these days the massive use of planes, trains, and automobiles, and cruise ships, as well as giant container ships criss crossing the world, mean that, unchecked, a virus infects a lot of people in a very short time and health systems are overwhelmed and not only do many more die of the virus than need to/would otherwise but other ill people die too, and economies sink into recession or crash because of all the people unable to work while ill or looking after ill people ... tens of millions, hundreds of millions of them all at once.

In the past those people would have fallen ill in stages, spread out over one or two years, and systems were less stretched/under pressure/micromanaged, people got more sleep, and 2% -3.4% might die but at least it wouldn't crash entire economies.

The trouble with rapid frequent international transport and constant cross country travel, millions of commuters, the daily churn and interaction of tens of thousands, is that illness arrives everywhere very very quickly, and death rates go up, to 4% and 6% at peak outbreak, ( it's 5% at the moment in Italy ), when beds and equipment and healthcare workers run out, and more people die of other illnesses too.

So some countries are actually making serious attempts to test and screen and contain, and if that fails to delay/slow the spread as much as possible, to prevent the disastrous scenarios ... but the process of testing and screening and containment and delay looks unbelievably draconian, extravagant, exaggerated and ridiculous if don't realise that 4 deaths one day, followed by 8 deaths three days later ** means 174 million deaths in 2 months ... if unchecked.

And it looks especially crazy in the West which is no longer used to respecting governments, or caring about wider society, is led instead by market forces, so action in a crisis consists of buying stuff, lots of it ( toilet rolls, hand sanitiser, whatever, it almost doesn't matter so long as buy something, anything, in large quantities ).

PS. The only other option really, ( since better long term preparation in advance is no longer possible ), would be for governments/leaders to wash their hands ( much more openly and more thoroughly than usual ) of the mostly ( but not only ), old and already ill/weakened, to provide no health care for them, to ask that they simply sacrifice themselves for the good of society as a whole, that they should not demand or expect such huge efforts to be expended on saving them .... ? ...

** and the current doubling rate ( of deaths ) in Italy and Spain is actually every 2 days ... !

I knew it was Trump‘s fault

it's baby yoda's fault.

Patient Zero:

The fault is Anton La Vey... he put a curse on someone, and it got loose.

The states that don’t have it are the unpopular ones.All the others people visit.

Information is changing about the virus all the time. Some of the information below may not be accurate as it's coming from China and also because again, info on this virus is changing all the time.

>Just today I read something where the distance of infection was thought to be several meters but now it's thought to be twice that distance.
>Also, new fact, the virus can stay suspended in the air of a room for up to 30 minutes before gravity pulls it to the ground.
>Workers in Washington are shocked because some of the dead went from showing no symptoms to dead in a matter of a number of hours.
>In China people who recover from the virus have turned right around and gotten sick again from it a second time. Maybe the virus "hides" in a different part of the body to regroup and then comes back again to hammer a person and possibly kill them the second time around.
>Also in China, they've found that people with hypertension have a much higher possibility of being killed by the virus. Perhaps as high as a 50/50 chance of survival.
>Health care professionals in China and South Korea have both said wearing masks absolutely reduces the risk of transmission both from the infected but also to the healthy. It's social taboo in the U.S. to wear masks. At least through the present. Hopefully that changes in my opinion.

I'm not a doctor, but I have a hard time believing Corona has a contagion factor of only 2 when other SARS related viruses are twice that.

I think we know very little about this virus at this point.

I know people personally who have "poo pooed" this virus and currently have a very cavalier attitude about it. I don't want to be cavalier about this virus. We're having a meeting about this virus at work tomorrow. So far, management hasn't said a word about any plan at all because they haven't had one. It was only after the prompting of some employees, myself included that we're going to meet to talk about this tomorrow.

I am bewildered that ANY workplace has not addressed this; verbally, and posted procedures and protocols at workstations and especially in all bathrooms.
AND installed wall-mounted hand sanitizers everywhere.
You and your co-workers deserve better.

Thank you. Some of us there agree. So far it seems the two managers have been acting like, pretending like this virus doesn't exist.

Thanks for that timeline. I was getting mixed up as to which happened when.

Santa Clara County's ban on mass gatherings due to coronavirus will impact sporting events

Madonna, Pearl Jam cancel shows amid coronavirus fears; 'Wheel of Fortune' nixes live audience

I read an article about what will become Ground Zero of the coronavirus in the U.S. - the subway systems in New York.

A Coronavirus (Not Yet) Ground Zero Report: The NYC Subway

This is primarily due to the fact that people are crammed into the subway trains like sardines.

Analysis:

The Dreaded 6 Train
* The 6 was less than half full. This itself is astounding since it's normally hard enough to stuff a crouton into the damn thing.
* No masks. One minor cough. No one seemed to care.
* Estimation of face-touching – 20%
* No panhandlers - a previously unknown occurrence. Maybe they know something?

The Horrendous L Train
* Unlike the 6, the L was crowded, which is unsurprising, since a train arrives approximately once every leap year.
* Mood on the train: total indifference
* No coughing
* No masks
* Estimation of face-touching – less than 10%
* One disturbing outlier: A woman kept sticking her right index finger in her mouth, and I don't mean just a little. It appeared that she couldn't remember whether she still had her tonsils and felt compelled to check every 30 seconds.

The Apporitional Z Train
The Z train is a myth to many, but admit it: when it does show up, you can’t help but get kind of excited.
* The train was mostly empty. Except, perhaps, for invisible apparitions.
* Three masks - the only three I noticed on the entire trip.
* Mood: Dreamlike state, perhaps because the other passengers, real or not, couldn't believe that they were actually on the mystical Z train.
* Face touching - none
* No coughing

Executive Summary:
* NYC subway riders seemed to be absolutely unconcerned about the coronavirus, which is odd because if nothing else New Yorkers are among the most neurotic inhabitants of the planet.
* But, when it hits the city – and it will, sooner rather than later, the subways, and maybe the entire city will probably look more like a ghost town.
* Most surprising was the absence of masks. I expected to see plenty.
* Nah, check that. It was the absence of panhandlers on the 6. Where did they go? West Palm?

We can’t live without taking the subway.

I live about 20 miles from my job.

When people talk about “avoiding the subways,” they have no idea what they’re talking about.

Most people here cannot “telecommute.”

I was by the tracks when the commuter train that goes back and forth from Seattle went by. It looked pretty empty.

The subways here are crowded like always.

What steps can you take to protect yourself on your daily commute?