Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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Irish coffee contains the four basic food groups; caffeine, sugar, fat and alcohol.

As I said, it contains alcohol, a mortal enemy of common Sense.

"Tom Hanks Says He Has Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES — The actor Tom Hanks said on Wednesday that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, have the coronavirus.

Mr. Hanks and Ms. Wilson, both 63, are in Australia, where he was set to film a movie about the life of Elvis Presley. “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,” the Academy Award-winning actor said in a statement. “Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”"

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytime ... s.amp.html

The common flu causes up to 5 million cases of severe illness worldwide and kills up to 650,000 people every year, according to the World Health Organization

Is it just me, or does anyone else have the impression that the only people who have access to coronavirus testing are celebrities, politicians, and other wealthy people?

There was an interesting article about the transmissibility of the coronavirus:

A new study suggests that the novel coronavirus COVID-19 can remain in the air for up to three hours, and live on surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to three days.

The research, published in the medRxiv depository, also notes that the virus can remain on copper surfaces for four hours and carboard for up to 24 hours. The research found it could stay on stainless steel and plastic for anywhere between two and three days.

"Our results indicate that aerosol and fomite transmission of HCoV-19 is plausible, as the virus can remain viable in aerosols for multiple hours and on surfaces up to days," the researchers wrote in the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Another study published in February concluded that if COVID-19 is similar to other coronaviruses, such as SARS or MERS, it could live on surfaces like metal, glass and plastic for up to nine days, Fox News previously reported. By comparison, the flu virus can only live on surfaces for approximately 48 hours.

That study, published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, suggested that coronaviruses could be "efficiently inactivated" with disinfectants that contain "62–71 percent ethanol, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide or 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute," adding that other agents that contain "0.05–0.2% benzalkonium chloride or 0.02 percent chlorhexidine digluconate are less effective."

Source: Coronavirus can remain in air for 3 hours, live on plastic for days, new study says

Most hand sanitizer gels contain 60 to 65 percent ethanol.

According to Wikipedia:

Surgical masks are primarily intended to protect the wearer from direct splashes and sprays of blood and bodily fluid as well as the release of aerosols from the wearer that may adversely impact a patient or other individual. N95 filtering facepiece respirators cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for use as surgical masks, in addition to providing respiratory protection to the wearer, are known as Surgical N95. Typical surgical masks do not provide the same level of filtration as a NIOSH approved respirator as they are neither tight-fitting or capable of providing sufficient filtration over a wide range of particle sizes. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the use of surgical masks as part of standard precautions when conducting procedures that result in aerosol generation and the patient is not anticipated to be infected with a disease known to be transmitted by small aerosols. The CDC recommends the use of NIOSH certified respirators equivalent to N-95 or greater to prevent the inhalation of infectious particles (e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Avian influenza, Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), pandemic influenza, and Ebola).

Photo of surgical mask


Photo of an N95 face mask


Can wearing a medical face mask protect you against the new coronavirus? It's a question many people are asking, including pet owners who are putting canine face masks on their dogs.

If it's a regular surgical face mask, the answer is no, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told Live Science.

A more specialized mask, known as an N95 respirator, can protect against the new coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2. The respirator is thicker than a surgical mask, but neither Schaffner nor the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) recommend it for public use, at least not at this point.

Source: Can wearing a face mask protect you from the new coronavirus?

Here is a link to the various styles of N95 masks:

N95 Masks

I perceive that the threat of the coronavirus will surge for a month or two outside China and then taper off rather dramatically. This will occur as we transition into Spring and the outside humidity levels return to the normal. This pandemic has been overhyped just like SARS and MERS that came before it.

Where is the basis for that assessment? - look to China.

Chinese authorities are allowing citizens to reopen their business and are easing containment measures as the country's health commission says the nation has made it past the worst of the coronavirus threat within its borders, according to reports.

According to Reuters, new coronavirus cases in Hubei province, which contains Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease that Wednesday was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, totaled just eight on Thursday -- the lowest number recorded so far.

"Broadly speaking, the peak of the epidemic has passed for China," National Health Commission Spokesman Mi Feng said, according to Reuters. "The increase of new cases is falling."

China says coronavirus cases falling, it is past peak of disease: report

Warm weather usually causes flu-like illnesses to dissipate rather quickly.

But it was quite prevalent in Australia during their summer. I don't understand how temperature is expected to kill it, if it's already been in hot places.

Somehow, that's been the tendency in the Northern Hemisphere since time began. Hence....."flu season." Temperature probably plays a role---but other factors probably play a role, too.

It appears that covid-19 is quite a bit of difference from the flu.

It's in the same virus family as many flu-type and cold-type viruses.

Of course, it's still an unknown. But I'm cautiously optimistic.

lack of Vitamin D from the sun increases respiratory infections during the winter

Don't be My country has completely shut down. Follow what is going on in Italy and you will get an accurate picture. We have been told that it could wipe out a whole generation of 60+. Schools are closed, over 60's told to stay home, people are working from home, trains are stopping, infected people doubling every day. Young people feel very bad but recover, over 60's and the chronically ill are a different story. Old age homes are not allowed visitors.Sorry but that's the truth.

So if the currently popular media assessment is true, the Millennials may finally get their wish -- the elimination of the entire Baby Boomer generation.

Sad.