Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

No doubt my friend! I feel like I dropped a truck load of stress and worry and now my brain is ready to enrich the world with my thoughts! Case in point..I used the word "enrich".

 

There are rumblings to that effect.

 

If the virus is airborne I really don't understand how wearing fabric masks would help. Reports out of the Czech Republic are that widespread mask usage does flatten the curve though.

 

A stunning admission of deadly ignorance from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who says he only just learned that asymptomatic people can transmit #Covid19. “ndividuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours.”

Our choices. The governor of Georgia is:
a) lying
b) completely unaware of the pandemic
c) recently escaped from kidnappers who withheld radio and TV from the poor man or;
d) dumb as a box of rocks

Best case scenario is he is just dumb but I vote a.

 

Can’t hurt. If nothing else, even masks that aren’t designed to catch those particulates probably do still catch some, like chance encounters if a person sneezes or something within range of another person. 2 people wearing masks surely have better chance of avoiding infection than 2 people not wearing masks. If you change that R0 exponent just by a little it can drastically reshape the curve.

I’ve been reading up on air filtration of .03 microns vs .01 microns, apparently there’s some weird physics with these super small particles. Seems to line up with my “dumb luck” theory that the masks would help randomly just by the way the mask fibers would impact air circulation. A .01 micron particle wouldn’t necessarily just “pass through” even a mask which could only filter .03 microns, there’s still a chance it would be deflected by the fibers of the mask. But obviously for a health care worker with constant exposure they are no good.

 

The dangerous effects of Trump and right-wing propagandist calling the virus a hoax. De Santos not much better.

 

who is De Santos? at least get the name right if you are going to insult someone.

 

Yeah, couldn't believe that. What an idiot.

 

Contagious disease and thousands of people in a very small space is not a good mixture.

Report: Two Yokosuka sailors who tested positive for coronavirus are assigned to USS Ronald Reagan

 

so just use a mask made out of plastic. Although there could be some side effects for the wearer.

 

Can you link it? I try to keep up with COVID pretty well and I haven't heard anything to that effect. I've read recently that people might be the most infectious 2-3 days immediately AFTER symptom onset, not before. You sure that wasn't a mix up?

 

Viral load matters. For example, getting a needlestick from a Hep C is much more likely to infect you than from a needle contaminated by an HIV patient because Hep C's viral load is usually much higher.

If someone coughs would some virus be airborne? Of course, but how much? Most likely not nearly as much as in droplets if this virus is like basically any other respiratory virus.

 

Both the NY Post and NY Times report on a SMALL study in Germany. Not conclusive but warrants investigation.

Infected but Feeling Fine: The Unwitting Coronavirus Spreaders

 

Thanks! I'll look into it.

 

Over a million cases globally

CLOSED CASES
263,197
Cases which had an outcome:
210,590 (80%)
Recovered / Discharged

52,607 (20%)
Deaths

The only good news to glean is it took close to 48 hrs to go from 19 to 20 %

As more people recover the % growth is slowing.

 

Shit, I keep forgetting about this. Thanks for pointing it out!

 

I don't know enough about the particulars of masks and viruses, but on a very non-specific level, I would think that any barrier that might provide some reduction can help. And heck, if it helps prevent people from touching their faces or keeps people at a distance from one another because it reminds them not to get close (as opposed to the worry that it might encourage people not to social distance) I think this can help. On some level, it's about minimizing risk in as many ways as possible. This is normal for some countries like Japan (where my wife is from) where even outside of any epidemic or pandemic, you'll find many wearing masks if they're sick or during flu season or just to be/feel safer.

My wife has told me dozens of times this is culturally ingrained.

 

It also appears that the CDC recently changed their COVID-19 page to remove the "most contagious when symptoms are most severe" language. Uncertainty, maybe?

 

Yeah I guess my simple brain is just thinking "If one virus gets in you are screwed" and not thinking about the viral load (as @dingyibvs pointed out). We have some masks lying around from when my wife got the flu so I'll be sure to mask up the next time I go shopping.