Fake web news reports on the coronavirus (OT)

Italy closes all schools and universities until mid-March
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2020/03/04/coronavirus-govt-closes-schools-unis-till-mid-march_d100e58c-fb0c-4d97-a6a3-7814d212c4d5.html

In addition, "Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora, meanwhile said Wednesday that the government was likely to order that professional soccer matches and other big sporting events be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus emergency."

These are eminently sane measures that will help contain the spread, thus save lives.

Public schools don't teach Civics like we grew up with. I'm a trained teacher and I Sub occasionally in public schools, the curriculum sucks.

Trusted sources? Hmm, anymore(the last 10 or more years) I find federal sources to be skewed by the ruling hunta here in the USA. NOTE: I'm calling anyone in power as part of a Hunta, not just presidents I didn't like.

alephnull said...
Back in 77, in BASIC training I ran a 5:25 mile in combat boots...

I was in Basic in ‘72 and, if I remember correctly, we had to do something like a sub-7:30 mile to graduate, which I was, reluctantly, able to do.
Move a few years ahead and I am in my mid-50s and coaching high school cross country. We did a timed mile once a week during our summer practices and I decided to push it a bit and did a 6:19, a PR for me. Today, I would be pressed to run a sub-9:00 for a mile.
And, to keep this OT, I found that since I took up regular exercise about 20 years ago, mostly running but regular lap swimming too, I haven’t had a cold or flu virus. When I feel like I might be coming down with something I go for a good run, get the core temperature up, and do lots of nose blowing.

Clock,
So health workers are wearing the masks to protect the patients they are treating, and not to protect themselves? I don’t know about that?

Also, all those folks in China, Iran, etc. seem to be wearing the masks to protect themselves, not others. Is this a plot to sell a lot of masks to unsuspecting folks? Lol

Whether or not masks provide protection will be the subject of endless debate. I've no idea myself. They do remind a person not to touch their face, and that is good in and of itself.

Here's a couple of studies, a story by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (from Feb. 13 = somewhat old now), and what the CDC says, on the subject:

Do N95 respirators provide 95% protection level against airborne viruses, and how adequate are surgical masks?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16490606/
Conclusion: The N95 filtering face piece respirators may not provide the expected protection level against small virions. Some surgical masks may let a significant fraction of airborne viruses penetrate through their filters, providing very low protection against aerosolized infectious agents in the size range of 10 to 80 nm. It should be noted that the surgical masks are primarily designed to protect the environment from the wearer, whereas the respirators are supposed to protect the wearer from the environment.

The First Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial of Mask Use in Households to Prevent Respiratory Virus Transmission
https://www.ijidonline.com/article/s1201-9712%2808%2901008-4/fulltext
Conclusions: This is the first RCT on mask use to be conducted and provides data to inform pandemic planning. We found compliance to be low, but compliance is affected by perception of risk. In a pandemic, we would expect compliance to improve. In compliant users, masks were highly efficacious. A larger study is required to enumerate the difference in efficacy (if any) between surgical and non-fit tested P2 masks.

Frequently Asked Questions about Personal Protective Equipment
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/respirator-use-faq.html

Unmasked: Experts explain necessary respiratory protection for COVID-19
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/unmasked-experts-explain-necessary-respiratory-protection-covid-19

This is a great thread...very informative...sprinkled with nice calming and warm personal stories off topic

Vince your "immunity" story is amazing but could another factor.be your decision to live a less "crowded"...life style...which I applaud btw...not trolling or raining>>>>do you have children and are/were they home schooled which would mitigate a source of "bugs"

What I also like about this thread...it allows off topic jaunts and so called hijackings without turmoil...or grunts...a very respectful thread...umm a possible template for other threads?... umm are my strategic and gentle reconnoiters breathing light...? right now I need an emoji of one hand clapping...as I re "tweet" into self..

Buddy,
Thanks for the wonderful articles. After reading them, I have decided that, if needed, I will use N95 masks and avoid using surgical masks ..... due to the fact that medical personnel who have used surgical masks have contracted CV, and folks are now recommending medical personnel use N95. I think this last point is the real issue .... if N95s don’t work why do medical personnel have to use them?

I see someone at the Federal level must agree that N95s are needed as the federal government is buying 500,000,000 masks and that there are manufacturers in the USA who are ramping up production.

Thanks for the articles Buddy, they have made my decision an easy one.

Agree with Logo. This thread is getting a lot of traction, and even if the conversation is expanding into other areas, that's okay.

Because if this virus does hit hard, it's going to be affecting every area of our lives, so talking about any of those areas now is okay.

"... keep a distance of six feet from strangers."

Well, I Always try to stay at least six feet from strangers. 😉

"... keep a distance of six feet from strangers."

Why only six feet? Sneezes travel much farther than that.
I've been sprayed from the slovenly masses in excess of over 10'.

Heck, I used to be able to hock a loogie over 20'.
Spell check can't find the correct spelling of loogie.

Chinese scientists identify two strains of the coronavirus, indicating it’s already mutated at least once

"The more aggressive type of virus was found to be prevalent in the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan — the Chinese city where COVID-19 was first detected late last year.

But the frequency of this type of virus has since decreased from early January, the scientists said.

Researchers cautioned that data examined in the study was still “very limited.”"

Johns Hopkins has an excellent new resource re: COVID-19 (to go along with their tracker).

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu

logoslidat said...
Vince your "immunity" story is amazing but could another factor.be your decision to live a less "crowded"...life style...which I applaud btw...not trolling or raining>>>>do you have children and are/were they home schooled which would mitigate a source of "bugs"

Yes, I have children and no they weren't homeschooled. We took the position that there is nothing like playing in the dirt outside with lots of pets to build up a good immune system. Both are adults and have no allergies and are extremely healthy.

I left my previous career in 1991 and became a high school teacher where I was certainly exposed to LOTS of stuff. For me, vector control was the first line of defense and I broke the habit of touching my face and took up hand washing as a ritual. I had a computer lab and regularly wiped down the equipment.

As for face masks, I have had a full beard since 1976 and have no intention of getting rid of it and I am aware that it compromises any protection a mask might offer. When I do wood working or painting I do have a respirator and I just make sure it's cinched up tight.