We at Hospice are seeing our elderly volunteers staying home for a while....but everyone else is out buying toilet paper...as witnessed IN THE MEME TIME...2 Editions this week...

Being in the over 80 group, I feel the deaths may be more due to compromised immune systems and pneumonia. I wish they would comment on ones having been vaccinated for pneumonia in that group.

I may have been mistaken in being so outspoken with doubt about this emergency. Seeing all those good people backing up Mr. Trump in his efforts, perhaps I was too suspicious. I say this with reservations. Not about Trump, about the virus.

Agreed. That reinforces the rational goal of keeping the elderly from exposure until there is a way to protect them.

The difference is that we now have the technology to develop vaccines, which wasn't the case with the Spanish flu. There are about ten variant vaccines undergoing testing now, and by Summer one or more should be available in plentiful supply.

I understand. Isnt the risk of problems due to regular influenza a lot greater than for coronavirus. oor am I missing something. I got the influenza shot, but I understand its only 50% effective.

I guess I am suspecting that this coronavirus scare is overblown.

The problem is that we all can make far bigger problems for everyone by people panicking like is happening (try getting toilet paper and water in the stores...) than is really necessary.

The government is also scaring the hell out of people and will cause a lot of job loss and businesses closing down- and perhaps for little gain.

That assumes that there is not another upswing as soon as restrictions are lifted. Several waves happened with the Spanish Flu. I hope that won't happen in this case and the good news continues.

Over 55 have pretty high death rates, too, 10+ times that of those under 55. Younger people must not carry the virus to the homes of older people either.

Maybe given your statistics on the percentage of deaths of younger people, only people 65 and over should stay home for awhile, not the younger ones.
If everyone stays home, the economy will crash and will take a long time to recover.

Please do NOT pass that advice on - about half of it is incorrect. Most importantly, while fever is an important symptom of Covid-19, it may or may not be accompanied by symptoms such as a runny nose. Having a 'runny nose' does not rule out Covid-19; while statistically, the lack of a fever is a counter-indicator, some individuals with no fever have tested positive.
The virus loves to live in a human whose body temp is 37C (98F) - How can it be killed by temps of 26C???!! Think about it!
We do not know how long it is viable on most surfaces. Comparisons with other coronaviruses may not apply due to high variability.
The precautions and advice in the above missive are dangerously wrong, with the exception of 'wash hands' and 'drink water'.

Please be careful about passing along such missives.

Jan

"If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold"

Also: 15-30% of these cases in the U.S. are due to corona virus 229e.

People also should understand that the Spanish Flu is a major outlier in virus outbreak history. It primarily "targeted" kids. To this day we don't know why. Influenza tends to cull the older and sicker, but this one did it to the young and healthy while mostly sparing the older.

I will take prudent precautions. But to get involved with statistics from over 100 years ago, computer models and such to make predictions, sound too much like climate change science. Thousand have died of the flu during this years flu season, an almost yearly event. But no consternation there, is there? Sorry, I'll pass. Sounds too much like a Y2K event and for money transfers and political benefit.

A positive note from China: the rate of infections is falling, and some of the quarantine restrictions are being lifted. The worst of the pandemic should pass within weeks, if necessary precautions are enacted.

The economic impact of this viral outbreak should be relieved within the next couple of months, and be on the rise before the elections in November, which will foil the Democrat hopes of using a recession to oust Trump.

No.

First, the Spanish Flu had a 10% to 20% Global Case Fatality Rate (500 million infected, 50 to 100 million deaths). Covid-19 appears to be running in the 1% Case Fatality Rate range.

Second, treatment options in 1918 were primitive at best - aspirin for fever, epinephrine for pneumonia, oxygen (sometimes injected sub-q) for cyanosis. Diagnostic tools went little farther than a thermometer and a stethoscope. A century later we have literally thousands of diagnostics and scientifically-proven treatments for symptoms, a solid understanding of virology, and decades of experience in vaccination.

Third, "martial law" does not stop viruses and in fact recent efforts in that direction - such as the quarantining of a cruise ship which turned a tiny handful of cases into hundreds - can have the opposite effect.

Testing and precautions make sense; police-state oppression does not.

To answer the question, I guess the answer is another question: How far are we allowed to go to prevent people from doing stupid things to themselves? If you are a parent quite a ways but if the other person is a functioning adult not very far at all - morally - without devolving into tyranny. But are we allowed to act to prevent people from doing stupid things which may affect others? That's the grey area where the answer can be yes or no. In this case, I'm inclined to say yes, but I will agree that there is a huge concern about a return to freedom once the danger is past.

Excellent info. Thanks!

Paul, Please read, send others, Barry

The Stanford hospital board: The new Coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days.How can one know if he/she is infected? By the time they have fever and/or cough and go to the hospital, the lung is usually 50% Fibrosis and it's too late.A simple self-check that we can do every morning. Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort stiffness or tightness, etc., it proves there is no Fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicates no infection.In critical time, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.

Serious excellent advice by Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat are moist, never dry.Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least. Why?
Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly, the virus can enter your windpipe and into the lungs. That's very dangerous.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - CORONAVIRUS
1. If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold
2. Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose.
3. This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees Centigrade. (78-81F). It hates the Sun.
4. If someone sneezes with it, it takes about 10 feet before it drops to the ground and is no longer airborne.
5. If it drops on a metal surface it will live for at least 12 hours - so if you come into contact with any metal surface - wash your hands as soon as you can with a bacterial soap.
6. On fabric it can survive for 6-12 hours. normal laundry detergent will kill it.
7. Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink liquids with ice.
8. Wash your hands frequently as the virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 minutes, but - a lot can happen during that time - you can rub your eyes, pick your nose unwittingly and so on.
9. You should also gargle as a prevention. A simple solution of salt in warm water will suffice.
10. Can't emphasis enough - drink plenty of water!
THE SYMPTOMS
1. It will first infect the throat, so you'll have a sore throat lasting 3/4 days
2. The virus then blends into a nasal fluid that enters the trachea and then the lungs, causing pneumonia. This takes about 5/6 days further.
3. With the pneumonia comes high fever and difficulty in breathing.
4. The nasal congestion is not like the normal kind. You feel like you're drowning. It's imperative you then seek immediate attention.
SPREAD THE WORD - PLEASE SHARE

Freedom, I know you heard about the two books that predicted this virus from Wuhan china but there might be a connection no one has caught yet.

Interesting connection I just made.
Why did the UN change Agenda 21 to Agenda 2030?
Now...read what was predicted in 08...and was predicted 40 yrs before that!
https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-ne...

In the book it predicts that the virus will diappear and return 10 years later?.?.?.?

Former governor of California, Jerry Brown, signed a law allowing for medical martial law. It places the country health official in charge of law enforcement. When our first fatality from this illness recently occurred in a Roseville, CA hospital the victim's neighborhood came under police blockade and everybody was ordered to stay in their homes. The media let one report of this slip out, including photos of the cop cars blocking the roads, and the story has since quietly faded away.

I am not a suspicious person, but this subject is causing me some consternation.

Thanks, John. I hate you are stuck there, but it appears the Italians are taking the virus seriously. The world could use the Star Trek transporter that filters out all virii now.
The local, state, and federal governments here should wake up and follow Italy and South Korea's examples before the death toll here starts to accelerate and hospitals are overrun with dying elderly patients.

I am still in Verona, Italy. Now no one can go outside without a signed form in Italian, explaining why you are outside and where you are going. Only valid reason is to get food or medicine, or traveling home. The streets are deserted, no people, no cars.

For Venice this can be compared to having a hurricane come through in the Caribbean Islands. This emergency may last as long as hurricane rebuilding takes, too.
I enjoyed my time in Venice and Firenze. Great food, wine, coffee, artworks. I was there just after the 1st Gulf War. It was an amazing place to visit and the Italians have cultivated an enviable lifestyle. (Loved Paris and Vienna, too.)
I hope they all come through this and things are restored to normal soon.

Yes, Italy has the highest proportion of old people in Europe, and it has high population density, so that is why their death rate has been higher. The Italian health system is good, they are doing a good job here. The restrictions are devastating for the economy though. The economy was already bad, now it is really really bad, especially for hotels, restaurants, and all the other businesses that rely on tourism. I was in Venice for Carnevale, one day before they shut it down. We called it Coronavale. Now Venice is shut down, no cruise ships, no tourists. Tourism was the only thing keeping Venice alive.