The Covid-19 Thread: News, Preparation Tips, Etc

ScorpioBeauty09

Well-Known Member
I've been following this in the news for work and it's scary because the symptoms are not unique. They're quite common, and they're now saying people can spread it before they even know they're infected.

I'm in California and the state just had its first confirmed case in SoCal and the person has been put in isolation. I'm in NorCal, thank goodness.

ETA: Just saw California has two confirmed cases. Both in SoCal. One in Orange County, the other in the LA area.

ETAA: It’s up to 4. My goodness.
 
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intellectualuva

Well-Known Member
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LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
This feels surreal. Like the game Plague, Inc (which basically is a simulation) I’ve played but it leaked into reality. The really freaky thing is sitting there & a headline pops up that is so similar to something in the game. The news that the ill are contagious before showing symptoms was eerily familiar in the wording & gave me a cold feeling....

Late last year I read articles about the simulation of a pandemics causing the deaths of millions of people.

I always wonder if some of this stuff is done purposely for population control.

ETA: http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/

ETAA: 5 million people left Wuhan before the lockdown.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/soc...keqiang-head-coronavirus-crisis-team-outbreak
 

Queenie

Well-Known Member
The HR dept at my job issued an email over the weekend with details on how to properly wash your hands and other ways to prevent infection. According to the CDC quote they gave us, only 68% of people in the US wash their hands after using the restroom!

They are monitoring the situation closely, and may ban employees traveling to or from China if necessary. They know that a lot of colleagues are in China right now for the New Year.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
This feels surreal. Like the game Plague, Inc (which basically is a simulation) I’ve played but it leaked into reality. The really freaky thing is sitting there & a headline pops up that is so similar to something in the game. The news that the ill are contagious before showing symptoms was eerily familiar in the wording & gave me a cold feeling....
I've never played the game or even heard of it before now but it's sales are up

Coronavirus leads to sales spike of Plague Inc., a game about pandemics
The real-time strategy game tasks players with evolving a virus that will wipe out humanity.
January 25, 2020 1:29 PM PST

As the high-profile coronavirus spreads, Plague Inc., a real-time strategy video game that tasks players with spreading a deadly pathogen, has seen a dramatic uptick in sales.

"Whenever there is an outbreak of disease we see an increase in players, as people seek to find out more about how diseases spread and to understand the complexities of viral outbreaks," Ndemic Creations said in a statement Thursday. And maybe to engage in a bit of black humor.

The game, available for iOS and Android, as well as for Steam and consoles, came out in 2012. It has players pick a pathogen and strategize how to transmit it while countering actions by governments and scientists attempting to contain the global threat.


"Your pathogen has just infected 'Patient Zero,'" reads a description of the title. "Now you must bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global plague whilst adapting against everything humanity can do to defend itself."

On Wednesday, Plague Inc. became the top-selling app in China, reported the BBC, which suggested some people were downloading the game to cope with fears around the still-mysterious virus. On Friday, Ndemic Creations said its website and servers were struggling to keep up with the high player demand.

The coronavirus, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 1,300 people and killed over 40 as of Saturday, with cases now confirmed in Asia, the US, Europe and Australia.



Plague Inc. relies on an epidemic model with a complex, realistic set of variables to simulate the spread and severity of a pandemic. The developer has spoken to staff at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta about the game's disease models, and the CDC has said the title "creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics."

But amid coronavirus fears, Ndemic Creations warns that the game shouldn't replace a scientific understanding of the illness.

"Please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the current coronavirus outbreak is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people," the company said. "We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities."
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member
I’m terrified. Taking a cruise and will run away from Asian people....of all nationalities. Which means that I will probably get infected with another virus from non Asians.

Staying away from 'Asian' people will not necessarily help. Other people may have been infected with this virus, not know it and feel well enough to go on vacation.

Cruise ships will need to be more vigilant with their sanitation because of the sheer multitude of different types of people traveling on them.
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member
Do these face masks really work or just provide a false sense of security? I have been reading that some need to be properly fitted and don't necessarily block out all particles. Are there instructions for removing the mask safely so that you avoid risking contamination from your hands ( which may have come in contact with any number of viruses through out the course of the day)?

And where are these masks being made- China?
 

Peppermynt

Defying Gravity
Years back when ebola showed up here we bought some N95 masks, concentrated bleach and gloves. :sekret: I really need to go find where they ended up in the house cause N95 masks are in short supply now everywhere I looked. I ordered some from Amazon and the seller contacted me and was like sorry we ain't got no mo. :nono: Found another seller and ordered some so hopefully they show up. Better than nothing in my opinion.

I'm fortunate as I work from home but DH is out in the petri dish of DC almost daily.
 

rayne

Well-Known Member
New strand??

Yeah that got me too! Not sure why they worded it like that since it's misleading. But there aren't any new strands, thank goodness!!

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/uae-confirms-cases-coronavirus-200129063305587.html

It's crazy how fast this thing is spreading, or maybe it seems like it's spreading rapidly because some people are just now showing symptoms. I just pulled up a map of confirmed cases and Hong Kong, Macau, and the UAE weren't on that list even though it was from yesterday morning. But now it has spread there too :(
 

rayne

Well-Known Member
Do these face masks really work or just provide a false sense of security? I have been reading that some need to be properly fitted and don't necessarily block out all particles. Are there instructions for removing the mask safely so that you avoid risking contamination from your hands ( which may have come in contact with any number of viruses through out the course of the day)?

And where are these masks being made- China?

I've been wondering if/how long the virus can survive on inanimate objects and if we should be concerned about the imports that we get from China.
 

intellectualuva

Well-Known Member
I've been wondering if/how long the virus can survive on inanimate objects and if we should be concerned about the imports that we get from China.

My best friend and I were just talking about this last night. I have something coming from China sometime this week and she told me to wear gloves and spray the box down and decontaminate whatever I ordered out on my patio. Lol.
 

larry3344

Well-Known Member
UK and French Asians are complaining about racism there because of the virus. French newspapers had some headlines about 'Yellow Peril' and Yellow Alert. Non-Chinese Asians are being targeted also.
It’s unfortunate but these people have been the source of too many infectious viruses in the last 20 years. They are being handled a lot more fairly from a political perspective than they have been had they been Africans.

I still remember the insensitive and outlandish remarks my white friends were making when Ebola broke out. Western countries wasted no time. But this coronavirus is bigger problem than these governments let on and treating this at least in Canada with kiddy gloves cause they don’t want to hurt their rich Chinese feelings.

I can give an F these people eat anything under the sun, extremely unhygienic but have gotten away with murder cause they have money and have all countries balls in their hands. China should be scrutinized way beyond for the trash they export all over the world. But again Western countries are complicit for the all mighty dollar.

I hope it’s a wake up call for blacks to stop eating at their food places, etc...their business be damned cause my health takes precedence.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has been exported to more than a dozen countries as a global emergency Thursday after the number of cases spiked tenfold in a week.

The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.

China first informed WHO about cases of the new virus in late December. To date, China has reported more than 7,800 cases including 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries have since reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.

Experts say there is significant evidence the virus is spreading among people in China and have noted with concern several instances in other countries –including Japan, Germany, Canada and Vietnam –where there have also been isolated cases of human-to-human transmission.

A declaration of a global emergency typically brings greater money and resources, but may also prompt nervous governments to restrict travel and trade to affected countries. The announcement also imposes more disease reporting requirements on countries.
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
As hard as Trump was going against China on imports, he's mighty quiet on this virus thing - probably trying to avoid angering Xi. This isn't business as usual; I'm leaning in with some of these conspiracy theorists about China's population-control agenda.
 
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