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COVID-19 resurges in reopened countries; Wuhan sees first cluster in a month:
The World Health Organization on Monday called for continued vigilance as several areas that have eased lockdown restriction began to see a resurgence in COVID-19 cases—and the United States begins unbuttoning as well.
The Chinese city of Wuhan—where the pandemic began last December—saw its first cluster of cases in at least a month. The city began reopening in early April.
The cluster was just six cases: an 89-year-old symptomatic man and five asymptomatic cases. All of the infected lived in the same residential community.
[...] NPR's Emily Feng reported from Beijing that "The rise of such hard-to-detect asymptomatic cases has alarmed public health authorities in China, who have ramped up contact tracing and testing efforts."
China state media announced Tuesday that it has ordered all residents of Wuhan—roughly 11 million persons—to be tested within the next 10 days.
Likewise, the mayor of Seoul shut down bars and restaurants over the weekend—just days after South Korea had eased restrictions and allowed businesses to reopen—due to a spike of 86 new COVID-19 cases. Authorities identified a 29-year-old who visited five nightclubs and a bar while infected with the virus, sparking an outbreak of at least 54 cases, according to NPR. The uptick also led South Korean officials to delay the reopening of schools.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 13 2020, @10:57PM (1 child)
You do realize that wearing a face covering (unless it's something like an N95 mask) won't stop *you* from getting infected. Rather, it's likely that if you *are infected*, the face covering *may* provide a modicum of protection *for other people*.
As such, unless and until testing is pretty much ubiquitous, given that *many* folks who are infected have only mild, undetectable or no symptoms can spread the virus without being aware they might be doing so.
As such, wearing a face covering is about protecting *other people* not you.
Personally, I try to stay at least two meters from other people and I do wear a face covering (homemade cotton mask) when amongst the hoi polloi. When I'm smoking a cigarette however, I remove the mask and will either move away from anyone who might be on a path that could intersect with that 2m radius area around me. If I'm too slow or unable to do so, I make sure to cover my mouth and nose and/or turn away.
Not because I think I might transmit the virus, but because *I don't know* if I might be infected and I am unable to get a test (either diagnostic or antibody) where I am unless I have symptoms, require medical attention, and/or am an "essential" worker (I'm not). I also do so because I'd prefer it if *other people* did so too. Lead by example and all that sort of thing.
It's likely that I will be able to get a test without symptoms/medical care as my locality ramps up testing sites and resources. Probably somewhere in the 45-90 day range.
Just to clarify, I am most certainly *not* telling you what to do. Just sharing my point of view/thoughts.
You'll have to do your own thinking.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday May 14 2020, @12:47AM
Yep, with the Buzztard, that never ends well. (See sig)