Politicians won't admit it yet, but it's time to prepare—physically and psychologically—for a sudden stop to all life outside your home.
[...] Whether you are reading this in your living room in Vancouver, office in London, or on a subway in New York City, you need to think hard, and fast, about two crucial questions: Where, and with whom, do you want to spend the next six to 12 weeks of your life, hunkered down for the epidemic duration? And what can you do to make that place as safe as possible for yourself and those around you?
Your time to answer those questions is very short—a few days, at most. Airports will close, trains will shut down, gasoline supplies may dwindle, and roadblocks may be set up. Nations are closing their borders, and as the numbers of sick rise, towns, suburbs, even entire counties will try to shut the virus out by blocking travel. Wherever you decide to settle down this week is likely to be the place in which you will be stuck for the duration of your epidemic.
To appreciate what lies ahead for the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, pay heed to Italy, France, and Germany. The United States, for example, is currently tracking exactly where Italy was about 10 days ago. France and Germany, which track two to five days ahead of the United States, are now revving up measures akin to those taken by Italy, including lockdowns on movement and social activity. In a matter of days, the United States will follow suit.
[...] Once tough location decisions have been made, the household must be readied for a long siege. While panic-buying has led to stockpiles of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, getting through eight months of confinement with others will require a great deal more, both physically and psychologically. This is especially true for households that span generations.
Long-term confinement that includes children undergoing remote schooling and adults trying to work requires designated spaces for each individual, a powerful Internet signal and Wi-Fi router, and a great deal of shared patience. Everybody in the household must understand how the coronavirus is spread, and what steps each should follow to eliminate their personal risk of passing infection to others in the home.
The virus is transmitted by droplets and fomites[*]—it isn't like measles, capable of drifting about in the air for hours. It dehydrates quickly if not inside water, mucus, or fomite droplets. The size of the droplets may be far below what the human eye can see, but they are gravity-sensitive, and will fall from an individual's mouth down, eventually, to the nearest lower surface—table, desk, floor. You do not need to clean upward.
However, a newly published study, backed by the National Institutes of Health, found that the virus survives in "aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel." This means an uncleaned surface can pose a risk to members of the household for a very long time—a doorknob, tabletop, kitchen counter or stainless steel utensil.
[*] Wikipedia entry on fomites:
any inanimate object that, when contaminated with or exposed to infectious agents (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses or fungi), can transfer disease to a new host.
[...] In addition to objects in hospital settings, other common fomites for humans are cups, spoons, pencils, bath faucet handles, toilet flush levers, door knobs, light switches, handrails, elevator buttons, television remote controls, pens, touch screens, common-use phones, keyboards, and computer mice, coffeepot handles, countertops, and any other items that may be frequently touched by different people and infrequently cleaned.
Researchers have discovered that smooth (non-porous) surfaces like door knobs transmit bacteria and viruses better than porous materials like paper money because porous, especially fibrous, materials absorb and trap the contagion, making it harder to contract through simple touch. Nonetheless, fomites may include soiled clothes, towels, linens, handkerchiefs, and surgical dressings
(Score: 3, Informative) by HiThere on Tuesday March 24 2020, @07:16PM (3 children)
As I said "I'm told". I was told this by a web source. Search for "closing the barn doors after the horse is in another state" in https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/03/24/the-latest-coronavirus-clinical-trials [sciencemag.org]
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday March 25 2020, @03:26AM (2 children)
I read something about lingering kidney damage, too.
Would not be surprised to learn of lingering cardiac damage, given that inflammation of the heart has been reported, and apparently is one of the major causes of actual death.
[too lazy to dig up cites]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday March 25 2020, @03:00PM (1 child)
IIRC, the kidney damage was due to one of the drugs being testes for viral suppression. But you may be referring to a different report.
The drugs that I've heard of in sufficient detail *all* had side effects sufficient that you should have medical evaluation of which was worse and how much to take. And since they're all (except the arthritis drug) unusual, most doctors won't have the experience to judge, and will just "go by the book", if you're lucky, or by feel if you're not.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Reziac on Wednesday March 25 2020, @05:11PM
No, this was reported as broad-spectrum damage BY the virus in patients who had died (in China, IIRC). Then again, who knows how accurate any report is at this point.
I read a personal anecdote from an infected doctor who noted that a specific type of OTC asthma inhaler did wonders for him and his also-sick wife, and cited reasons (helped unclog mucous plugs). That sounds like a reasonable and tolerably safe course to attempt in anyone to the can't-breathe stage, actually.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.