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2020-03-05 Home Front: Culture Wars

VDH: What We Don't Know About the Coronavirus Is What Scares Us

VDH at Town Hall
The recent spread of the coronavirus is causing a global panic. Our shared terror arises not so much from the death toll of the new flu-like disease -- more than 3,000 people have died worldwide -- but from what we don't know about it.

Experts at least agree that the virus originated in China. But Beijing's authoritarian government hid information about its origins, spread and severity for weeks.

Such duplicity only fanned the fears of a global plague -- a hysteria not seen since the groundless fears of a YK2 global computer meltdown in the year 2000, or the political feeding frenzy during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

...The method of the contagion has been perplexing to experts. Why is the mortality rate for infected patients in Iran roughly double that of patients in countries such as South Korea, Italy and Japan? Why have almost no children under 10 died from the infection?

Are governments unable (or unwilling) to count the infected, given the similarities in symptoms between the coronavirus and various colds and flus? Does such uncertainty suggest that we are undercounting the number of people sickened or killed by coronavirus?

Or are we instead overestimating its dangers? Thousands of patients may have already recovered from mild cases -- and perhaps never knew they were sick in the first place.

Evidence suggests that only about 2 percent of patients will die after infection. As in the case of other viral illness, the unfortunate victims are mostly elderly people with existing illnesses. Does that pattern suggest the coronavirus may be more like annual influenza outbreaks -- deadly to thousands but hardly the stuff to shut down a global economy?

...History also reminds us that nature remains unforgiving. We may live in the age of the Internet, smartphones and jet travel, but viruses are indifferent to so-called human progress.

Modern life squeezes millions into cities as never before. Jet travel, with its crowded planes and airports, can spread diseases from continent to continent in hours.

Globalization is a two-edged sword. It may enrich billions of people, but the leveling effects of instant communication and travel can spread disease at a speed undreamed of in the past.

The dissemination of sophisticated Western science to non-Western societies that lack advanced research centers may be increasingly suicidal. Borders are now considered passe in the age of globalization. But their enforcement reminds us that not all nations are alike. All sovereign peoples should have the right to take measures for their own safety well beyond the purview of the transnational elites.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-03-05 03:08|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 Experts at least agree that the virus originated in China. But Beijing's authoritarian government hid information about its origins, spread and severity for weeks.

I'm no microbiologist, but finding an antidote or cure might be a little easier if we knew how it originated. Apparently no one wants to go there.

Posted by Besoeker 2020-03-05 07:15|| 2020-03-05 07:15|| Front Page Top

#2 ...and you can't believe a thing the Chinese are reporting particularly statistics.

Posted by Procopius2k 2020-03-05 07:26|| 2020-03-05 07:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Unsourced...passed via old duffer email. Looks like common sense.

Subject: Coronavirus
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - CORONAVIRUS
Last evening dining out with friends, one of their uncles, who's graduated with a master's degree and who worked in Shenzhen Hospital (Guangdong Province, China) sent him the following notes on Coronavirus for guidance:
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. 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 emphasise 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.

Posted by Besoeker 2020-03-05 08:22|| 2020-03-05 08:22|| Front Page Top

#4 Question:

will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees.

Is that 26/27 F or 26/27 C (80 - 82 F)?

Posted by Omearong Barnsmell6769 2020-03-05 11:26|| 2020-03-05 11:26|| Front Page Top

#5 (Celsius, obviously)

Posted by Lex 2020-03-05 11:33|| 2020-03-05 11:33|| Front Page Top

#6 Evidence suggests that only about 2 percent of patients will die after infection.

Not significant, unless you are one of the 2%, or 100M get infected.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-03-05 11:39|| 2020-03-05 11:39|| Front Page Top

#7 ...and elderly with some preexisting conditions.

[(Tin Foil Hat on) one way for the Chinese government to avoid their pension bomb with oldsters outnumbering the youngsters. Fewer elderly to calculate for in the end.]

Posted by Procopius2k 2020-03-05 11:49|| 2020-03-05 11:49|| Front Page Top

#8 Feature (bug), not bug (bug)

Posted by Lex 2020-03-05 12:06|| 2020-03-05 12:06|| Front Page Top

#9 #3 good information. I will add that to my collection. Stores are having a run on a variety of products. Wipes sold out completely at our local Walmart. Being prepared is a good idea. Cool head is advisable. We are entering a period of strong airborne irritants, pollen and so on. A cough or sneeze will draw attention. Two units housing inmates are on isolation status. Two DOJ juvenile camps are on isolation status. Flu like symptoms. Most seem to recover. Those who are compromised medically speaking perhaps not so fortunate. Going to the hospital will be interesting when you have been out of the country. Right then you are taken to get blood sample. You will not be with other people as you wait for results. People will not cooperate. They go about oblivious to safety precautions.What I don't understand is they say it will end when the weather gets warm. Usually when we have a freeze these viruses die off. I guess this bug likes cold and is sensitive to what, 80-90 degree temperatures. Good luck all.

Posted by Dale 2020-03-05 12:25|| 2020-03-05 12:25|| Front Page Top

#10 Try not to drink liquids with ice.

No problem. I take my whiskey neat.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2020-03-05 13:24|| 2020-03-05 13:24|| Front Page Top

#11 This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees.

Yet survives and propagates in human bodies at 37 degrees C.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-03-05 14:45|| 2020-03-05 14:45|| Front Page Top

#12 @#3, re: #5: Bacterial soap?

Pass....

Posted by Anomalous Sources 2020-03-05 21:32|| 2020-03-05 21:32|| Front Page Top

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