Coronavirus: More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover

[SueC]

Yeah, maybe not here, but some people truly don't seem to care, and I've seen a few like that around cyberspace.

The "like" button is a complicated beast, so sometimes it's best to specify what one likes.  So for instance, on my "other" forum, if someone reports a serious accident they had, that post doesn't attract as many "likes" and the people who do click it add, "I just like the fact that you're still alive" etc...

I don't always know what to do with the "like" button on the music thread - obviously click like if you like the music, but what if you don't like the music enough to listen to it again, but liked the learning experience / history lesson?  ...when in doubt I try to click "like" if I've really appreciated something, but then what does that say about the things I leave plain?   

[SueC]

But the fact is that that is precisely the most civilised thing to do.

Depends on the mask and what you'd like it to achieve. So far, it was said that it helps to not spread something if you are ill yourself, but does not really "protect" you. (That is different of course with the medical masks used in hospitals etc. These are much wanted now, so of course creating a demand for those from the "public" would be insane.)

@piggymirror did specify people with a cold...

I'm gonna weigh in on this one to say that you actually can put some masks through the wash and re-use them (hang 'em in the sun!), and also, that wearing a plain old doubled-up handkerchief is better than nothing, and that everyone with any kind of respiratory virus, whether or not it's COVID-19, ought to be either at home while they're making clouds of droplets and aerosol, or wear a mask in public if it's not completely avoidable for them to be there, as is the cultural norm in many Asian countries now, but unfortunately not yet in the West...

And yes, masks ought to be prioritised for people in close contact with ill people, and the ill people themselves - but if everyone were properly organised, then they'd have a few masks anyway and could just chuck them in the wash if they feel like wearing them even if they're not ill themselves.  And having a surgical (square type, not airtight) mask on will tend to protect you from direct droplets entering your airways if someone sneezes directly on you or in your zone in public, although it's not great for protecting you from aerosolised virus (really minute droplets - you need airtight-around-edges masks for that).  However, I would say that cutting down on the number of viral particles entering your airway will give you a greater chance to fight it off.  Also, masks can be good for reminding people not to touch their noses and mouths (and eyes) out in public (and not until they've washed their hands thoroughly back at home).

And besides, it's not like the Asians are not civilised, in fact, in many ways they wipe the floor with the West...

Such "generalisations" are basically a difficult thing, always depends what you look at.

Yeah, generalisations are difficult... but:

In general:

I've always preferred working with Asian Australians, especially as a university student (Anglo-Aussies were generally more interested in drinking beer than doing hard work, and my German work ethic gels better with an Asian work ethic than with "she'll-be-rightness"...)

...but also professionally, because every one of them I have worked with are very motivated to work hard, get results and generally pull their weight - none of them ever tried to catch a free ride... (I'm sure slackers also exist in their culture, but far more in the minority)

...Asian Australian students are generally more motivated than their white Australian counterparts - and when I taught at a selective school in Sydney where people have to compete for places with entry exams, more than 80% of the kids were Asian Australian...

...and in our farmstay, I've never ever, so far, had an issue with any of the Chinese / Japanese / SE Asian guests, who were all friendly, polite, clean and super respectful of other people and facilities, to a T... all three of my problematic guests so far were white Australians... leaving muddy footprints in a shared guest bathtub, chucking their stuff all over the shared spaces instead of keeping it in their rooms, leaving French doors swinging on the breeze, expecting me to do their washing for them (that one was clearly used to women picking up after him, and got a bit of a manners-and-attitude lesson from me about it), not being courteous to other guests, and one of them even leaving the lid up and a puddle of his pee on the toilet seat and when I pulled him up about it, claiming that it wasn't him (he was the only person in the guest wing at the time, but I had other people coming in to the other room that night, so checked everything over) and that he'd never even used our toilet because he was afraid of compost toilets... to which I said, "Oh, you've been here two days, where DID you go then, in the garden?"...besides, I heard him use the toilet...

So in general, yes, I do think that Chinese, Japanese and SE Asian cultures are streets ahead of Australian culture when it comes to work ethic, consideration for others, manners, motivation to do the right thing etc, and I think they do indeed wipe the floor with most (but not all) Australians in these matters...

[piggymirror]

This is one fine video.

[SueC]

Excellent clip for DIY people in places running out of masks.  Also very good general information.

And from Korea:

If you go to YT directly, there's more details in the text below the clip.

[piggymirror]

US, UK numbers getting more and more horrific.
UK PM Boris Johnson in hospital... on Sunday evening.

On the other hand, Italy and Spain numbers seem to slowwwwwly start going down.
Touch wood, because with a bit of luck, this will maybe mean the beginning of a recovery.

Meanwhile, France is finding horror numbers from care homes, which hadn't counted yet.
This means it will probably end up getting quite close to Italy/Spain.

[SueC]

Just passing on a very good article:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/01/825221305/opinion-the-way-the-u-s-beat-tb-could-be-a-boon-in-battling-coronavirus

[SueC]

from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/06/if-coronavirus-which-we-all-hate-now-is-spread-through-the-air-why-arent-we-all-wearing-masks

More on DIY masks here: http://curefans.com/index.php?topic=9304.msg772474#msg772474

[SueC]

Interesting clip on mathematical modelling of COVID-19 scenarios here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-08/norman-swan-looks-at-the-governments-coronavirus/12134996

Also a good article on how to be as resilient as possible physically to avoid illness, and what to do when you get a respiratory infection:  https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/apr/08/from-vitamin-c-to-breathing-exercises-doctors-on-what-you-should-really-do-for-your-health-right-now

[SueC]

Another excellent article by Lenore Taylor, editor of Guardian Australia, this time about the choices we're going to have to make about exit strategies in Australia (and this applies to other countries as well):  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/11/australia-coronavirus-diabolical-decisions-choose-with-care

[SueC]

Why a vaccine may be a pipe dream and we shouldn't be banking on it - interview with the guy who invented the HPV vaccine (to prevent cervical cancer):

https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-04-17/coronavirus-vaccine-ian-frazer/12146616


How Taiwan did so well, running things along without a vaccine:

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Why-Taiwan-s-COVID-19-death-rate-is-shockingly-low-15130341.php

https://news.yahoo.com/president-taiwan-country-prevented-major-230351493.html


Oh, and no exposed farting - cover your bums: 

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/coronacast/no-bare-bottoms-norman-swan-weighs-in/12154256

[Ulrich]

Why a vaccine may be a pipe dream and we shouldn't be banking on it

Yeah, but a medication that helps severely ill people would be welcome and it does look good (sorry, German article only):

https://www.sharedeals.de/bellerophon-aerzte-begeistert-von-corona-therapie-warten-auf-die-mega-news/

[SueC]

Yeah, improved treatment of respiratory distress is one thing that's got potential.

Interestingly, I was reading that the main problem in that is actually the body's inflammatory response, rather than the virus itself - the overreaction of the body to the virus.  So that's a good avenue to look at, for ICU treatment.

From a nutritional perspective, extra Vitamins E, D, C, betacarotene and general antioxidants (like the anthocyanins in blueberries, and other strongly coloured pigments in good F&V), plus complete protein and essential fatty acids at every meal (from actual food, not from a tin of goop), should come in as useful for dealing with tissue damage in this case as they do for bone healing - which helped me heal up in record time when I had a triple fracture of hard-to-heal bones in my feet.  Of course, eating well is always important, but when your body is fighting an infection and/or repairing tissue, it has an extra demand for those things - and it's best not to become deficient or borderline deficient in them.

I have a really strong hunch that people who rest up, keep warm, eat chicken soup etc the moment they're feeling under the weather have a better chance of not getting complications than people who try to "soldier on"... it's certainly the medical recommendation to do so, not that certain prime ministers (and a plethora of other politicians) were following that advice, or even social distancing advice - setting a pretty bad example...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/boris-johnson-coronavirus.html

Last weekend, Mr. Paul became the first senator to test positive for the coronavirus. He is unlikely to be the last — in part because in the six days between when he was tested, on March 16, and when his results came back positive, Mr. Paul strutted around Capitol Hill, shedding pathogens left and right. He lunched with his colleagues. He held forth on the Senate floor. He breathed all over unsuspecting aides, worked out in the Senate gym and swam in the Senate pool. The United States' own super-spreader.

[SueC]

Super article on changing the world for the better after COVID-19 here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/18/history-fairer-society-coronavirus-workers-black-death-spanish-flu

[dsanchez]

170 Dutch academics put together a 5-point manifesto for economic change after the C19 crisis, building on #degrowth principles. It has gone viral in Dutch media. In this thread I'll summarize the points in English.

1) Shift from an economy focused on aggregate GDP growth to differentiate among sectors that can grow and need investment (critical public sectors, and clean energy, education, health) and sectors that need to radically degrow (oil, gas, mining, advertising, etc).
2) Build an economic framework focused on redistribution, which establishes a universal basic income, a universal social policy system, a strong progressive taxation of
income, profits and wealth, reduced working hours and job sharing, and recognizes care work.
3) Transform farming towards regenerative agriculture based on biodiversity conservation, sustainable and mostly local and vegetarian food production, as well as fair agricultural employment conditions and wages.
4) Reduce consumption and travel, with a drastic shift from luxury and wasteful consumption and travel to basic, necessary, sustainable and satisfying consumption and
travel.
5) Debt cancellation, especially for workers and small business owners and for countries in the global south (both from richer countries and international financial institutions).

This is remarkable: 170 Dutch academics put together a 5-point manifesto for economic change after the C19 crisis, building on #degrowth principles. It has gone viral in Dutch media. In this thread I'll summarize the points in English. https://t.co/jjiJ2nVRW5

— Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) April 17, 2020

Original proposal in dutch.

[dsanchez]

A side effect of #covid19

Historic day in the oil market as #WTI closed in negative territory for the first time in history. BUT: things may not be as bad as they seem with longer-term contracts trading above $20/per barrel #OOTT #Oil

Read more here👉https://t.co/YetkcjT1Db pic.twitter.com/GU0f7lDzFg

— Pippa Stevens (@PippaStevens13) April 20, 2020