Coronavirus / COVID-19

[singlebilingual]

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately no mask available at all . All pharmacies stocked out ? How ? 

[staygold]

Thank you @angelangie! Here Annual exams for schools have got preponed, no exams at all for primary kids. Some IT companies have strictly asked for work from home. Other offices keep monitoring body temperatures daily. No in-person meetings, only through phones. Sports events are getting rescheduled. But I haven't seen people panicking yet. Plenty of tissue papers available in market but we don't consume them like the rest of the world.  There has been a Cholera outbreak to add to the madness. Thankfully local authorities have sealed close some eateries.

 

I don't have much info except what the news media is giving us. But I wish people were more careful. No lockdowns yet.

 

2 hours ago, Sejabin said:

They said covid 19 can only survives 20 mins in this temperature. Hot and dry in here.

 

It is getting hotter here as well. But the first COVID-19 death has reported. 77 patients in hospital related to the virus. Also number of people quarantined. Matter of time before this flares up. I pray it doesn't.

[GiaGia]

Hope it goes away. Uggghh 2020!!!!!

[refuse2sink]

@angelangie

Thanks-will try to stay safe. Don't know what the govt was thinking to allow this gathering to go on. Should have canceled it for the safety of the participants. 

On 3/13/2020 at 1:30 PM, Sejabin said:

@angelangie

I went to our family doctor last evening and she said I only got common flu. Runny nose and a bit fever. She gave me paracetamol, cetirizine, vit C and dexametasone 0,5

 

I hope this viruses can not reach my place.  Our weather temperature in here mostly between 30-35 celcius degrees. They said covid 19 can only survives 20 mins in this temperature. Hot and dry in here.

We already got bad damage after earthquakes and tsunami and thousands die in here. I hope there will be a mercy for us a bit. 

@Sejabin

Don't understand why your doctor gave you dexamethasone-it's a steroid. For the symptoms you're having-it's a bit of an overkill. 

Not to be a wet blanket but Iran can be hot, right? It had a lot of cases and about 15% death rate. Some think that it's bcos of bad medical facilities and it was under sanction. But that theory of the virus not doing as well in hot weather may be true. Dunno. Maybe it was winter and cold in Iran too. That one apparently started with ?a few Iranians travelling to China to buy wholesale stuff. I really feel for you cos you had so many bad things happen in your region.

1) Don't go out unless necessary. Means you go to work, buy groceries only. Create your own "clean" environment" in your house.  I personally don't take visitors in my house any more

2) Sanitise Sanitise Sanitise. Create sprays with diluted Dettol etc to spray your work desk etc. When you come home, go straight to bathe and change your outside clothes. If you can get hold of Chlorhexidine-put some in your shower liquid and shampoo. Dettol shower liquid too drying on the skin.

3) I've been writing this in the private thread @angelangie and I are in. the Covid virus is 0.12 microns in size. The 3 ply mask pores are too big-useless as protection. Its main use is for a person who has the common flu to wear it so won't infect the surrounding people. N95 is 0.3 micron -a bit more than 2x the size the size of the Covid but it offers up to 75-80% protection. But once worn-must be thrown away. 

3) Take Vit D3 with some calcium. The calcium increases the absorption of Vitamins D. Women can take more calcium cos we need more for our bones. Men discouraged from taking much cos can get higher risk of kidney stones. My respiratory physician said Vit D boosts lung immunity. 

@angelangie

Well played ! I didn't want to post in any public Soompi thread after that bullying experience in +/- thread. I'm not scared. Just so p##sed !

 

[refuse2sink]

On 3/10/2020 at 9:29 PM, Sejabin said:

27 positives covid 19 in Indonesia. I am scared. 

@Sejabin Please don't be scared. That's a very low figure. Just control your own environment. @angelangie has posted a lot of good reports on how to stay as safe as possible like that account from the Malaysian Chinese in Chongqing. Where do you work? Are you seeing new customers all the time or are you in the office kinda backroom support staff? If you're backroom support staff-then you're "safer". Whatever religion you are, consider not attending church/temple/mosque for the next few weeks. My church already started webcasting a couple of weeks ago and cancelled all group activities. If there are school kids in your house, seriously consider not letting them go to school. If my sons were still going to school, I would definitely have kept them home and write a letter to their teachers/principal saying they have measles and can't go to school for one month .

But seriously please don't live in fear. Fear=stress=lower immunity. Be pro active and take control of your own environment and keep it as clean as possible. 

Oh-there was a case in ?HK?China where the husband and wife sprayed one another with alcohol. The wife then went to cook dinner. Somehow a spark from the stove leapt to her body setting her on fire cos she's covered with alcohol. She died and the kitchen exploded.  So be careful when you use alcohol, ok? 

[refuse2sink]

@Adotonly. hope you're keeping well. I know you and @Asohib  are close friends in real life. She's signed out of Soompi so can you please tell her to keep safe and stay healthy. Please let me know how the both of you are doing. Praying for your good health. 

[staygold]

And starting today malls, offices, all schools, colleges, pubs have closed till end of the month. 3 more states have done the same. Ban on public gatherings, restrictions on number of people attending weddings, and other ceremonies.

 

Curious cases -  People (with infection) seem to be running/escaping quarantine and shamelessly spreading the virus!!! Makes one wonder what they were thinking!!! If I were quarantined I would be relieved thinking someone is watching over me even though I would be scared whether I would recover. There have been atleast 3 cases where people knowingly have avoided being isolated for treatment.

[refuse2sink]

Now Italy and Spain on lockdown. USA last night Trump FINALLY declared a state of emergency. Australia only making travellers arriving to be self quarantined for 2 weeks-not sure how that works in reality. I mean if the couple just came back from overseas, they'll have no food stock at home so they'll definitely drive to the supermarket to stock up. If they're infected and don't know or know it but not telling, they'll infect the others in the supermarket. What about the tourists? Check into a hotel and stay there for 2 weeks with only room service? Who has the $$ for that? Wish the governments will plan better than a quick knee jerk reaction. 

When China was affected badly, stupid main stream Aussie newspapers call it "the Chinese virus" !! A lot of racist attacks started. I dare them to call HIV-"the gay disease". That newspaper would be shut down b4 the end of the day. And the newspapers called China inhumane for burning the dead bodies en masse. Hello! That's standard medical procedure ! Now Italy on lockdown can't even have funerals-can you imagine the morgues with bodies piled up?? Just cremate. 

Italy is short of 1000 respirators for ICU. Respirators aren't something one can manufacture overnight. That's why so many are dying. Now they admire China who can build 3 new hospitals in a short span of time and relocating the resources like respirators to the most needy places. China learnt how to manufacture PROPER Covid kits in just over a month and started manufacturing them by the millions-even donating some to Iran. 

The Covid virus was thought to have an incubation period of 14 days. Now they found it can be up to 60 days. That's very scary. 

Assuming it's a 14 day incubation period, the person will show signs after 14 days, the next 2 weeks he'd have symptoms that will alert testing. It's the 3rd week of these symptoms that is more important. In the 3rd/4th week the patient will either get better or deteriorate. Deteriorate=critical condition=ICU if available. Smokers/underlying diseases like heart problems, lung problems (Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease=COAD) , diabetes, cancer=more likely to deteriorate. That's why it's more deadly in the older age group which probably have underlying diseases like Hypertension.

China sent Italy 1000s of masks with a message on each box. I suck at computers and don't know how to upload pics. 

The message written in Italian and English reads -  " We are waves of the same sea , leaves of the same tree, flowers of the same garden " . And the message has the Italian flag on one side and China flag on the other side. China's PR is superb. 

Ok, now to discuss with one another more pro-active things. It helps me too. To stock up for 21 days (just in case) what to buy? Suggestions?

1} rice

2} oil and the essentials-salt etc

3} eggs- lots of them

4) Pasta

5) pasta sauces

6) I bought packets of ready made organic chicken soup/broth. So can be chicken stock cubes, beef cubes etc

7) Chicken-cleaned and then frozen

8) Pork-including pork mince, pork shoulder

9) Bacon-can make fried rice etc

10) mushrooms-dried Chinese mushrooms, canned mushrooms

11) Cheese- @angelangie  likes cheese and mushrooms 

12) UHT milk/condensed milk etc

13) Chinese cabbage

14) frozen peas/frozen mixed peas,corn etc. Cans of corn 

15) Biscuits

16) instant noodles of your choice. My husband and I like the Japanese Ramen-tonkatsu type.

17) any other suggestions ??

Helps us all make a shopping list.

The non perishables like laundry detergent, etc up to you ladies. 

 

[refuse2sink]

@USAFarmgirl  How are you and your family doing in your part of the States? Let me know if you're fine, ok? 

[bedifferent]

 

On 3/13/2020 at 10:43 PM, refuse2sink said:

 

2) Sanitise Sanitise Sanitise. Create sprays with diluted Dettol etc to spray your work desk etc. When you come home, go straight to bathe and change your outside clothes. If you can get hold of Chlorhexidine-put some in your shower liquid and shampoo. Dettol shower liquid too drying on the skin.

3) I've been writing this in the private thread @angelangie and I are in. the Covid virus is 0.12 microns in size. The 3 ply mask pores are too big-useless as protection. Its main use is for a person who has the common flu to wear it so won't infect the surrounding people. N95 is 0.3 micron -a bit more than 2x the size the size of the Covid but it offers up to 75-80% protection. But once worn-must be thrown away. 

 

@angelangie  Thanks for the tag, good anecdote.

 

You can actually make your own hand sanitizer, must make sure that it's >=60% alcohol (to be virucidal).  If you combine isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol with aloe vera, you get Purell. Here are the gel and spray recipes.

 

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-make-hand-sanitizer/

 

To clean, use bleach or vinegar mixture, which is essentially Clorox.

 

COVID is technically 0.12 micron but it does not exist freely in the air or on surface.  The virus is always encapsulated in droplets of cough and secretions which are typically 5 microns or larger.  These are big enough.  P-100 or N-95 masks filter out all particles >=0.3 micron so the masks are good in preventing the virus from getting into your mucosal surfaces (nose and mouth) if are fitted properly.  They all needed to be fitted, not one that you just slide on, has to air tight around each person's face.  Otherwise, it's not a complete seal.  All in all, it's substantially better than the surgical masks.  The best scenario is for the SICK patients to wear masks so that they don't expel the said virus out to the public. When the healthy public wear the masks, they don't inhale the viral particles BUT it's actually extremely important to put masks on sick patients.... you save the general public instead of just one person who wears it.  This is where I implore people who have surplus supplies of masks, please donate them to hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, older/immunocompromised/sick people... you make a bigger difference that way.

 

I am at the front line and we appreciate all your support and cooperation.

 

 

[bedifferent]

18 hours ago, refuse2sink said:

 

Ok, now to discuss with one another more pro-active things. It helps me too. To stock up for 21 days (just in case) what to buy? Suggestions?

 

Spam, spam and more spam.

Frozen dumplings

Marinated meats/chickens - freeze

Tofu

Chocolate

Crackers, chips

Brie cheese, gouda, mozarella

frozen herbs like garlic, basil

Broth or Boullion

Nuts, almonds

Coffee/tea

 

We have 160,000 ventilators and 45,000 ICU beds in all of US, many are being used.

[singlebilingual]

I knew that this would become a pandemic since January when I saw how the governments around the world were handling this. They were downplaying or ignoring the seriousness of this virus in order to prevent a panic and protect the economy. Even now, there are many people outside of Asia who are still unaware of the full dangers of this virus. They aren't taking precautions. As far as I know, only Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Hong Kong reacted quickly as soon as they found out what was going on. The infection numbers in those countries remain low. South Korea is reacting faster than most of the other countries now, but was actually late when compared to the countries listed above.

 

Because of the many governments reacting late to this, this has reached to a point in which the global economy could almost shut down.

[singlebilingual]

19 hours ago, refuse2sink said:

When China was affected badly, stupid main stream Aussie newspapers call it "the Chinese virus" !! A lot of racist attacks started. I dare them to call HIV-"the gay disease".

 

This isn't the fault of every Chinese. Most of the Chinese are victims, too. And it's not just the Chinese who'd get attacked. People outside of Asia can't differentiate between the different East Asian ethnicities.

[nrllee]

6 hours ago, singlebilingual said:

South Korea is reacting faster than most of the other countries now, but was actually late when compared to the countries listed above.

No they were caught on the back foot because of Crazy Ahjumma from the cult.  They were already enacting their control measures very early on.  There were 200,000 members in that cult alone.  The cult weren’t forthcoming with release of member names to enable fast tracking of contacts, so in the meantime, it spread in Daegu.  I think South Korea responded admirably.  They have the most rigorous and widespread testing worldwide.  Personally for me, the safest countries (with regards to COVID) in the world right now are China, HK, South Korea and Singapore.  These are countries that have experienced SARS/MERS so they have protocols they action straight away.  They’ve had drills regularly.  They have stockpiles ready to cater for the pandemic.  Everyone else is making the protocols up as they go along and trying to play catch up.  From the figures, I would say South Korea has controlled the initial outbreak in Daegu.  When my daughter and I were in Seoul just before the outbreak in Daegu, it was a very coordinated and organized effort nationwide.  Everywhere we went there was hand sanitizers to use for free.  Everyone wore masks (they didn’t have shortages, they were handing them out at museums and tourist spots), so you didn’t feel like a leper if you did (I know this isn’t feasible in other countries because it would lead to panic buying and the health professionals who need it most would be left without).  At the train stations, regular announcements were made in English, Chinese and Korean about Coronavirus and how to prevent it.  And if there was a positive case in your vicinity, your phone would receive a message pretty much straight away notifying you to be extra careful.  It was that fast.  The government was decisive and transparent so the people were kept informed about the cases and decisions made.

 

I recall watching the drama Life...and when Won JinAh’s character was showing Cho SeungWoo around the hospital, she showed him one wing with beds (unused) all equipped for such a pandemic.   She told him it was set up because of what they learnt from the MERS outbreak.  It was set up as a preventative just for occasions such as this. They are well and truly prepared for this.

[refuse2sink]

Credit to the rightful owner

A very good one from my favourite talk show host. He had a funny one b4 which had accurate info but too many F# words so I dare not post it- scared of my Mods deleting it. 

[refuse2sink]

8 hours ago, singlebilingual said:

This isn't the fault of every Chinese. Most of the Chinese are victims, too. And it's not just the Chinese who'd get attacked. People outside of Asia can't differentiate between the different East Asian ethnicities.

Yes that's true. I was trying to point out the fact of how bigoted and irresponsible mainstream newspapers can be and that was why a wave of racist attacks on the Chinese in the Western world happened bcos they blamed the Chinese for the Wuhan virus. In Italy in the earlier stages, some Italians attacked a man in a hoodie wearing a mask thinking he's Chinese.Turns out he was Italian. In the UK a Singaporean guy was attacked and has facial fractures-now that's a really hard beating-just for being Chinese. As an overseas Chinese who've experienced racist bigotry, that aspect of the Western world is despicable and so uncivilised. 

 

[singlebilingual]

2 hours ago, refuse2sink said:

Yes that's true. I was trying to point out the fact of how bigoted and irresponsible mainstream newspapers can be and that was why a wave of racist attacks on the Chinese in the Western world happened bcos they blamed the Chinese for the Wuhan virus. In Italy in the earlier stages, some Italians attacked a man in a hoodie wearing a mask thinking he's Chinese.Turns out he was Italian. In the UK a Singaporean guy was attacked and has facial fractures-now that's a really hard beating-just for being Chinese. As an overseas Chinese who've experienced racist bigotry, that aspect of the Western world is despicable and so uncivilised. 

 

Yes. I was agreeing with you.

[celebrianna]

These are definitely unprecedented times. I’m not sure why everyone is buying up toilet paper here in the US though.  That’s about the only thing I find funny in this situation. I feel so bad for the small businesses all over the world who will go bankrupt because of countries, states and cities shutting down and the many employees across the tourism and related industries that will likewise be impacted. Some people also only get paid when they work. The economic impact is very concerning. People looking jobs have also seen their recruitment opportunities put on hold because a lot of the businesses here in the US are in the “wait and see” mode. I live in New York and I can’t even believe how crazy it is here with the run on grocery stores including online grocery stores. Most of us are also working from home this week.
 

Nevertheless, I can see why governments choose to shut down their cities at great economic risk to suppress the spread of this infectious disease. For instance, it’s reported that one lawyer in New York infected 108 people. Imagine if each of those people in turn infected another 100 people.

[singlebilingual]

5 hours ago, nrllee said:

No they were caught on the back foot because of Crazy Ahjumma from the cult.  They were already enacting their control measures very early on.  There were 200,000 members in that cult alone.  The cult weren’t forthcoming with release of member names to enable fast tracking of contacts, so in the meantime, it spread in Daegu.  I think South Korea responded admirably.  They have the most rigorous and widespread testing worldwide.  Personally for me, the safest countries (with regards to COVID) in the world right now are China, HK, South Korea and Singapore.  These are countries that have experienced SARS/MERS so they have protocols they action straight away.  They’ve had drills regularly.  They have stockpiles ready to cater for the pandemic.  Everyone else is making the protocols up as they go along and trying to play catch up.  From the figures, I would say South Korea has controlled the initial outbreak in Daegu.  When my daughter and I were in Seoul just before the outbreak in Daegu, it was a very coordinated and organized effort nationwide.  Everywhere we went there was hand sanitizers to use for free.  Everyone wore masks (they didn’t have shortages, they were handing them out at museums and tourist spots), so you didn’t feel like a leper if you did (I know this isn’t feasible in other countries because it would lead to panic buying and the health professionals who need it most would be left without).  At the train stations, regular announcements were made in English, Chinese and Korean about Coronavirus and how to prevent it.  And if there was a positive case in your vicinity, your phone would receive a message pretty much straight away notifying you to be extra careful.  It was that fast.  The government was decisive and transparent so the people were kept informed about the cases and decisions made.

 

I recall watching the drama Life...and when Won JinAh’s character was showing Cho SeungWoo around the hospital, she showed him one wing with beds (unused) all equipped for such a pandemic.   She told him it was set up because of what they learnt from the MERS outbreak.  It was set up as a preventative just for occasions such as this. They are well and truly prepared for this.

 

In South Korea, the outbreak began in late January, which was before the mass cult gathering. Before that mass gathering, the infection number was still low. The problem was that the virus was hard to detect at the airports during its incubation period, and it still spread to other people during that incubation period. Prior to the mass cult gathering, the president claimed that the outbreak would be over in Korea soon. He and his officials encouraged people to go back to their normal routines. At that time, a lot of the Koreans weren't aware of the full dangers of this virus. I was aware of it since January thanks to the whistleblowers in Wuhan. The Koreans who studied in China translated the videos of those whistleblowers. But encouraged by the president's words, the cult went ahead with the mass gathering. This was when the infections began to rise exponentially in South Korea.

 

 

Yes, South Korea is doing well now. But the number of infections in South Korea could've been much lower. This is a dangerous and very difficult virus to contain that requires as few mistakes as possible. I'm very disappointed at how the governments around the world handled this with the exception of a few countries mentioned above. It looks like South Korea did well because so many other governments did worse. To be honest, I lost confidence in the world's capability in preventing a pandemic after what happened so far. What if a more dangerous virus becomes a pandemic?