(Reuters) - Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie has tested positive for coronavirus and will be receiving medical attention, Christie wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
“I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two,” Christie wrote.
Just to note, this is the full story.
#ChrisChristie #covid19 #politics #uspol #gop #WearAFuckingMask #StayTheFuckHome
John Campbell, RN PhD, in his April. 4, 2020 update notes that the coronavirus can be spread through aerosolized transmission (3m44s), meaning amounts which can be suspended in air for hours, and not just droplets, which rapidly fall to the ground, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci of the US White House Coronavirus Task Force. This revises previous understanding and is why universal wearing of even homemade masks is recommended when out in public.
Looking for a specific recommendation, the closest I find is this statement of Fauci's:
"Because of that and because of some recent information that the virus can actually be spread even when people just speak, as opposed to coughing and sneezing, the better part of valor is that when you’re out, and you can’t maintain that six-foot distance, to wear some sort of facial covering.
In "Face Coverings Help as Virus Can Spread by Talking, Fauci Says" (Bloomberg) April 3, 2020.
That piece continues:
Fauci stressed that the most important recommendation is still to keep six feet away from people, regardless of whether you’re wearing a face covering. And he said the face covering recommendation “should in no way ever take away from the availability of masks that are needed for the health-care providers.” The face covering recommendation is on top of the call to stay six feet away from people, “not as a substitute for it,” he said.
Via Wikipedia's Coronavirus Disease 2019 article, a reference to the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine article "Rapid Expert Consultation on the Possibility of Bioaerosol Spread of SARS-CoV-2 for the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 1, 2020)". This is a letter -- that is, a credible account though. not formally reviewed research -- summarizing experience is several medical facilities directly treating confirmed, and often intubated COVID-19 patients. That is, close to a worst-case scenario:
A study of SARS-CoV-2 raises concerns about transmission via aerosols generated from droplet contaminated surfaces. Liu, et. al. collected 35 aerosol samples in two hospitals and public areas in Wuhan. From samples collected in patient care areas the highest concentration of virus was found in toilet facilities (19 copies m^3^), and in medical staff areas the highest concentrations were identified in personal protective equipment (PPE) removal rooms (18-42 copies m^3^). By comparison, in all but two crowded sites, the concentrations of virus found in public areas was below 3 copies m^3^. The authors conclude that a direct source of SARS-CoV-2 may be a virus-laden aerosol resuspended by the doffing of PPE, the cleaning of floors, or the movement of staff. It may be difficult to re-suspend particles of a respirable size. However, fomites could be transmitted to hands, mouth, nose or eyes without requiring direct respiration into the lungs.
(The paper is freely downloadable though an email address is requested but not verified. Any email-shaped string will suffice.)
Particle densities on tested surfaces in these facilities are relatively low -- if you're exposed. by this route, the inoculum, the amount of infectuous material received, is small. This is probably a low-risk exposure, especially for incidental contact. But the risk is measureable and non-zero. For those in constant or repeated exposure to such environments, e.g., public-facing positions, the risk is far greater than for those with occasional -- once a week or two, say -- exposures.
Upshots:
Clarifying a point: there's never been a question to my mind that masks are effective at reducing disease transmission, the question has been whether universal wearing has been recommended, for the general population, given intrinsic shortages of supply. The question has always been who to deploy masks to for greatest common population benefit. And the answer, for now, is "even less-effective masks, to more people, is better".
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LsxVRnNGl5A&t=3m44s
#covid19 #coronavirus #faceMasks #DrFauci #AnthonyFauci #aerosols #StayTheFuckHome #WashYourHands #DontTouchYourFace
How long does the virus last on food?
The data for how long the virus can remain viable on food is limited, but in general, viral loads remain more stable on non-porous surfaces like metal and plastic, and break down faster on organic surfaces like cardboard.
Can I get COVID-19 from touching or eating contaminated food?
According to multiple health and safety organizations worldwide, including the CDC, the USDA, and the European Food safety Authority, there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 has spread through food or food packaging. Previous coronavirus epidemics likewise showed no evidence of having been spread through food or packaging.
Are we sure food isn’t a vector of COVID-19 transmission?
No, we don't know for sure. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that food is not a vector. The epidemiology of food-borne pathogens is well studied, with government data going back to 1938. The spread pattern of COVID-19 does not fit models of foodborne outbreaks, which are defined as two or more people getting sick from the same contaminated food or drink. ...
Food and shopping hygiene and sanitising information and guidelines. Droplet/inhalation risk is greatest. Fomite (surface-contact) transmission risk is low, though thorough washing and disinfecting may give some peace of mind. My view is "I hope this is overkill".
Keep a healthy distance.
WASH YOUR HANDS!
https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/03/food-safety-and-coronavirus-a-comprehensive-guide.html
#covid19 #coronavirus #hygiene #WashYourHands #StayTheFuckHome
This occurred a few minutes ago according to Worldometers Coronavirus tracking, on Thursday, March 26, 2020, one day later than I'd forecast 5 days ago. And my three week old exponential projection of US confirmed cases remains largely accurate. New confirmed cases in the US are occurring at twice the daily rate of the next highest country, Spain -- nearly 14,000 at this moment, vs. 6,800.
In other news, global confirmed cases crossed the half-million mark and should surpass 1 million within the week.
US weekly growth remains about 10x. The country will cross the 100,000 confirmed-case mark within the next two days, and 1 million in another week, probably around April 4.
Given that testing seems to lag actual cases by about a factor of 80, based on multiple inference paths, and exponential growth should slow as both nearly half the population is already infected (new hosts are harder to find, possibly with natural resistance), and, I hope, public health containment efforts should start bending the curve downwards, the March 6 projection should be highly pessimistic (erring in overstating cases) beyond early April. Testing lag may continue to catch up with it for some time though. Uncharted waters for a nonexpert Space Alien Cat.
Wash your hands. Stay the fuck home. Flatten the curve.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
#covid19 #coronavirus #publicHealth #StayTheFuckHome #FlattenTheCurve #epidemics
Justin Trudeau's daily coronavirus update: 'Enough is enough. Go home and stay home.' (Full Transcript) - Macleans.ca https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/justin-trudeaus-daily-coronavirus-update-enough-is-enough-go-home-and-stay-home-full-transcript/
If you choose to ignore that advice, if you choose to get together with people or go to crowded places, you’re not just putting yourself at risk. You’re putting others at risk, too. Your elderly relative who’s in a seniors home. Your friend with a preexisting condition. Our nurses and doctors on the frontlines. Our workers stocking shelves at a grocery store. They need you to make the right choices. They need you to do your part.
We’ve all seen the pictures online of the people who seem to think they’re invincible. Well, you’re not. Enough is enough. Go home and stay home. This is what we all need to be doing. And we’re going to make sure this happens, whether by educating people more on the risks or by enforcing the rules if that’s needed. Nothing that could help is off the table.
Tags: #dandelíon #stayhome #socialdistancing #staythefuckhome #avoidlockdown #covid19 #pandemic2020
via dandelion* client (Source)
If there's a 14 day lag on COVID-19 testing, and a ~2.14 day doubling rate, as data suggest, the US may cross about 3 million actual infecteds today, meaning about 1% of the overall population now has the virus, based on my March 6 projection. Projected confirmed cases have tracked quite closely to actual reports.
If during your day you encounter 100 people, or something that's encountered 100 people, odds are good that at least one was infected with the virus.
It's a very good time to minimise your contacts.
Keep in mind that our measure of ignorance is large, testing is grossly inadequate and inconsistent, that the relation of confirmed to actual cases is uncertain. Is it 1:10, 1:20? 1:85/ 1:100? There are arguments for each. I'm asuming about 1:85 for the US based on reporting lag and doubling rates.
But that 1% threshold will be crossed soon, all but certainly in the next week or two. At which point public contact all but certainly means infection risk.
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