The Official Coronavirus Discussion

[Bio77]

Just wanted to put a few cents in.  My company has a project concerning COVID-19 and I've been reading quite a bit about it.  I thought awhile ago that the concern about surface contact infection seemed overblown, the CDC has since adopted this stance.  This thing is transmitted through the air.

My take (I'm not an MD, BTW) is that it's all about shared/dead air.  The virus can stay suspended in air a few hours. A study I read measured virus in the air at a hospital in China.  They found that the virus was virtually undetectable a few meters away from an actual COVID patient (with regular hospital ventilation).  However, when they measured the air in the public bathroom at the hospital it was completely loaded with virus.

So, in my opinion the equation for infection is the volume of air people are putting out (yelling and singing being worse than talking), multiplied by the time of exposure (you need a minimum number of viral particles to get sick and doubling that number gets you much more sick, etc.), divided by the volume (so, outside is best), times the percentage protection you get from your mask (cloth mask is about 50%, medical mask is better, and N95 is ~95%). 

A side note about public bathrooms (Personally, I take the most precaution here). The virus enters lung cells via a human receptor called ACE2.  This receptor is in the GI tract, so, an infected person might be putting it out of both ends.  Felt I had to mention that, because of the hospital bathroom example I gave above. That might be the reason for their observation, but I'd bet on high traffic/ poor ventilation.

[cooder]

New Zealand is now officially covid free for now, no new cases emerged the last 17 days in a row despite widespread testing.
I actually got myself tested about ten days ago as well as I had a bit of the sniffles and cold like symptoms, normally I wouldn't make a fuss, but this isn't normall times and if there was anything lurking it would be imperative to know. The test wasn't much fun, the doublle poke in the nose is about as charming as a punch in the face without the concussion. But it's good to be sure, to be sure, as Seamus says...

The last active case officially recovered.
Whoopwhoop. We're from midnight tonight back to pretty much normal but of course borders closed and remaining vigilant, testing etc, to catch anything incoming or popping up. Hopefully not.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/08-06-2020/covid-free-new-zealand-there-are-now-zero-active-covid-19-cases-in-the-country/

[EBK]

Congrats! Keep those borders shut tightly.  I can't help but think the U.S. would immediately fling the doors wide open for the sake of "the economy" upon learning we had become virus-free.   

[jimilee]

I saw that, great news. Every time I cough or sneeze, I'm all, "oh no".


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[aion]

Congrats! Keep those borders shut tightly.  I can't help but think the U.S. would immediately fling the doors wide open for the sake of "the economy" upon learning we had become virus-free.   

...Or just because we got bored of it. We still had 6000 COVID deaths in the past week, but barely anyone is talking about it outside of New York.

It's no less serious now than it was a month ago, but we've got the collective attention span of a puppy - so they reopened most things, and then the unrelated protests started and people forgot that it's actually a VERY BAD IDEA to reopen everything. But it won't be reflected in the data for a couple more weeks and by then we'll think it's a new problem.

[jimilee]

The cases here in TN are steadily on the rise and were opening up more and more, I don't get it. The governor seemingly doesn't care.


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[EBK]

I "love" how Costco is thinking about bringing back food samples.  Essentially, unless they have some extraordinary delivery mechanism in mind, that would mean many people converging in a tiny area, removing their masks, and touching their faces.  Americans, as a subspecies, tend to be irrationally drawn to anything free like moths drawn to a flame.  Thoughts of community/personal safety will completely evaporate when faced with a scarce supply of cut-in-half chicken nuggets in paper cups on a tray.   

[Strategy]

Sorry for the long post, but thought this share might be interesting to some:

I had a "mild", "presumptive" case of COVID-19 in March, and have resulting chronic health effects that lasted beyond the initial illness. I was extremely lucky to not be hospitalized but the experience was still terrifying and very touch-and-go, with lots of missed work time and each day trying to decide whether the situation would elevate to an emergency. The state I live in, Oregon, had a coordinated rapid distancing response but the downside was that testing was not widely available around here really until mid-May, so I could not get tested during the initial 'virus load'. I met with my doctor on "telehealth".

When I got sick I was literally in the best shape of my life, running 3k three times a week and doing serious circus arts training/conditioning (acrobatics stuff). I'm 44 with no underlying health issues. Since I "got better" from the illness I have had chronic shortness of breath and asthma or COPD-like episodes of severe wheezing, and inexplicable bouts of extreme exhaustion. An Albuterol inhaler has been a lifesaver. I can almost pretend I'm normal but if I do any exertion, I get a "hangover" of chest pain, lung pain, shortness of breath and wheezing cough that can last several days. Walking my dog one mile leaves me sweating, like going for a run.

It has been hard to get people to believe that I still have long-term effects, giving me a new insight and empathy into the experiences of people who have "invisible illness" like chronic pain, chronic fatigue, psoriatic arthritis, crohn's disease, etc. I typically stay away from random online health information and channel all info through my doctor, but this Atlantic article from last week made me really feel "seen" and it was uncanny to read of similar experiences by others https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/covid-19-coronavirus-longterm-symptoms-months/612679/

I had an antibody test in early May that turned up negative for Covid-19, so since i could not be "ruled in" for that, my doctor has put me under a barrage of tests to rule out heart disease, severe new allergies, liver problems, etc. I have turned up negative for all of these, so we have gradually turned back towards considering this a Covid case, that it's possible that the negative antibody test result is simply a result of the tests' inconsistency and high error rate (which has been fairly widely reported: it's brand new science with no centralized coordination of methodologies etc.). I am going to get an echo-cardiogram to check for heart damage, which some people can get from Covid. I've previously had bronchitis, pneumonia, and influenza (back in my 20s) and FWIW the illness I experienced in March was like none of those things. Pneumonia that I had really felt like severe chest pressure, very "wet"; my March experience was more like a chemical inhalation injury accompanied by feverish symptoms.

IMHO I feel that the scientific community should focus on preventing infection and death first, but if there is an opportunity to be part of a study to understand long-term health effects for mild cases I think it is important to pursue this and would volunteer myself to be part of such a study.

Sorry this was so long and if it was TMI etc.
Strategy

[Aentons]

Sorry for the long post, but thought this share might be interesting to some:
...
Sorry this was so long and if it was TMI etc.
Strategy

This was helpful. Thanks for sharing.

[jkokura]

Sorry for the long post, but thought this share might be interesting to some:
...
Sorry this was so long and if it was TMI etc.
Strategy

This was helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Seconded. Your story is invaluable, and I appreciate it very much.

Jacob

[m-Kresol]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Get well soon and best wishes from beyond the pond.

Interesting to hear about these symptoms though. First time I have heard about it.

[cooder]

Really sorry to hear about your health troubles, really wishing you the best of recovery!
I can totally relate to your story, I have a heart condition (cardiomyopathy; fatigue and limitations and all) which they never found out the reason for after turning me upside down but the most likely theory is that it was caused by side effects of a virus (that was ten years ago, so not covid related).
Here's another article that tells more of the unknown side effects that might be affecting people, and that's certainly a big topic apart from the sad death statistics.
https://www.bbc.com/news/52760992

[davent]

Sorry for the long post, but thought this share might be interesting to some:

I had a "mild", "presumptive" case of COVID-19 in March, and have resulting chronic health effects that lasted beyond the initial illness. I was extremely lucky to not be hospitalized but the experience was still terrifying and very touch-and-go, with lots of missed work time and each day trying to decide whether the situation would elevate to an emergency. The state I live in, Oregon, had a coordinated rapid distancing response but the downside was that testing was not widely available around here really until mid-May, so I could not get tested during the initial 'virus load'. I met with my doctor on "telehealth".

When I got sick I was literally in the best shape of my life, running 3k three times a week and doing serious circus arts training/conditioning (acrobatics stuff). I'm 44 with no underlying health issues. Since I "got better" from the illness I have had chronic shortness of breath and asthma or COPD-like episodes of severe wheezing, and inexplicable bouts of extreme exhaustion. An Albuterol inhaler has been a lifesaver. I can almost pretend I'm normal but if I do any exertion, I get a "hangover" of chest pain, lung pain, shortness of breath and wheezing cough that can last several days. Walking my dog one mile leaves me sweating, like going for a run.

It has been hard to get people to believe that I still have long-term effects, giving me a new insight and empathy into the experiences of people who have "invisible illness" like chronic pain, chronic fatigue, psoriatic arthritis, crohn's disease, etc. I typically stay away from random online health information and channel all info through my doctor, but this Atlantic article from last week made me really feel "seen" and it was uncanny to read of similar experiences by others https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/covid-19-coronavirus-longterm-symptoms-months/612679/



I had an antibody test in early May that turned up negative for Covid-19, so since i could not be "ruled in" for that, my doctor has put me under a barrage of tests to rule out heart disease, severe new allergies, liver problems, etc. I have turned up negative for all of these, so we have gradually turned back towards considering this a Covid case, that it's possible that the negative antibody test result is simply a result of the tests' inconsistency and high error rate (which has been fairly widely reported: it's brand new science with no centralized coordination of methodologies etc.). I am going to get an echo-cardiogram to check for heart damage, which some people can get from Covid. I've previously had bronchitis, pneumonia, and influenza (back in my 20s) and FWIW the illness I experienced in March was like none of those things. Pneumonia that I had really felt like severe chest pressure, very "wet"; my March experience was more like a chemical inhalation injury accompanied by feverish symptoms.

IMHO I feel that the scientific community should focus on preventing infection and death first, but if there is an opportunity to be part of a study to understand long-term health effects for mild cases I think it is important to pursue this and would volunteer myself to be part of such a study.

Sorry this was so long and if it was TMI etc.
Strategy

No apology necessary, info everyone needs to hear.

Any idea or strong suspicion from whom or where you may have contracted the virus?

All the best in your recovery!
dave

[thesmokingman]

I "love" how Costco is thinking about bringing back food samples.  Essentially, unless they have some extraordinary delivery mechanism in mind, that would mean many people converging in a tiny area, removing their masks, and touching their faces.  Americans, as a subspecies, tend to be irrationally drawn to anything free like moths drawn to a flame.  Thoughts of community/personal safety will completely evaporate when faced with a scarce supply of cut-in-half chicken nuggets in paper cups on a tray.   

I work in cybersecurity and any time the subject of social engineering comes up I'm reminded of exactly how much actionable information people are willing to give you for a free pen or other trade show swag.

[Strategy]

No apology necessary, info everyone needs to hear.

Any idea or strong suspicion from whom or where you may have contracted the virus?

All the best in your recovery!
dave

Thanks all for the kind responses, it's appreciated.
No idea where I could have contracted it. I know people who have had confirmed or suspected Covid cases, but none of them are people I had seen in person for many weeks, or they don't live in the same city as I. I work in the downtown of a major metropolitan area, and through the winter weather I was taking public transportation a lot (I bike in spring/summer/fall), so I was in cramped light rail for almost two hours a day. It could have been anywhere: restaurant, at the office, in the train. Based on the science I'm guessing it was an enclosed space with inadequate air flow and tight / nonexistent personal space bubbles. If my wife, or the youth we look after were asymptomatic carriers I could have simply gotten it from one of them at home.
- Strategy