COVID-19

I feel like that’s what I’m going to call my post-rock band -COVID-19

 

Remember the Flu in 1918-20 killed more people than the 1st World War

 

For an infection which is only marginally more dangerous than flu, it somehow feels that the world is overreacting to it.

 

I think the worry is it may mutate. I believe a vaccine isn't far away though.

 

Hasn't that always been the case though? Flu has mutated many times.
I believe that obsessive cleanliness may be contributing to the emergence of thing like this, kids never play out in the muck and parents throw bleach and other biological cleaners round the house, resulting in generations of people with little or no resistance.
I heard the other day that a vaccine is probably a year away.

 

You are right it is about a year away, but should stop it coming back as a regular occurrence, if tests prove positive. It's linked to the same thing as SARS.

Agree with you about obsessive cleanliness & the use of antibacterial cleaning products. They are necessary with cleaning up meat & stuff like that, but everyday bacteria is good for the immune system.

I use the sauna at my local gym about 4-5 times a week & a twenty minute session in there will kill off any of these viruses. It's why I don't bother with a flu jab anymore.

 

Sitting in Northern General, recovering from open heart surgery, it's a slightly alarming prospect.

 

Latest reports for a vaccine is by the end of the year.

 

Never had one. I used to make slap-dab pies in the back garden....

 

Hope your recovery goes well mate.

 

Folk on here don't know the difference between bacteria and viruses.

 

There's currently a lot of hype. Providing people are sensible about maintaining personal hygiene standards things will be fine. My concern is many people don't maintain sensible personal hygiene standards. Many using toilets at Oakwell never wash their hands so how will they ever do so after using public transport, handrails, shaking hands with someone or before eating or smoking.

 

Some people don't have any idea of personal hygiene. That will be the problem. If we cant contain it.

 

Just to start this post (and stating the bleedin' obvious) I am not a medical expert. However, the news reports that a school in Berkshire reported yesterday that a member of staff had tested positive and that the school was to be closed for "deep cleaning".

Now surely this is an overreaction and unnecessary, ineffective and therefore pointless for two reasons (as in every other case where 'deep cleaning has been deemed to be necessary (like closing a whole station and sending in an army of cleaners in hazmat suits):

1 It is now determined that the virus only survives for 2-3 hours on hard/soft surfaces like hand rails and door handles so closing the school (as it probably is anyway) on a Sunday is sufficient time to kill any virus on any surface that the carrier had made contact with.

2 After deep cleaning it only takes one infected person to make contact with any newly cleaned surface, door handle stair hand rail cloakroom tap etc to negate the whole deep cleaning process.

The virus is transmitted person to person via droplets close contact either airborn or from residual matter left on surfaces e.g. after sneezing (both short lived)

What am I missing?

 

That it will make parents and children feel better (even if it doesn’t really help) and that alone makes it worth it.

 

I disagree, it wastes money and makes people more hysterical.

 

I agree that it has been done as a PR exercise. But it is misleading and deflects from the real risk. Deep cleaning does nothing to allay the fears (and likelihood) that the damage may already have been done and a staff member may already have passed it to other staff or pupils.But in any case it is surely cheaper and more practical to put something on the school website and local media advising parents of the scientific facts. Person to person contact in a closed community like a school is far more probable cause of a spread than contact on contaminated surfaces. We already know that the virus is not absorbed through skin so even contact with contaminated surface will not infect someone unless they then touch food their hands make contact with their mouths or breath in droplets from someone in close proximity who, for example sneezes or coughs. A better thing would be to screen staff and pupils coming in on Monday morning (like they are doing at airport arrivals)

 

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Has it actually been determined that that's how long it lives on hard surfaces though? I've just googled and can't find anything concrete to say that. What I can find is plenty of links saying that other forms of coronavirus can live for hours and even days on hard surfaces especially in cold conditions such as an unheated school in winter in England

 

Guy on BBC other day was specifically asked how long does it last and he wouldn’t give a definitive answer, just kept saying depends surface level of cleanliness of person etc.
Thought they also said it can’t be caught like a cold (sneezing etc).
Which if true why do places like China etc have everyone wearing masks.

 

It never hurts to deep clean a school. I think people are overthinking what that actually means, it’s just shampooing the carpets really which they do every summer anyway. I think parents would be more hysterical and be keeping their kids off otherwise.