Interesting times to live in China

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Mechwarrior
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Mechwarrior »

Time for another update
Confirmed 34627
Suspected 27657
Dead 723
Recovered 2066 (but so many are said to have recovered and ahhh picked up the virsus again due to poor living conditions in the hospital - some arent even hospitals, just empty office buildings that were taken over by the govt)

Not really sure I trust these figures - we have another website we can use to show your local area and wow.... mine is covered in little red circles denoting someone with an illness (thats just my local area and yet the figures dont seem to jump up with the increase in circles)

Two matters that are of concern if you are being pushed to come here for work (DONT)
1. Numerous videos be posted online from Chinese in other countries stating people hate Chinese as they have to sit alone on the bus or train. I answered that maybe its becuse people are worried they might catch the virus - in china we all stay away from others.
BUT ahhh I was shot down in the hundreds.. (that was after they figured out I was a western guy)

2. A new video is doing the rounds and it just started this morning ITS REALLY NASTY
It talks about 3x Chinese doctors having conducted research into the virus and found that its similar to SARs but has been alterted in 4 different ways. The video goes on to say how it was altered is not normal and can only be man made and its targetted for asian people and it was releashed just before Chinese New Year to ensure total coverage. It calls for all Chinese people to rally together and demands that the govt KILL those who made the virus. The video I saw was very high quality.

might not mean much to you but when people start going crazy like this about foreign/western countries I dont want to be seen standing near a window.

lot of people here starting to run out of food - I am expecting this to cause some health risks and god forbid more deaths.

fly safe all

beam me up scotty......
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Yogan
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Yogan »

Just saw on CNN news that the first American has died in China from the Coronavirus.

So be careful and Stay safe Mechwarrior
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Coops
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Coops »

From what I've been viewing (in 10 minute news segments) also NOT a good time to have chosen to go on a Cruise line Holiday, imagine paying a fortune to go on a two week cruise only to be kept in your cabin for an indefinite period. Especially if you had an internal birth small and with no windows!

There again, lets be grateful this is the type of virus it is and not something far more deadly. If this has a far higher mortality rate I think Gov's around the world would be treating this VERY differently. Buts a heads up showing just how modern life makes containing any type of virus with a lengthy incubation period, extremely difficult and almost next to impossible.

I'm certainly not belittling this virus and those infected and affected, but it does make you wonder what if.....

As always @mechwarrior, thanks for the updates and Chin up and mask on :)

Coops
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Akkamaddi
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Akkamaddi »

Hi Mechwarrior,
I wish you well, and wanted to throw in a few things.

I'm afraid I can't cite at the moment, but I've heard the Wuhan virus actually has a lower mortality rate than most of your "type A" influenza strains. The main issue with corona-family viruses is that they all tend to be respiratory infections, and often cause pneumonia. If you are physically weak, have a weakened immune system, or do not have access to healthcare, this becomes a far more dangerous situation.

A major problem here is that there are conflicting reports on the symptoms and timeline. I have also seen *completely* *unconfirmed* stories that it has a symptomless-yet-contagious period before symptoms present. This is causing issues with screening and control. I've read that a primary screening method is to just check for a fever, but if the fever does not manifest immediately, that's not very useful.

As for the racism... that's a sadly common thing. The comedian Margaret Cho called SARS "Sudden Asian Racism Syndrome". She lives in California. When she would see people wearing face masks over their chin, she would make a game of coughing and watching them raise the masks. There was also the largely useless "security theater" that went on in healthcare entities during the Ebola scare. People who think a tetanus or rabies vaccine are a scam will be terrified that foreigners will invade their Jugband Gulch Trailer Estate to unleash the ebolaSARzombie virus.

I would also be *very* careful with conspiracies that the virus is man-made. The virus is similar to SARS and MERS because they are all coronaviruses. If you have ever had an upper respiratory virus, you have probably had a coronavirus infection (especially if you had viral pneumonia). Think of it as saying "Polar bears are very similar to black bears and grisly bears, therefore they are man-made." I've seen the same thing about most flu strains, a hanta virus outbreak, HIV, syphilis (not counting the Tuskegee Experiment), and cancer. If you read conspiracy theories, you will see this is very common.

As for "and its targeted for Asian people and it was released just before Chinese New Year", again, look at the environment and simple evolution. Species-hopping viruses are most common in farms and meat markets, for obvious reasons. Lunar New Year is a time when people cook family feasts and treats that last for days. (If it's like Japanese new year, there is one day that it's bad luck to cook, but everyone eats, so there is a massive amount of cooking beforehand.) People flood the markets before the festivals. And, yes, it probably targets protein receptors most common in Asian people. I've never been to China, but I would hazard a guess that Asian people are a common thing in China. A virus will adapt to what is common. If it was found that the virus bound to receptors common in black Africans, in China, then that would be very strange and being man-made would suddenly be plausible. The theory could be right, but please be careful drawing connections because a virus is similar to viruses it is related to, and that it is "well adapted" to a host type that is 95%+ the population.

I will also say, from personal experience, that MD's and PhD's can fall into conspiratorial thinking and racism. Give weight to the scientific consensus.


... and now I'm wondering if Jugband Gulch Trailer Estate is too long a name for a settlement....
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Mechwarrior
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Mechwarrior »

Todays update

Confirmed 37251
Suspected 28942
Death 812
Recovered 2651

Akka, wasnt saying I believe - just passing on what is doing the rounds.
(Akka you were spot on about the cooking habits for chinese - using a knife on the day is taboo here)

Again, two items of interest.
Family across the road and down about 100 metres was taken away for a talk late last night. They climbed the fence to our little enclave - mum and dad are positive/ son and wife are positive/ daughter and husband are positive - two kids are ok at that moment

Saw the govt drones in action for the first time - three people ouside playing together in the snow (yes we had a heavy fall within a 24 hr period then it blew away) no masks, no protection and the drone pa went nuts.

We are still locked away in the house - my dept leader is busy trying to put together students and a platform so we can teach classes online. I am not sure how well that will go but I am guessing anything is a good thing at the moment. Never thought teaching at Uni would be like this

fly safe all
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Mechwarrior
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Mechwarrior »

Just an interesting item to add

Local hospital doctors sending out videos

1. Dont open windows to air your rooms (hello, noone said anything about this being airborne before - hoping its a safety measure only)

2. Fill a plastic bag with water and seal every sink in the house - not my words - the docs - the virus can come from open pipes

now that is a major worry - how can they kill this thing if its in the pipes???
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Akkamaddi
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Akkamaddi »

For the windows, I've seen videos of teams spraying disinfectant. There were huge clouds of opaque smoke. It's possible the disinfectant spray will be more widespread, and the fear is not getting the stuff in your house. (The government may be relying on wind to disperse the disinfectant and UV to break it down, which will not happen indoors.) Here in Florida (USA), there have been times that the State sprayed malathion based insecticide from helicopters to stop massive fruit fly infestations, and there was the same advice.

There may also be some fear of looters, which is always an issue in emergencies.

With the sink... I don't have any formal education in virology, but I think waterborne illnesses are mainly an issue when aerosolized, which would be a problem when flushing toilets or taking showers. A bit of bleach in the dishwater will usually handle most things. The only two things I can see are either loading the public water system with disinfectant, which could make it unpalatable for a while, or possibly fear of bugs or mice crawling up through drains. I don't know what the public water system in China is like, but most countries use chemical and/or heat treatment. I think viruses are otherwise too heavy to evaporate out of standing water.

If there is an emergency, though, having at least a few days of canned food and bottled water is a good idea. Even if things are not genuinely too bad, most people are not very bright and are easy to frighten, and it can be better to have something rather than going to the store.

Be safe and alert, but there are very plausible explanations for the warning other than the virus being airborne and in the public water. Stay calm and take care of those around you. :-)

And please continue the updates.
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Mechwarrior
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Mechwarrior »

To you all, this one is very important

We were first informed that the virsu was able to live within the body for 12 days (thus our lock down here)

BUT

just now the lead doctor in Beijing stated on a news conference that it is able to live within the body for 28 days.......

be very careful everyone
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Mechwarrior
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Mechwarrior »

Update

Confirmed - 42744
Suspected - 21675
Death - 1017
Recovered - 4180

Akka - close all windows because they used industrial vehicles to spray chemicals - alas they sprayed all the major roads (not sure how many infected are out walking around on roadways at the moment) In my area our building was sprayed on day one of the lock down, havent seen it happen again yet but we have over 8.6 million population for our city so I think the workers are a little busy to come around again.

We were instructed to watch out for family members who might have the virus. If any cleaning is needed to be done in the toilet/bathroom gloves are a must as any body fluid/matter (yes even vomit) carries the bug. I pretty much thought all that news was a given considering how quickly this one spread and how fast some people are being effected.

Numerous videos are online here for us to watch normal people walking down the road and then bam, they are down and out on the footpath and no one is game to go near them. Watching this happen on a phone video again and again makes you sit back and think.

A lot of the talk here at the moment is very anti american - lots of news items coming across the water suggesting that this might have been the fault of the chinese themselves. (Yes, the only level 4 bio lab for the military is in the city of Wuhan but they stress that nothing was releashed.

take care all
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Mechwarrior
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Re: Interesting times to live in China

Post by Mechwarrior »

Todays news - no university classes will be run before the 17th of March at the earliest

looks like I am in lock down for another month.

classes have started via computer but ahhh I dont have a microphone (and there is no way I am going out to buy one at the present time) so I cant join in.
latest figures show a grim face to the virus

Confirmed - 59888
Suspected - 16067
Death - 1368
Recovered - 5947 (just remember that some of these recovered and then didnt take enough care and caught it again)

many chinese students in foreign countries are sending home packages of masks and gloves - so I would suggest you guys and girls make sure you have your own supply before they become hard to find

take care all
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