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Most flu virus is carried via air droplets, and tend to enter and exit the body thru the mouth and nose. Typical surgical/dusk masks can protect you from inadvertently inhaling virus particulates, but maybe more importantly they help prevent infected people from exhaling them, so they can have a sizeable impact on preventing spread, especially when combined with frequent hand washing and other reasonable hygiene measures.
Of course, one of the doctors in China thinks he might have caught it from not wearing proper eye protection and rubbing his eyes, so...
Yes, typical masks can help if you have no other alternative. But they aren't going to be as effective as a medical N95 respirator mask, or even typical moulded masks. The loose fabric-like masks, as said, are to prevent people who are sick from spreading the illness. That they are not exactly snug or 'sealed' against the face, external moisture can enter in areas of the mask that are open. While those masks might catch the brunt of an external cough or sneeze from tiny droplets can still get in through areas of the mask that are open. In addition, the flimsy masks can absorb external moisture, potentially allowing the virus to 'soak' through the loose fibers to where you are exposed to it and inhale it? They aren't foolproof. What about people who are infected but are not wearing a mask? If you have a choice, what would you choose? A floppy fabric mask? Or a better quality medical N95 respirator mask?
If you have no other choice, then by all means at least use whatever you can to cover your mouth and nose or stay home. I worked for a large regional medical center for 21 years, and the policy was if an employee is sick with a contagious illness - stay home until you recover. One of the problems I'm now hearing is that the demand for masks, especially in China, has been huge and supplies are very low. They can't make them fast enough and are turning to other producers in other countries for supplies.
Since there's no vaccine for it, the most that can be done is treat the symptoms. Current observations suggest that the virus is still infectious during the incubation period (about 14 days). It spreads before the symptoms show. Yeah, if it turns out that it can be spread from no eye protection, then I don't know what else a person can do except either stay home or go to a hospital for quarantine if you're infected.
Los Angeles has confirmed another case and another in Arizona bringing the number up to 5 cases in the US. Thailand has confirmed 8 cases. 5 of those in Thailand have recovered and been released. Worldwide, the figure of confirmed cases is said to be almost 2000. Apparently there are about 84 suspected cases reported in the kingdom. A total of 39 suspected patients have been quarantined at the hospitals on suspicion of having contracted coronavirus. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ca...mage=BBZaM5o|1 https://themalaysianreserve.com/2020...s-in-thailand/
Well I really appreciate hearing all the reports from you folks in Asia. Still waiting to see if we will take our trip to Asia beginning the last week of Feb. We travel in/out of Asia via Shanghai, but could limit ourselves to just the PVG airport if necessary. (flying in with a layover, leaving had planned to stay in Shanghai for 4 nights but we could make it half a day instead)
Of course, the places we are spending most of our time (Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan) are not immune so have to also watch what happens there as well.
Well I really appreciate hearing all the reports from you folks in Asia. Still waiting to see if we will take our trip to Asia beginning the last week of Feb. We travel in/out of Asia via Shanghai, but could limit ourselves to just the PVG airport if necessary. (flying in with a layover, leaving had planned to stay in Shanghai for 4 nights but we could make it half a day instead)
Of course, the places we are spending most of our time (Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan) are not immune so have to also watch what happens there as well.
As creepy as it seems with all the publicity, it helps to keep things in perspective. Worldwide, there are about 2000 confirmed cases. Of those cases, probably most will successfully recover. The problem is that it's contagious. However, it has not been declared as any kind of pandemic by the WHO. Airports around the world are gearing up to spot people who might be suspected as carriers. That's a good thing because it means those people will be treated to determine if they are infected or not. When you think about 2000 confirmed cases, that's a pretty insignificant number compared to the 7+ billion people on the planet. Being aware, is also a positive thing to do. Better to be prepared and not have a need, than to have a need and not be prepared. Chances are you're going to be perfectly fine. I got scanned at a clinic in the US recently. They used a thermal scanner that doesn't even touch you. The ones I've seen being used at airports are similar. They just click it on for a few seconds, and it's done. If you're concerned, avoid crowds if you can (hard to do in Asia). Wear a mask if you need to or if everyone else is wearing one. There probably won't be any real need to, but at least you'll fit in with the crowd. Take a hand disinfectant along with you. You can get them as individual wipes and carry them in your pocket. If you're going to be taking along a laptop or a smart phone, use it to keep posted on your destinations.
Where are you originally departing from? The US? Canada? Somewhere else?
Well I really appreciate hearing all the reports from you folks in Asia. Still waiting to see if we will take our trip to Asia beginning the last week of Feb. We travel in/out of Asia via Shanghai, but could limit ourselves to just the PVG airport if necessary. (flying in with a layover, leaving had planned to stay in Shanghai for 4 nights but we could make it half a day instead)
Of course, the places we are spending most of our time (Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan) are not immune so have to also watch what happens there as well.
I'm in Macau, and trying to get out of here. I do feel much better being here than across the border in the Mainland, but I think this is going to get a lot lot lot worse before it gets better.
I've been watching a ton of videos on inside Wuhan. Educational!
I'm in Macau. 6 confirmed cases. The 6th case is from a boy that shows NO SYMPTOMS (son of two who were showing symptoms, and they tested the son a few days later). This lies dormant from 1-14 days before a Fever is present. Meanwhile everywhere throughout CHina, Macau, AIrports, etc. are doing 'heat checks' on the forehead. In other words, people are moving around everywhere who appear completely fine.
We have 1,100+ people from Wuhan right now in Macau (and Macau is nothing compared to what is going on in the Mainland), and they say that each infected person will effect another 2.5 others. If you view the video below, you'll see that the numbers in Wuhan are probably much higher than currently reported. This is going to get A LOT worse. I think all of the numbers are going to go up a lot, and I don't think the facilities will exist to take care of this.
Videos of inside Wuhan Hospitals look horrendous. Look for those videos. THey are building a hospital that'll take in 1000 patients in Wuhan, but by the the time they build that (they say in 6 days - a hospital with all of the facilities it needs)? But within 6 days, they'll probably need a hospital for 10,000.
I can share other videos later, but this WUHAN citizen is a good start to what is going on there:
We just starting this year 2020 with many bad news
- Iran US tension, Ukranian plane get shoot
- Philippines Taal mountain eruption
- Australia forest fire
- Turkey earthquake
- now Wuhan corona virus
I'm in Macau, and trying to get out of here. I do feel much better being here than across the border in the Mainland, but I think this is going to get a lot lot lot worse before it gets better.
I've been watching a ton of videos on inside Wuhan. Educational!
I'm in Macau. 6 confirmed cases. The 6th case is from a boy that shows NO SYMPTOMS (son of two who were showing symptoms, and they tested the son a few days later). This lies dormant from 1-14 days before a Fever is present. Meanwhile everywhere throughout CHina, Macau, AIrports, etc. are doing 'heat checks' on the forehead. In other words, people are moving around everywhere who appear completely fine.
6 cases is actually quite a lot. My city district in Tianjin has more people than Macau and still has 0 confirmed cases.
I think you worry too much. In most cities across China there are hardly any people outside, and everyone is wearing masks and being careful. The virus is going to have a hard time spreading under these kind of conditions. There are no 40000 family dinners or doctors not wearing masks anymore.
The number of infected was extremly underreported on the 20th of January. What you are seeing now is that all the people who got infected are heading to the hospital, and you are seeing a backlog of cases being reported. That is a good thing, and the situation is likely to get under control during mid february as the virus struggle to find new people to infect.
But I worry that this virus will get exported to a country with less control over its population and hence get out of control somewhere else.
Where are you originally departing from? The US? Canada? Somewhere else?
US. In case you haven't seen my other posts, we would travel with our two young kids as well. So that is part of the concern.
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Originally Posted by Tiger Beer
I'm in Macau, and trying to get out of here. I do feel much better being here than across the border in the Mainland, but I think this is going to get a lot lot lot worse before it gets better.
Interesting video. What options are you considering? Yeah my in-laws are supposed to return to Zhongshan and Macao next month, but they are gonna try to cancel their trip and are pressuring us to do so as well. They claim people going into China are not allowed back into Macau at the moment. I'm not sure if that's true though. I get a lot of feedback that pretty much falls into the two extremes...it'll be totally fine OR the sky is falling you're crazy to still go.
Videos of inside Wuhan Hospitals look horrendous. Look for those videos. THey are building a hospital that'll take in 1000 patients in Wuhan, but by the the time they build that (they say in 6 days - a hospital with all of the facilities it needs)? But within 6 days, they'll probably need a hospital for 10,000.
Who the **** would get anywhere near a hospital that was built within 6 days?
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I think you worry too much. In most cities across China there are hardly any people outside, and everyone is wearing masks and being careful. The virus is going to have a hard time spreading under these kind of conditions. There are no 40000 family dinners or doctors not wearing masks anymore.
The number of infected was extremly underreported on the 20th of January. What you are seeing now is that all the people who got infected are heading to the hospital, and you are seeing a backlog of cases being reported. That is a good thing, and the situation is likely to get under control during mid february as the virus struggle to find new people to infect.
All hail to the virology expert! Oh wait, I mean a privileged Scandinavian that has no idea how bad SARS got and how this has been confirmed by many scientists to be worse.
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But I worry that this virus will get exported to a country with less control over its population and hence get out of control somewhere else.
Idk where your confidence in China's public health comes from. Everyone else has none.
Yeah, the streets here in SZ are deserted, even by CNY standards. Nearly everything is closed except for a few scattered shops. Pretty much stuck in our apartment all day which is pretty exhausting with a rambunctious three and a half year old.
You're lucky you stocked up; my wife fell victim to both old Chinese beliefs ("no frozen/canned stuff, only fresh, food that isn't fresh will hurt you") and modern Chinese naivety ("it's ok, we can just have things delivered") and threw fits when I went to stock up, saying it was "wasteful." Thankfully I did it anyways so we've been in good shape. Also, one of our restaurants is one block away from our apartment and its stocked with frozen and non-perishable goods. As long as I go straight there, I won't have any real risk of infection.
In a lot of the mom wechat groups she's in, people are starting to freak out as food is running low and no one is delivering.
Ultimately of course we will all be OK and much worse has happened, but after the dust clears, China's going to have a new set of issues to deal with. China's actually somewhat lucky that the focus on the virus has people temporarily ignoring it's economy, because this is gonna hurt, especially if it drags on... Most of the financial news I've read on it estimates that between .8-2% of the GDP could fall depending on how long it drags on. Small businesses such as small restaurants, corner markets, etc as well as the delivery people, line staff, and suppliers that depend on them are gonna be under massive pressure and that's gonna be a big hit to China's domestic service economy, which it has maintained would float it through the trade war.
It's going to have to finally confront its food, public, and personal hygiene standards. Wet markets are going to need to use refrigeration, local agencies tasked with enforcement are going to have to stop taking hongbaos to allow some stalls to sell live animals and bushmeat, as well as just making sure suppliers are up to standard in the first place. This is all a good thing, China should have done this ages ago, but it will also affect cost increases for supplier and vendors which they will pass onto consumers.
I don't like making hamfisted, absolute statements or predictions, but I have a feeling that if China's golden days weren't over before, they are now.
My Chinese wife was just like your wife years ago lol, until she lived in the U.S. for a couple of years and now thinks somewhat differently about canned food. Of course, fresh is always better, but we don't always have access to fresh, esp now in China during these difficult times. She bought a ton of stuff from Hema, but I was surprised because even Ole, which is usually very expensive, had great deals for ordering online this week here in GZ.
Yeah, the family and I went for a walk around our neighborhood in Tianhe (not far from your restaurant) and my wife and I were discussing the damage to the local economies, esp to small businesses in China. The landlords need to give some support and maybe offer one month rent free or something to these business owners. Nobody is going out to shop these days. The holiday is extended and everyone is staying indoors.
My wife freaked out a little because she also is in these WeChat groups with local mom's. If things get really bad, we might bail and stay in Ireland for 6 months or so. I don't have visa's for all of my family now to the U.S.so we can't go there. We have vacationed in the past years often in Ireland so we might do that, but for now were staying in GZ and will ride it out.
It will get worse before it gets better, but my guess is March or April we'll start to see things improve.
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