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This description of life currently in Wuhan is terrifying. Apparently, what was suspected, is true. There is a large shortage of medical equipment, and that people aren't getting tested because there aren't any tests. People are being turned away from the hospitals, which are gridlocked, and being sent on a bureaucratic runaround to the all-powerful neighborhood committees, to get permission from them to get into the hospital. No test, no hospital bed. But you cannot get a test. And you're too sick to walk all over the city to find one. People are giving up and going home to either get better, or die, and in either case, to infect their family members.
And to add insult to injury, I've read yesterday that people from Wuhan are treated like they have some kind of leprosy by the rest of the country. When they find themselves in different provinces ( and they do, since about 5 million of them left Wuhan for that Lunar New Year vacation before the lockdown of the city, or before anyone realized the severity of situation,) they can't get rooms in hotels, they are denied services and so on.
And yet they can't get back to their city now, since they can't commute there.
And to add insult to injury, I've read yesterday that people from Wuhan are treated like they have some kind of leprosy by the rest of the country. When they find themselves in different provinces ( and they do, since about 5 million of them left Wuhan for that Lunar Year vacation before the lockdown of the city, or before anyone realized the severity of situation,) they can't get rooms in hotels, they are denied services and so on.
And yet they can't get back to their city now, since they can't commute there.
Oh jeez...
It is a human nature, hope we don’t have to find it out here- we won’t be better!
I wonder how many of the Canadians are tourism babies.
Insignificant, I'd say. But those who have no intention to live here permanently, evacuating them at a time like this is a temporary measure, hopefully at their own expense.
A friend of mine has a cruise booked and the cruise line is offering a full refund to anyone from China. No word yet on cancellation but my friend is afraid that's coming.
Personally I'm glad we haven't bought airline tickets to Europe yet - planning to go in May so maybe that's far enough out but I'm not going to buy them till closer in.
We have tickets to Poland in August. Thankfully we got a good deal and they were 600 each. I have half the hotels booked but they are all refundable. Done booking until I see what happens. So glad I didn’t book the flights between all the different countries.
A friend of mine has a cruise booked and the cruise line is offering a full refund to anyone from China. No word yet on cancellation but my friend is afraid that's coming.
Personally I'm glad we haven't bought airline tickets to Europe yet - planning to go in May so maybe that's far enough out but I'm not going to buy them till closer in.
I’ve already booked mine, I’m going. I’m glad I chanced Paris. The 4 countries I’m going to have less than 2 people infected, some are none. UK and Spain have about 1 or 2. But I’ve booked them using points. All my hotels are cancellable.
I don’t think the WHO organization acted fast enough. I’m not sure where I read but the term pandemic was in that article, maybe NYT.
I agree that the WHO has been quite laid back about this. They need evidence that the coronavirus is spreading in 2 other countries to announce a pandemic, and that is the next level from where we are now. We know that it spreads human to human, and that this has happened in other countries, so the question now is how many cases must be seen in other countries before a pandemic is announced.
Governments seem more concerned about avoiding panic, so they've kept borders open and allowed the virus to travel everywhere.
I wrote a report on the SARS virus back in 2003. Some issues have not been clarified for laypeople. The typical surgical mask protects the environment from the user. It does not protect the user from the environment. It does not filter viral particles that are 0.3 to 0.03 microns in diameter. Gloves are fine but as soon as you touch anything that might contain viable virus, you have the same issue as if you were not wearing gloves. As a physician, we wear gloves when examining a patient that might be infectious and then we dispose of these potentially contaminated gloves in a proper receptacle. A key issue is whether a respirator mask can filter viruses. Some claim to filter particles down to 0.003 microns. But when I have asked for scientific documentation concerning this, I have yet to receive anything, even a simple email telling me that no documentation is available. I cannot find any review of respirator masks on Consumer Reports. I have written to experts in this field but they will not commit to suggesting a particular brand name of respiratory mask.
There may be value in black elderberry, Echinacea and glycyrrhiza as anti-virals. But I cannot find peer-reviewed literature on anti-viral activity against 2019-nCoV or any coronavirus (e.g., SARS, MERS).
It would be valuable to know what anti-viral study drug that patient in the New England J of Medicine report received. I have that article and will need to re-read it and see if any info is related. I use and am familiar with many supplements (nutraceuticals). There are not peer-reviewed papers on the value of fish oil, Vit C or A against any viral infection.
For sure, this is an epidemic in China. The real question is whether or not it will turn out to be a pandemic.
Yes, I'm aware of the lack of viral filtering capacity of the masks & also that I do not have a "red-bag" system for home.
My concern was more for the masks helping my disabled son to keep his hands away from his face & also to protect others around him because despite spending the last 13 years of trying to get him to cover when he coughs or sneezes; he just does not get it!
The supplements are for health in general; I would not rely on them as a cure-all for sure.
Have you seen this article about the first US case of 2019-nCoV having had the virus detected in their feces? It's intriguing that it has not been reported in the cases in China.
I am a HemOnc MD but not a specialist in infectious diseases. With this caveat, I would opine that we have no definitive data of virus interference due to influenza vaccination, I have written to author Gregory Wolff and asked for clarification.
Thank you I am interested to hear his response. There have been opposing viewpoints from the scientific community on this study.
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