Coronavirus prep

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  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Not directed at anyone in particular, general comment.

    If you have hayfever, allergies, chronic sinusitis etc and are sneezing, runny nose etc as per your norm, no problem. (unless close contact but that goes for anyone anyway, regardless of symptoms)

    As soon as anything deviates from your norm, get tested just in case.

    The stance in Australia is get tested if you have symptoms, no matter how mild.

    I am assuming that means if you have symptoms outside your norm.

    I have mild hayfever and it is Spring here - I am not getting tested every time I sneeze like I do in Spring every year, that would be silly

    Yeah, that's how I understand the policy where I live too (adding in some common sense, like symptoms out of the norm, as you said). Plus, of course, being tested if exposed to someone with it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I live in Iowa where all the counties are over 10% positivity. We have the third highest positivity rate in the country, a republican controlled government and our "mask mandate" is essentially if you can't social distance inside for 15 minutes then you should wear a mask unless you are in church where they cannot be mandated. I am isolating as best as I can but family member that I live with is not.

    I lived in Iowa my entire life until 2019 and still know a lot of people there. To say it is really bad there right now is an understatement.

    However, I will point out that there is 1 county at less than 10% positivity for the most recent 7 days of data reported (Wed Jan 22 2020 - Thu Nov 19 2020). Lucas County is at 7.87% positivity for the 7 day average.

    Dang... and here they are freaking out in NY over a 2-3% positivity and closing down.

    There are 30 states that have a positivity rate of over 10% and no national policy. Some governors have implemented stricter policies. Here, in Minnesota, they went into effect at midnight. One of the edicts is only persons residing in a residence may celebrate Thanksgiving together. Enforcing this is questionable. We will see what happens in a couple of weeks. Sometimes it seems hopeless.

    As another Minnesota resident, I don't see any indication that they're planning to enforce this at all. I think it's just meant to help guide behavior.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Just sayin', if anyone thinks "they just have a cold", it's one heck of a lot easier to catch the Coronvirus than a cold. If they think they have a cold or allergies, they have Coronavirus and they are in denial. It's not allergy season anywhere in the US right now. Be careful!

    I have no idea how accurate your statement is but, to both my dh and me, this has felt like most colds for us(thank goodness!). If numbers weren't popping here and if there hadn't been positive cases where dh works, I would've called anybody crazy for making us get tested. Well, not really, but YKWIM. We're definitely 2 of the lucky ones. Seeing pictures in the news of trucks packed with bodies makes it all too real of what it is in some places. :(

    A nurse I know that works in a Covid unit recently mentioned that she can always tell when a new Covid patient comes in whether they will survive or not. She's guessed wrong only once. When asked how she can tell, her response was:
    It is by no means an exact science it’s typically a combination of past medical history, current health, ability and effort put forth to care for ones self, gender/age/ethnicity, prior living arrangements, weight and then instinct.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    So I have a question for any Australians out there: if dog walking is banned, where are dogs supposed to do their business? Not everyone has a yard...
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    edited November 2020
    So I have a question for any Australians out there: if dog walking is banned, where are dogs supposed to do their business? Not everyone has a yard...

    Someone should make indoor litter boxes for dogs... like a big un-covered litter box with a fire hydrant in the corner or something.

    ETA: I checked Amazon and apparently was not even close to the first person to come up with this idea. There are lots of options.
  • fmodajr
    fmodajr Posts: 1 Member
    So I have a question for any Australians out there: if dog walking is banned, where are dogs supposed to do their business? Not everyone has a yard...

    Great question. I have cats, but weird ones. They get walked on leashes like a dog....
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,275 Member
    So I have a question for any Australians out there: if dog walking is banned, where are dogs supposed to do their business? Not everyone has a yard...

    it wasnt Australians - it was only South Australians.

    For 6 days - which got reduced to 3.

    If you lived in an apartment with a dog, (which isn't going to be many people in South Australia) I guess you took it out to the backyard or lawn area of your building or on to the footpath, (sidewalk to americans) let it do its poo and then pick it up, bin it (as you should do all the time anyway) and go back inside.
    Like slimjo said.

  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,265 MFP Moderator
    USA Today has a story reporting the timeline and results of the virus from 1918. It’s interesting how similar our situation is today. I can’t copy the link, but the reporter’s name is Grace Hauck, and the article was 11/22/20. Check it out.

    Thanks for that - interesting read. Here's the link for anyone interested: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2020/11/21/covid-and-thanksgiving-how-we-celebrated-during-1918-flu-pandemic/6264231002/

    While looking for that one, I also found this one which is also interesting and sad: https://www.whio.com/news/trending/1918-flu-pandemic-letters-shed-light-how-similar-coronavirus-pandemic-is-past-outbreak/S4MMHFYC6RAP7AJ7KNK5TWAOVQ/
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    JustSomeEm wrote: »
    USA Today has a story reporting the timeline and results of the virus from 1918. It’s interesting how similar our situation is today. I can’t copy the link, but the reporter’s name is Grace Hauck, and the article was 11/22/20. Check it out.

    Thanks for that - interesting read. Here's the link for anyone interested: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2020/11/21/covid-and-thanksgiving-how-we-celebrated-during-1918-flu-pandemic/6264231002/

    While looking for that one, I also found this one which is also interesting and sad: https://www.whio.com/news/trending/1918-flu-pandemic-letters-shed-light-how-similar-coronavirus-pandemic-is-past-outbreak/S4MMHFYC6RAP7AJ7KNK5TWAOVQ/

    Wow. It really IS similar. It's almost like history repeating itself...thanks for the links.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Italy--A famous historian was asked about past pandemics and he noted how similar they were with COVID. EVEN with modern medicine the course is similar. Modern man thinks he can beat this with science, whereas there was resignation and prayers in the past. It's frightening how this monster just keeps advancing.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    The folks at This Week in Virology are REALLY excited about mRNA vaccines. They looked at whatever public data was available for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and said that while it's still on a small scale, the numbers are far better than they expected. And there is a hint that even if someone who is vaccinated becomes infected, they will be more likely to have a mild case. And if both companies are able to produce the vaccine at the levels they are advertising, that will be impressive as well.

    They said that if these numbers turn out to be even close to accurate on a large scale, the "discovery" of mRNA vaccination will be one of the most impressive successes in modern medicine. There is already work being done to see if this technology can be used on other viruses that no effective vaccine has been possible for previously, or improved efficacy over existing vaccines. Basically, the mRNA particles were not discovered while trying to develop a vaccine - they were just being studied in labs as a curious new particle until someone noticed what they did and how they could be used and made the connection. Exciting stuff :smiley:

    Very interesting! I worked in a lab who was studying efficacy of mRNA influenza vaccines a few years ago. First we tested it on HEK293 cells and then proceeded to animals. One of the projects I worked on was testing the mRNA virus efficacy in preventing certain strains of flu in mice. We had great results and the group published quite a few papers on it. Their next big project was trying to get a grant to begin testing on human subjects. Haven't talked with them since I was a part of their lab a few years ago, but this reminded me I should email and see if they ever got the grant and what happened to the project.

    It is a lot better because it allows you to change the vaccine more quickly than using DNA and thus better match the vaccine for certain mutations and strain variants faster. I wonder if future COVID vaccines will use this technology. I think it depends on how fast the virus mutates and how many different strains are actually going around. (Which I don't think they quite know yet.)

    I'd bet projects like that will have a much better chance of getting grants as these first covid vaccines progress! They did mention something about flu vaccines, but I was lost in the scientific terminology weeds at that point :lol:
  • lkpducky
    lkpducky Posts: 17,618 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    They said that if these numbers turn out to be even close to accurate on a large scale, the "discovery" of mRNA vaccination will be one of the most impressive successes in modern medicine. There is already work being done to see if this technology can be used on other viruses that no effective vaccine has been possible for previously, or improved efficacy over existing vaccines. Basically, the mRNA particles were not discovered while trying to develop a vaccine - they were just being studied in labs as a curious new particle until someone noticed what they did and how they could be used and made the connection. Exciting stuff :smiley:

    Or even cancer
    Here's a good story of the history of mRNA therapeutics
    https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/the-story-of-mrna-how-a-once-dismissed-idea-became-a-leading-technology-in-the-covid-vaccine-race/?utm_source=pocket-newtab&fbclid=IwAR0s8kjoK4AhcuewJe7QkbzfolGcxfsLtQUme12VTcoViyhw08au6ufiRtU