Early estimate of the “2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease” mortality rate by WHO:
Jan. 29
WHO states that the mortality rate is estimated at 2.0% but still to early to tell. Praises China for its incredible measures to contain the virus.
Back to original topic of thread.
As gyms are closed. Morning jogs just before dawn when streets are emptiest is a great way to work up a sweat. Beef up your immune system. Solo or with loved ones.
Here in Kunming, 7:20am is when morning hues transpire. At 7:30, the luminosity creeps up.
A peacefully, desolate outdoor atmosphere where there are more chirping birds than pedestrians. The lack of noise and car exhausts are much better now than before the outbreak begun.
Wear a mask just in case. Other joggers w/o one who just so happen to cross paths or be ahead of you may sneeze. If you ever ran the marathon, you'd know the wet splash may be carried by the draft from afar. Imo, most of these habitual morning walkers are relatively healthy or else they'd be bedridden.
I'd frequently bring food in case I encounter homeless, stray cats or dogs along the way.
For homeless sleeping by the sidewalk, just slide the air-sealed packages beside them, whatever that might be. There's a dearth supply of food for them in the garbage bins. With or without gov. homeless shelters, some prefer to scavenge and sleep outside due to their schizophrenia illnesses.
During your runs, be grateful of your own good health and fortune. Be grateful of the street cleaners. The waste disposal custodians wearing full body protective suits who start their jobs before dawn. They are the heroes braving the storm holding down the fort.
Help those less fortunate. Adapt and flourish during this special time.
That might be what you would do. From your English it is not clear if you actually do it. That goes against several pieces of government advice. Unwise on so many levels.
Regarding masks, all the literature I've read stated that surgical type masks are designed to keep the wearer from spreading their disease to others by acting as a barrier to keep as many virus or germ filled water droplets contained as possible instead of being released into to the environment, it does nothing to prevent the wearer from inhaling any virus particles that could be in the air as there are too many gaps between the mask and wearer to form a good seal. One caveat, because surgical masks acts as an physical barrier, it does provide protection for the wearer in instances where they were in a position of contact with water droplets directly from an infected person, i.e., if an infected person is in close proximity and sneezed or coughed in your direction, a surgical mask will help in lowering the exposure to any viruses or germs contained in the water droplet that you might otherwise be directly projected into your eyes, nose, and/or mouth. If an infected person sneezed or coughed into the air in general, on the hand, any virus particle present will be mixed with the surrounding air particles after the water droplet has evaporated, waiting for an unfortunate individual to inhale this cocktail of foul air through the gaps in the the surgical mask.
Can Face Masks Protect You From Catching Coronavirus?
news.columbia.edu/[...]
Interim Guidance for the Use of Masks to Control Seasonal Influenza Virus Transmission
news.columbia.edu/[...]
Another type of mask in the headlines is the N95 mask, they are referred to as respirators. As the name implies, they work by acting as a filter filtering out 95% of dangerous particles in the air before reaching the respiratory tract. In order to for these to work effectively though, they must be form-fitted to achieved said tight seal. A drawback to N95 masks is that breathing becomes difficult after long periods of use because they restrict airflow. Exercising while wearing one is not recommended.
As a matter of policy, N95 masks do not work as well as they should because most non-healthcare workers do not follow proper procedures when using these masks, therefore it is much more effective to focus efforts on other disease preventing protocols such as washing hands.
Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks in protecting health care workers from acute respiratory infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/
There is what the CDC recommends on how to prevent infection of the Coronavirus.
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/prevention.html
Have to agree that the main benefit of surgical mask is to protect everyone else around the cougher. Good reason for everyone to wear one. Even the makeshift masks people wear work for this.
Here is the correct link to:
Interim Guidance for the Use of Masks to Control Seasonal Influenza Virus Transmission
www.cdc.gov/[...]
Mask advice from WHO (published 29 January 2020)
"General Advice
Wearing a medical mask is one of the prevention measures to limit spread of certain respiratory diseases, including 2019nCoV, in affected areas.
However, the use of a mask alone is insufficient to provide the adequate level of protection and other equally relevant measures should be adopted. If masks are to be used, this measure must be combined with hand hygiene and other IPC measures to prevent the human-to-human transmission of 2019-nCov. WHO has developed guidance for home care and health care settings on infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies for use when infection with 2019-nCoV is suspected.
Wearing medical masks when not indicated may cause unnecessary cost, procurement burden and create a false sense of security that can lead to neglecting other essential measures such as hand hygiene practices. Furthermore, using a mask incorrectly may hamper its effectiveness to reduce the risk of transmission.
Community setting
Individuals without respiratory symptoms should:
- avoid agglomerations and frequency of closed crowded spaces;
- maintain distance of at least 1 meter from any individual with 2019-nCoV respiratory symptoms (e.g., coughing, sneezing);
- perform hand hygiene frequently, using alcohol-based hand rub if hands are not visibly soiled or soap and water when hands are visibly soiled;
- if coughing or sneezing cover nose and mouth with flexed elbow or paper tissue, dispose of tissue immediately after use and perform hand hygiene;
- refrain from touching mouth and nose;
- a medical mask is not required, as no evidence is available on its usefulness to protect non-sick persons. However, masks might be worn in some countries according to local cultural habits. If masks are used, best practices should be followed on how to wear, remove, and dispose of them and on hand hygiene action after removal (see below advice regarding appropriate mask management)."
The Johns Hopkins dashboard linked by Geezer includes a chart showing the trendline of case numbers over time:
gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/[...]
The chart is at the bottom of the screen, but is too small to really interpret until you expand it (by clicking on the little round icon that appears on the chart's upper-right-hand corner when you mouse over it).
The chart shows cases increasing at a steady pace of about 2,000 per day over the past week, in something resembling a straight line. If this is representative of the underlying reality, then it would give reason to be somewhat hopeful, since it shows an absence of the exponential rates of growth that generally characterize serious epidemics (i.e., where the slope of the line would be increasing over time, causing it to curve upwards).
.
***Lets not invite speculation***
Unhelpful at this particular time.
