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The coronavirus is large and in charge in the news cycles right now. Since I work in healthcare, it's sort of center-stage in my world. I'll say this now - though I work in medicine, I am not an expert in virology or epidemiology. However, I have access to both of those types of experts, and I listen very closely to what they're saying. The overall messaging is: It's likely that there will be a worldwide pandemic. It's likely that there will be a huge disruption of services, due to how many people will be sick at once. It's likely most people will recover with no treatment - so long as basic needs for food and water are met. The virus ranges in severity from that of an annoying cold, to SARS level illness. Severity seems heavily linked to overall health of the sick person before they displayed symptoms. People forget that influenza can be deadly, and that circulates every year. The difference here is COVID-19 has no herd immunity in our populations. Meaning, if you're exposed, and the virus makes it into your respiratory system, then you will likely come down with the bug. You can protect yourself. Wash your hands. It's the top way to stay healthy. Yes, really. Stay away from those you know are ill if you can. If you can't, ensure you're not coughed on by anyone with symptoms, and use hand sanitizer/handwashing after you leave the sick person's area. Also wash your hands before applying make up, eating, or using lip balm. If you do get sick, communicate with your local public health department, and your primary care physician. You will likely be asked to self-isolate if it's determined that you have COVID-19. I know this all probably sounds scary, but ... this is not E.bola. My working in healthcare means no matter my precautions I'll probably end up catching this thing, and I'm not afraid. I've looked at the numbers and panic isn't warranted. Don't take my word for it. Look to the experts, those who have spent their entire lives studying for this very moment. Coronavirus 2019 CDC Information WHO Coronavirus 2019 Information Be sensible, watchful, and proactive, and soon this thing will burn itself out.

Remember when we used to joke about the Corona virus? It's not like we haven't seen new viruses get hyped like SARS and MERS. Someone would leap on a podium, bang a shoe and claim it is the end of the world and, it would fade away. Remember how the politicians didn't even take a break from their regularly scheduled circle jerks? Yeah. That was really stupid. Remember how we made fun of the conspiracy theorists on the internet that said Wuhan was the home of the Peoples Republic Biowarefare Research Establishment. If you looked it up, holy shit, they were right. Remember how some usually stolid and unimpressed epidemiologists practically crapped their pants and had security remove journalists who attempted interviews outside officially sanctioned channels? Yeah, that was a little creepy. Remember how they kept revising the NCov19 R0 (R-nought) number upward? That's kind of important as that's an indicator of how easily this bug gets around. Remember when a paper was published that claimed unnatural patented gene sequences appeared in the RNA of the virus. Then the paper disappeared from the internet and even archive sites? Remember when some scientists were talking about it causing a cytokine storm in some patients- just like the Spanish Influenza of 1919? Coronavirus Cytokine Storm Remember when we found out people who had NCov19 could be infectious and asymptomatic for up to twenty-four days? Yeah, that's when another holy shit went out because anything epidemiologists might do in the way of contact tracing is almost a month behind. Remember when the scientist who discovered the virus died of the virus? The scientist who discovered SARS said: The US military is prepping for the pandemic. US Military Prepping for Coronavirus Pandemic Some sources say FEMA has proposed martial law. Strap it on tight boys and girls. This might turn very, very ugly. Nobody at all should be laughing anymore.

COVID-19 is a modified Coronavirus(1). Coronaviruses are first cousin to the Rhinovirus which cause the lions share of head colds. One guess which family causes the rest of them: coronaviruses. Coronavirus and Rhinovirus are positive stranded RNA virus which means their genetic material is the single stranded RiboNucleaic Acid (RNA). They differ significantly from DioxyNucleaic Acid (DNA) based viruses. RNA viruses do not have double-stranded genetic material of DNA viruses and are much smaller than their more evolved cousins. As a consequence, RNA viruses do not have the error correcting mechanism built into dual stranded DNA, and are apt to mutate at the drop of a hat. These mutations happen very rapidly, and soon a population with and Alpha RNA virus will soon have Beta, Gamma, and Delta strains. It is possible to create a vaccine for a specific Rhino or Coronavirus, but the problem is that each mutation Serotype will differ enough from the original that the probability that the vaccine will work decreases with generational mutation. This is why there has never been a vaccine for the common cold. There are literally hundreds of thousands of Rhinoviruses and Coronaviruses each with a unique protein shell. It is that serotype that vaccines use to train our immune systems to look out for. This is also why the COVID-19 vaccine is of very limited efficacy. Most of them do a reasonable job of inoculating against the original COVID strain, it is only partially effective against current sub-strains of COVID like Delta and Gamma. It will be completely useless against future substrains as they diverge further and further from the baseline COVID serotype. Without hysteria, consider what Coronaviruses and Rhinoviruses actually do: they cause mild respiratory illness. In patients who are elderly, present with pre-existing conditions or compromised immune systems, this can escalate to a viral pneumonia. Nothing has really changed other than we have a wide-spread virus with shadowy origins that make us all very nervous. The way that it has been handled on a national and international level is extremely questionable. Why destroy national economies for a virus with a 99.8%+ recovery rate? Why force vaccinations when natural herd immunity is better for actually killing the damn thing eventually? A much more rational policy is to protect vulnerable populations like the elderly, people with pre-existing conditions and compromised immune systems than to inflict vaccination on an entire population. One of the dirty little secrets of vaccination is that the tiny rate of Vaccine Injury when applied over a large enough population may eventually kill more people than the virus itself. It's not ignorance alone that has people looking askance at the mass vaccination for COVID. I have had both doses of the Pziefer vaccine. I took it because I am around many elderly people. Knowing what I know now, I won't be taking anymore. This entire COVID phenomenon has been managed fear and hysteria which has been leveraged by sharp operators and oppertunists for political advantage, and to enrich themselves by the billions while spreading misery and economic disaster to the rest of us. It is past time to JUST SAY NO to the overreach. __________________________ 1- https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/nih-funded-chinas-gain-of-function-research-at-the-wuhan-institute-of-virology/x

I thought about putting this in the Pit, but it's health issue, not a political or sensitive topic for debate (Please do not turn this into a political topic, I just want to raise health awareness). Probably it's a good idea to start a topic here in the lounge to clear the air and give people good guidance without overreaction. In the last couple weeks, I've noticed that in Boston at least, it seems so much quieter. The weather has been unseasonably nice for New England (we hit 60's last weekend), there's no major holidays, and still a few normally busy establishments are dead. I've read up on the history of HIV/AIDS' affect and one of the things I remember most from my reading was that there was too much fear with conspiracy theories, veiled hatred, and lies that were spread from word of mouth, which took decades to end like the fear of LGBT blood donors for instance. So here's my attempt at a little myth busting and hopefully alleviation of fear: 1. Don't let fear of "potential" infected in your area cause you to panic and buy all the cold/flu medication from your pharmacy/drug store. The majority of the infected Coronavirus population is isolated in China under a province wide quarantine. In total, 82,166 people have been infected and 32,812 people have already recovered. This is not the "Black Death" with high mortality rates. 2. The best way to prevent infection is: a. Wash your hands with soap and water as much as you can b. Try not to congregate closely with people, who appear sick. 3. A face mask is not going to ensure 100% protection from this virus. There's been many notable cases of medical professional with advanced face masks treating patient, who have been infected as well due to careless exposure, like scratching an itch under your mask after contacting an infected person. Most face mask are not tight enough to protect your nose or mouth from tiny droplets from sneezes, either. .John Hopkins has few more facts on their website in addition the ones above: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/2019-novel-coronavirus-myth-versus-fact

Mostly nice people in line. One ass tried to cut in, so I had to call him out.