Coronavirus Outbreak Spreads Worldwide, U.S. Leads in
Number of Cases
March 31, 2020
The Coronavirus, which reportedly began in Wuhan, China in late
December of last year, has spread worldwide and made its way to
the United States who currently has shown the greatest number of
cases. As of now, there have been over 809,000 cases around the
world with over 165,000 from the United States.
The U.S., however, is not showing the highest death rate from
the virus at just over 3,000. Deaths have been reported
occurring more frequently in Italy and Spain numbering 11,591
and 8,269, respectively.
A disease that resembles the flu is usually not considered a
“killer” disease, and the death count that has been reported is
more often found in the elderly. It is hard to say at this time
if the Coronavirus merely substituted the cause of death of an
elderly person or if it indeed took their life sooner than
expected.
For example, without the Coronavirus, an elderly person is
expected to die of natural causes at say 98 years. The pending
natural cause of death of the elderly person is heart disease,
but the Coronavirus became the cause of death instead. Firstly,
a problem lies in whether the person would have the same life
span with the cause of death being Coronavirus versus heart
disease, going the distance of 98 years. Secondly, if
Coronavirus became the cause of death, how much sooner (if any)
did it shorten the persons life: six weeks, 1 year, 5 years, 10
years ?
From this observation, it is difficult to understand how
significant the death toll statistics are. The
Coronavirus may be a real threat, or similar to another type of
flu epidemic to wade out.
In any event,
it appears prevention is the best action to take against a new
virus where no known vaccine exists. The methods of prevention
include quarantining oneself except for necessary needs,
distancing from others when in public, and washing hands often.
A first instruction to wash hands frequently is actually quite
accurate. If there is any doubt about where you have been, or
what you have handled, hand washing can eliminate this doubt.
Another way of distancing from others in public is by wearing a
N95 respirator mask. This can relieve a lot of tension in
public areas and offers the equivalent of a “six-foot rule
thumb”. Although warned that supplies of the N95 mask are in
favor of health workers, these should soon become available for
all to wear. (Governments who are shunning the N95 mask for the
general public may not be correct). 1 An air
purifier for one’s home is also a good idea which can filter and
diffuse viruses from your house. Ultraviolet lamps
(notably UV band C) can disable viruses and offer an alternative
to disinfecting objects without soap and water.
1.
Details to the
practice of wearing a N95 respirator mask include warnings that
misuse can result in sickness or death. This usually
involves how soon to discard a respirator mask and whether its
construction (dependent on brand) alllows for reuse, such as
re-sanitizing a mask with a UVC lamp.
2.
Information
on Coronavirus can eliminate worries and help prevent spread.
There are some video streams which occurred before the
“coronavirus pandemic” which might be more helpful than
information during the pandemic. Take, for instance, the
following two video streams:
https://www.yourtango.com/2020332228/how-disinfect-your-home-kill-germs-avoid-contracting-coronavirus
(Scroll part way down the page to “Coronavirus COVID-19” which
will sufficiently explain what the Coronavirus is about).
The second video explains “by
the numbers”
the world’s
response to the Coronavirus:
https://www.pbs.org/articles/2020/02/heres-what-you-should-know-about-the-novel-coronavirus/
(Scroll
halfway down the page, look for "What Does it Mean to 'Flatten
the Curve'?")
