Methods to Combat the COVID-19 Coronavirus

A study done by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Laboratory of Virology in the Division of Intramural Research in Hamilton, Montana helps to answer this question. The researchers used a nebulizer to blow coronaviruses into the air. They found that infectious viruses could remain in the air for up to three hours. The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on March 17, 2020.

Coronavirus Resource Center - Harvard Health

So in the wind. Three hours of travel.


I swear I'm not being a Dick, It's only in the midst of this Coronavirus scare, I want anything I say about it to be as accurate as possible because we have a lot of people reading this who aren't even members, This is basically world wide information for a lot of people.
That's right. When people cough, like the 3 yo little girl violently coughing in all directions behind me at the store on Thursday when I was buying P95 cartridge respirators (to protect myself and my mother from exactly that kind of risk, ironically), it aerosolizes, and those incredibly tiny virus-saturated droplets can hang in the air and transmit the virus for three hours.

So I have to assume that everyone in that small shop got infected, and I'm counting down the days hoping that I make it two weeks without exhibiting symptoms.

Anyway - here's what you need to know about inhalation protection: you should all get some kind of respirator protection with either a N95 or P95 level of protection (or higher, like N100) if you're going to potentially be exposed to infected people. And since we all have to get groceries, and since we're going to be seeing a lot of infected people around us soon, most of us will need this type of protection. Respirators with this level of rating are recommended as excellent filtration for the coronavirus - medical personal are using this type of protection because it works.

Surgical masks and ordinary dust masks do not protect you from the inhalation risks - the aerosolized virus passes right through them. Such masks are only useful for keeping you from touching your nose and mouth, and to a limited extent they'll prevent you from coughing your viruses all over the people around you if you become infected. They serve no other function.

In order to be safe when the people around you are coughing nearby, you'll need one of these types of N95 or P95 (or higher rated) respirators:

3M N95 mask.jpeg
P95 respirator.jpg
Note the "N95" and "P95" ratings displayed right on the respirator. If you can't see that rating, then it's probably just a worthless dust mask that won't protect you. Unfortunately these appear to be widely sold out everywhere you look, and supplies are going to medical personnel so the public is unlikely to find them in stores anytime soon. The downside of these types of respirators though, is that they're disposable, one-time use. After a few hours of wear you have to throw them away, and then wash your hands because if the virus got caught in the filter, you may have gotten on your hands when you take off this type of mask.

So that's why I went to a local fiberglass supply company to pick up a couple of these babies - cartridge respirator masks with an N95 or P95 (or higher) rating. These tend to make a better seal around the face (if a mask isn't airtight around your face, it won't protect you), and the filters are covered, making it much less likely to get the virus on your hands when you take it off. They're also re-useable and last much longer:

ScreenHunter_1892 Mar. 22 00.15.jpg

With this type of respirator, the particle filtration is done by a white pad that's placed under the plastic holder, and the cartridge underneath just filters out any toxic vapors (which are irrelevant to virus protection). They're a little bit harder to breathe through because of the charcoal cartridge filters - especially the most highly rated N100 and P100 filters, but unless you have a lung condition it's no big deal.

Incredibly, most people haven't gotten hip to this type of respirator yet, so you may be able to find them in your local hardware stores or at a local fiberglass supplier or paint store. They're usually between $30-$50, but if you only use them as needed these filters can last for many weeks.

And finally - if you're going to be at risk of people coughing nearby, you'll also want to protect your eyes. The tear ducts are connected to the nasal cavity which is part of the respiratory system, so eye protection is important, especially if some idiot coughs in your face. Any type of goggles is better than nothing, but for maximum protection I suggest wearing swimming goggles - they make an airtight seal around your eyes and they have no holes to let air in, so they're the best way to go (without stepping up to a fully encased head respirator with an independent air filtration system, like you see with hazmat suits).
 

pepe

Celestial
And none of that, What I just said, Has any true meaning though psychologically correct, I'm mostly just Really High right now, And speaking because it's what to do. The High, Keeps my panic at bay.

High grade vape juice keeps it at bay ? Wow man, it sends me head long in to one.

Nice pinch of rez on the other hand can mellow me.

Stirling thread for info by the way Thomas and a service to have such a dedicated intellect on the job.
 
Stirling thread for info by the way Thomas and a service to have such a dedicated intellect on the job.
Thank you pepe - I've seen lots of posts on social media and articles shared about this horrible virus on the internet, but not nearly enough practical info to help people combat it and get through this without getting infected. I'll keep sharing the useful tips I can find so that hopefully none of us here will have to go through the hell of contracting this agonizing disease.

As for the me and Rednecks issue. I suppose nobody's perfect. I realize If I were a more tolerant person, I would probably be Zen with redneck people. Growing up around them, This is just my personal experience.

rednecks, out of pride or misjudgment, Are never wrong, Yet people mistake them as harmless, I can testify, Redneck people are some of the harshest most judgmental people on planet earth and their currency is scorn.

however, It's a subject I normally don't speak about, I am torn, We don't make fun of people who have very little money, So is it fair to make lite of people with very little intellect?
Honestly I have some redneck friends who are very dear to me; by no means do I cast judgement on rednecks in general. I may disagree with many of their stances, but they often see through the BS of the corporate news media too - I guess everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I'm just intensely outraged that after weeks of meticulous precautions and costly expenses struggling to protect myself and my loved ones, all it took to flush that effort down the toilet and compromise the safety of my inner circle was one POS with a pathological disregard for the safety of everyone around him. But it could've been any kind of person, because there are ignorant jagoffs in all walks of life.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Anyway - here's what you need to know about inhalation protection: you should all get some kind of respirator protection with either a N95 or P95 level of protection (or higher, like N100) if you're going to potentially be exposed to infected people.

My respirator uses P100 cartridges and I have 2 extra sets of cartridges, I just came back from my office with them...I will wear it if I go to the grocery or anywhere there are people, I know for some it may sound extreme but this is a serious situation we're facing...Along with the respirator I'll be wearing goggles I have that seal around my eyes and nitrate gloves if and when I go out in public...Not taking any chances, even will strip my clothes off and into a hot water washing machine they will go and thoroughly wash my hands upon returning from any trips from my house...

The owner of the company I work for sent an email this morning requesting all managers of post signs stating that any employee who has been around anyone sick to remain at home...This is asinine, the freaking company needs to shut down...He's also expecting me there tomorrow, but I haven't told him yet I will not be there, I'm saving that conversation for later this afternoon...I am the lead engineer and the best he has, he cannot afford to lose me, but at this point going to work is putting my life is at risk and that job is not worth losing my life...If he fires me so be it...

...
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Question: Do we know how well this virus adheres to clothing? Should we wash our clothes upon arriving at home?

In response, Saphier noted that one study shows that there are viable virus particles on cardboard about 24 hours after being put there by someone else. "We don't have data that people are actually being infected by touching inanimate objects that potentially have the virus on them, but let's just be safe,” she said.

“What I’ve been doing is when we’ve had to go out, as soon as we come into the house, we're taking off the clothes, we’re putting them in the dirty clothes basket, washing them right away and I'm taking a shower,” she said. That may be overly cautious, but she reasoned: “Why not do it right now? If we are all in this together, the best-case scenario is ... it is probably all overkill, but let's do it for now."

.
 
Some people are spreading misinformation that vitamin C could help you combat the coronavirus. They're idiots. These kinds of absurd and baseless claims have been floating around for decades, and there still isn't a shred of evidence that vitamin C helps anyone fight the common cold (another well-known coronavirus) or the flu. For anyone interested in learning about this issue:

Why vitamin C won't 'boost' your immune system against the coronavirus | Live Science

Coronavirus: It’s Time To Debunk Claims That Vitamin C Could Cure It
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
That's right. When people cough, like the 3 yo little girl violently coughing in all directions behind me at the store on Thursday when I was buying P95 cartridge respirators (to protect myself and my mother from exactly that kind of risk, ironically), it aerosolizes, and those incredibly tiny virus-saturated droplets can hang in the air and transmit the virus for three hours.

So I have to assume that everyone in that small shop got infected, and I'm counting down the days hoping that I make it two weeks without exhibiting symptoms.

Anyway - here's what you need to know about inhalation protection: you should all get some kind of respirator protection with either a N95 or P95 level of protection (or higher, like N100) if you're going to potentially be exposed to infected people. And since we all have to get groceries, and since we're going to be seeing a lot of infected people around us soon, most of us will need this type of protection. Respirators with this level of rating are recommended as excellent filtration for the coronavirus - medical personal are using this type of protection because it works.

Surgical masks and ordinary dust masks do not protect you from the inhalation risks - the aerosolized virus passes right through them. Such masks are only useful for keeping you from touching your nose and mouth, and to a limited extent they'll prevent you from coughing your viruses all over the people around you if you become infected. They serve no other function.

In order to be safe when the people around you are coughing nearby, you'll need one of these types of N95 or P95 (or higher rated) respirators:

View attachment 9165
View attachment 9166
Note the "N95" and "P95" ratings displayed right on the respirator. If you can't see that rating, then it's probably just a worthless dust mask that won't protect you. Unfortunately these appear to be widely sold out everywhere you look, and supplies are going to medical personnel so the public is unlikely to find them in stores anytime soon. The downside of these types of respirators though, is that they're disposable, one-time use. After a few hours of wear you have to throw them away, and then wash your hands because if the virus got caught in the filter, you may have gotten on your hands when you take off this type of mask.

So that's why I went to a local fiberglass supply company to pick up a couple of these babies - cartridge respirator masks with an N95 or P95 (or higher) rating. These tend to make a better seal around the face (if a mask isn't airtight around your face, it won't protect you), and the filters are covered, making it much less likely to get the virus on your hands when you take it off. They're also re-useable and last much longer:

View attachment 9167

With this type of respirator, the particle filtration is done by a white pad that's placed under the plastic holder, and the cartridge underneath just filters out any toxic vapors (which are irrelevant to virus protection). They're a little bit harder to breathe through because of the charcoal cartridge filters - especially the most highly rated N100 and P100 filters, but unless you have a lung condition it's no big deal.

Incredibly, most people haven't gotten hip to this type of respirator yet, so you may be able to find them in your local hardware stores or at a local fiberglass supplier or paint store. They're usually between $30-$50, but if you only use them as needed these filters can last for many weeks.

And finally - if you're going to be at risk of people coughing nearby, you'll also want to protect your eyes. The tear ducts are connected to the nasal cavity which is part of the respiratory system, so eye protection is important, especially if some idiot coughs in your face. Any type of goggles is better than nothing, but for maximum protection I suggest wearing swimming goggles - they make an airtight seal around your eyes and they have no holes to let air in, so they're the best way to go (without stepping up to a fully encased head respirator with an independent air filtration system, like you see with hazmat suits).

I assume it would apply in this case but I'm pretty sure you have to be clean shaven for them to be effective.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
They did what they did. This is like herding kittens. Still plenty of people here in the US that haven't got the message.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I assume it would apply in this case but I'm pretty sure you have to be clean shaven for them to be effective.

Yes indeed and I wore my respirator this morning when I went to the grocery store for my mother this morning...People shook their heads and some laughed at me, I don't care, I know I'm breathing filtered air that's safe...By the way, the grocery store was barren, not of people but of food and supplies, at least 60 percent empty shelves...

...
 

nivek

As Above So Below
That's certainly true, but the outcome could have been different for us all if our governments had responded differently.

Absolutely agree, we should have shut down our borders as soon as this virus left China at the latest...The late response from our governments is risking the lives of millions...

Great to see you again too, hope you are doing well across the pond...

...
 

AD1184

Celestial
Some people are spreading misinformation that vitamin C could help you combat the coronavirus. They're idiots. These kinds of absurd and baseless claims have been floating around for decades, and there still isn't a shred of evidence that vitamin C helps anyone fight the common cold (another well-known coronavirus) or the flu. For anyone interested in learning about this issue:

Why vitamin C won't 'boost' your immune system against the coronavirus | Live Science

Coronavirus: It’s Time To Debunk Claims That Vitamin C Could Cure It
There is some evidence that vitamin D supplementation has a slight prophylactic effect against other respiratory infections.

Study confirms vitamin D protects against colds and flu
Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data

The effect is more pronounced in those who are vitamin D deficient.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I assume it would apply in this case but I'm pretty sure you have to be clean shaven for them to be effective.

War stories.

So one day in the the late '80s I was up on a ladder in an IBM building in their big manufacturing plant in Fishkill, NY. Pre-ethernet meant proprietary Type 2 IBM LAN cable and leg sized bundles of RG6 coax - all so you could have a CRT terminal sitting on your desk communicating with the washing machine size 3270 front end controllers. All museum pieces now. So I'm a stupid kid pulling yet more cable - like we all did. Sometimes 3 shifts, weekends. Not sure I can convey the magnitude - let's just say a whole goddamned lot of it in manufacturing and office spaces, clean rooms, industrial chemical facilities, you name it.

That day I look over and to much my surprise not too far away above the ceiling grid there is a man wearing something like an Apollo moon suit - and he's looking at me in horror like 'hey kid, where's your moon suit?'

Well, fast forward to the early '90s and we had all been tested for lung function, x-rayed, inspected, detected and told to sit on the bench marked 'A' for asbestos. Kaf kaf kaf. They sent us all off to abatement training. Day 1 the instructor asks if anybody knew what abatement was and somebody piped up with 'it's what's below the first floor of Buckwheat's house.' Oooooh - there'd be some trouble today with that one, but it was funny.

Hence the mask concerns. Always uncomfortable and hard to use and in this instance, a case of locking the barn door after the horse has run away.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Theres been some talk that an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine could do something.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/22/florida-man-with-coronavirus-says-drug-touted-by-trump-saved-his-life/

Florida man with coronavirus says drug touted by Trump saved his life

A Florida man diagnosed with coronavirus claims he was saved from certain death by an anti-malaria drug touted as a possible treatment by President Trump.

Rio Giardinieri, 52, told Los Angeles’ Fox 11 that he struggled with horrendous back pain, headaches, cough and fatigue for five days after catching COVID-19, possibly at a conference in New York.

Doctors at the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in South Florida diagnosed him with the coronavirus and pneumonia and put him on oxygen in the ICU, he told the outlet.

After more than a week, doctors told him there was nothing more they could do and, on Friday evening, Giardinieri said goodbye to his wife and three children.

“I was at the point where I was barely able to speak and breathing was very challenging,” Giardinieri said. “I really thought my end was there.”

Then a friend sent him a recent article about hydroxychloroquine, a prescription drug that’s been used to treat malaria for decades and auto-immune diseases like lupus.

Overseas studies have found it to be promising as a treatment for COVID-19, though it hasn’t been approved by health officials.

Trump last week said he was instructing the FDA to fast-track testing of hydroxychloroquine and a related drug, chloroquine, as treatment for COVID-19.

Giardinieri said he contacted an infectious disease doctor about the drug.

“He gave me all the reasons why I would probably not want to try it because there are no trials, there’s no testing, it was not something that was approved,” said Giardinieri.

“And I said, ‘Look, I don’t know if I’m going to make it until the morning,’ because at that point I really thought I was coming to the end because I couldn’t breathe anymore,” Giardinieri continued.

“He agreed and authorized the use of it and 30 minutes later the nurse gave it to me.”

After about an hour on an IV with the medicine, Giardinieri said, it felt like his heart was beating out of his chest and, about two hours later, he had another episode where he couldn’t breathe.

He says he was given Benadryl and some other drugs and that when he woke up around 4:45 a.m., it was “like nothing ever happened.”

He’s since had no fever or pain and can breathe again. Giardinieri said doctors believe the episodes he experienced were not a reaction to the medicine but his body fighting off the virus.

Giardinieri, the vice president of a company that manufactures cooking equipment for high-end restaurants in Los Angeles, said he had three doses of the medicine Saturday and is hoping to be discharged from the hospital in five days.

“To me, there was no doubt in mind that I wouldn’t make it until morning,” said Giardinieri. “So to me, the drug saved my life.”
 
I assume it would apply in this case but I'm pretty sure you have to be clean shaven for them to be effective.
Good catch - yes, any respirator is only as effective as the seal around the face. The nice thing about the plastic cartridge respirators is that it's easy to test the seal fit to the face when the cartridges are removed - just cover the intake ports with your hands and inhale to see if air slips past the mask around your cheeks and whatnot. A beard - even a light stubble - makes a tight seal impossible, rendering a respirator basically useless.

There is some evidence that vitamin D supplementation has a slight prophylactic effect against other respiratory infections.

Study confirms vitamin D protects against colds and flu
Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data

The effect is more pronounced in those who are vitamin D deficient.
That study seems to be telling me that there's a baseline blood level of vitamin D required for optimum health, which is somewhat higher than a blood concentration of 25 nmol/L, so people with less than that are more prone to respiratory infections. Since high doses of vitamin D conferred no benefit, this seems like the correct interpretation - vitamin D isn't protective as much as a deficiency of it is a significant risk factor.

Since many of us may be vitamin D deficient, this would be a good time take our vitamin supplements (even though under ordinary circumstances those are usually not helpful and appear to confer a small risk of cancer over long periods of time).

That's certainly true, but the outcome could have been different for us all if our governments had responded differently.
Yes - look at the countries where the response met the level of the threat; China, Taiwan, Singapore - they contained it and they're already coming out the other side of this thing.

But Trump endeavored to minimize the threat at the exact moment when rapid response was pivotal. And I'm convinced that the reason our testing has been so horribly delayed was to minimize the official numbers to make him look "in control" of this. There's no other reason to reject the German test and try to make our own much more complicated and ultimately failed test - the only thing that achieved was to suppress the actual numbers when we most needed to know them. The body count of US citizens over that initial policy circus is going to be enormous...and we still haven't gotten testing fully underway yet.
 
After looking at the numbers the other day and seeing that the number of official US cases has been consistently increasing ten-fold every eight days, I've been trying to understand why this virus is so much more contagious than the seasonal flu and why social distancing doesn't seem to be working.

And I've found that there are two key factors at work, which we all need to be aware of asap.

1.) This virus is primarily spreading when we talk to each other in person - the invisible microdroplets that we spray into the air when we're talking to each other are getting inhaled, spreading the infection[1]. The rule of thumb being advocated by the news media is that we should stand 6ft apart when talking to each other. But we also know that the coronavirus remains infectious in these microdroplets in the air for up to three hours. See the problem? Microdroplets borne in the air can travel much further than 6 feet in three hours...or even 10 seconds. So I think that this "6-foot rule" is helping to spread the virus, because people think that it's enough but it's not. This would also explain why home isolation lock-downs in other countries are working to slow the proliferation of the virus, and yet it's still spreading like wildfire here in the US.

2.) Far more people are far more contagious than we realize, for two reasons. First is the disturbing fact that somewhere between 30% and 50% of the people who are infected with this virus experience no symptoms at all, and yet they're just as contagious as the people with a raging fever and spasmodic coughing[2]. This is known in the vernacular as "asymptomatic viral shedding." So these carriers don't know they're infected, and we don't know they're infected, which produces a false sense of security when we're talking to one another in person. And second, infected people who will come down with symptoms in 2-14 days (or more, <1% chance) are extremely contagious long before their symptoms show up (and apparently even after the symptoms are gone). So there are two very prevalent scenarios happening simultaneously that allow seemingly healthy people to spread this virus to the people around them for weeks or more (they don't know yet how long an asymptomatic virus "carrier" can continue to spread the virus, but based on recovery rates it's probably a month or longer).

So as much as I hate to say this - because all of our lives are plenty shitty and freaky enough already, logic forces me to recommend that we all practice maximum isolation from others until we come out the other side of this pandemic. And when we need to go out for supplies, we should all wear a snugly fitted N95 or higher-rated respirator, and sealed swimming goggles.

If we do that (and practice frequent decontamination, and stop touching our faces without cleaning our hands first), then we can not only protect ourselves from getting this virus, but we can halt its exponential spread throughout the United States and elsewhere, and minimize the medical overload that we're rapidly careening toward. If we don't make a drastic change in our behavior then our hospitals will soon (within 1-2 weeks) be overloaded and lots of people will needlessly die for lack of proper medical attention and equipment.

[1] Beaumont Health CEO describes coronavirus pandemic as 'our worst nightmare'
[2] Hidden coronavirus infections could be seeding new outbreaks
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Yeah I agree with you Thomas that 6 ft is not enough distance from other people especially in a closed environment indoors...One of the reasons I am not working at the facility full-time for my job, I had to go there today to do some quick programming and adjustments on a PID and I wore my p100 respirator goggles and gloves... I think it's important also to shed your clothes when you get back home if you been exposed to a lot of people who may be carrying the virus, and wash up afterwards, but only go out if absolutely necessary...

...
 

nivek

As Above So Below
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