What I don't understand about Covid19

[Caw1]

Thank you for your explanations as for the lay person it's very hard to get your head around all this and there are so many 'expert' being interviewed on tv that it all becomes a bit mind blowing at times.

I have, like Roobarb, been practicing the same things and it does feel over the top at times. I have only been out shopping and very early in the morning, wore disposable gloves and mask whilst in the store and not in the car as I'm the only one who drives it and when I get hope I also disinfect the steering wheel, gear stick inside/ outside of doors I've used and the boot lid I open.

I've used another set of gloves to bring the shopping in the house and put everything that can stay out of fridge/freezer on the bench in our garage ( can be accessed through the house) it did seem slightly odd putting sealed pkts of cheese, meat, fish etc into soapy water but I felt happy doing that. Bags used for shopping all left in the garage. Wiped my glasses/case, wallet,credit cards, keys and handbag, all door handles in /out of the house that I'd used..... wash hands b4 washing food then put on another pair of gloves. Hopefully it will be ok, won't need to go,out for a good while now thankfully.

We will all be paranoid when this does eventually end and I wonder whether we will continue to err on the side of caution and continue to wear gloves....

Caroline

[Roobarb]

Graham, I read an article I think was in the New Yorker (can't remember how I got to it!) which was very long but nevertheless interesting to me. It explained the differences between the behaviour of Covid19 and other viruses and the effects on the lungs. In fact I was beginning to wish I hadn't read it! But knowledge is power so in that respect I'm glad I did. Of course I have no idea whether there were any errors in the report.

I take my hat off to scientists like yourself, where on earth would we be without the research and subsequent development of vaccines and treatments? A friend of mine has a son who is on a placement in his qualifying as a bacteriologist, he has volunteered to do testing for Covid19. She is quite rightly very proud of him.

[pharmaT]

Thank you for your explanations as for the lay person it's very hard to get your head around all this and there are so many 'expert' being interviewed on tv that it all becomes a bit mind blowing at times.

I have, like Roobarb, been practicing the same things and it does feel over the top at times. I have only been out shopping and very early in the morning, wore disposable gloves and mask whilst in the store and not in the car as I'm the only one who drives it and when I get hope I also disinfect the steering wheel, gear stick inside/ outside of doors I've used and the boot lid I open.

I've used another set of gloves to bring the shopping in the house and put everything that can stay out of fridge/freezer on the bench in our garage ( can be accessed through the house) it did seem slightly odd putting sealed pkts of cheese, meat, fish etc into soapy water but I felt happy doing that. Bags used for shopping all left in the garage. Wiped my glasses/case, wallet,credit cards, keys and handbag, all door handles in /out of the house that I'd used..... wash hands b4 washing food then put on another pair of gloves. Hopefully it will be ok, won't need to go,out for a good while now thankfully.

We will all be paranoid when this does eventually end and I wonder whether we will continue to err on the side of caution and continue to wear gloves....

Caroline

I'm hoping that people will continue to handwash more and that companies will continue to have rigorous cleaning regimes after this is over. 

[Guy Etchells]

The thing I find most alarming is covid-19 can be transmitted to animals such as ferrets, dogs and cats, both domestic and big cats such as lions & tigers.

I worry that people are going to use this as an excuse to exterminate such animals to "protect" humans.

Cheers
Guy

[Mike in Cumbria]

The thing I find most alarming is covid-19 can be transmitted to animals such as ferrets, dogs and cats, both domestic and big cats such as lions & tigers.

Where is the evidence for that?


https://www.petmd.com/news/care-safety/what-pet-parents-need-know-about-new-coronavirus-38247

[Guy Etchells]

The thing I find most alarming is covid-19 can be transmitted to animals such as ferrets, dogs and cats, both domestic and big cats such as lions & tigers.

Where is the evidence for that?


https://www.petmd.com/news/care-safety/what-pet-parents-need-know-about-new-coronavirus-38247

The first information came from the BBC news https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52177586
Subsequent research shows various pets had been infected.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.015347v1

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/cats-ferrets-susceptible-to-sars-cov-2-study-67374

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/cats-may-be-able-to-contract-sars-cov-2-but-evidence-is-limited

A download PDF file.
https://www.cell.com/pb-assets/journals/research/cell-host-microbe/PDFs/chom_2285_preproof.pdf


I could go on but even this small amount should make the nay sayers understand I check my data before posting.

Cheers
Guy

[Rena]

I did hear recently that we might be in lockdown for fifteen months!  If this is the case, I think we might all have a bad case of "stir crazy".

I've been self isolating since the fifth week of this year due to having a second eye operation - I also have a flabby set of lungs which curtail my activities. I have been washing my hands every two hours in soap and hot water & alternatively hand gel; plus using sanitized cloths to wipe every switch, handle, hard seat, pen, and other hard surfaces., including kettle/oven handles and knobs. This means that if I do touch my face, I'm LESS likely to catch the virus   I have't seen my daughter since early January as she had a peculiar type of cold-flu virus earlier this year which laid her up in bed and lasted for a couple of weeks.  Then one of my sons who  lives with me and has been doing my shopping for me has just recovered from two weeks in bed with a cold/flu like virus.  His older brother has been doing a thirty minute drive to bring food and cleansers-

The last time I looked at any chemistry, biology, or physics text books was in the mid 1950s, thus am ignorant of most things. 

What I don't understand about Covid19 is;

whether it's been passed on by animals to humans, or

whether it's something that has escaped from a laboratory;  with possibly a flu' virus acting as a platform for something else.

P.S. Is the latter point why the Chinese government were so quick off the mark with their amazing quantity of virus tests and new hospitals?

[Crumblie]

Proof it can be passed to big cats. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52177586

[Roobarb]

Rena, I'm not a scientist but from what I understand the virus has been passed from bats to humans via another, yet to be determined, animal host. The thinking is that it could be Pangolins.

Those with a better knowledge than me, please feel free to add to or contradict me!