Coronavirus (COVID-19) info and stories

World Health Organisation


https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen


WHO characterizes COVID-19 as a pandemic
11 March 2020


Speaking at the COVID-19 media briefing, the WHO Director-General said:
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.

We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.

Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do.

We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus.

And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same time."
 
Key takeaways from the podcast I listened to yesterday with an infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm:

- Be as healthy as you can be, take vitamin supplements, use hand sanitiser 60% alcohol, be aware.
-Facemasks such as surgical masks are useless, need to be full coverage such as N95 or better masks. Be aware there may be a shortage though and hospital staff need these.
- Decision makers need to be wary if they start shutting down schools and telling everyone to stay home - nurses and doctors have kids at school, the flow on effect from mass shutdowns and isolations could be huge


Say what you will about Joe Rogan but he has the most variety of guests of any podcast host in the world, and this puts it it normal people terms. Worth a watch or listen

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NSw
 
Tom Hanks

Screenshot_20200312-122213.jpg
 
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Also called: SARS




Description
A contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus.

SARS appeared in 2002 in China. It spread worldwide within a few months, although it was quickly contained.

SARS is a virus transmitted through droplets that enter the air when someone with the disease coughs, sneezes or talks. No known transmission has occurred since 2004.

Fever, dry cough, headache, muscle aches and difficulty breathing are symptoms.

No treatment exists except supportive care.


SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
Cause
SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) – virus identified in 2003. SARS-CoV is thought to be an animal virus from an as-yet-uncertain animal reservoir, perhaps bats, that spread to other animals (civet cats) and first infected humans in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2002.

Transmission
An epidemic of SARS affected 26 countries and resulted in more than 8000 cases in 2003.
Since then, a small number of cases have occurred as a result of laboratory accidents or, possibly, through animal-to-human transmission (Guangdong, China).

Transmission of SARS-CoV is primarily from person to person. It appears to have occurred mainly during the second week of illness, which corresponds to the peak of virus excretion in respiratory secretions and stool, and when cases with severe disease start to deteriorate clinically. Most cases of human-to-human transmission occurred in the health care setting, in the absence of adequate infection control precautions. Implementation of appropriate infection control practices brought the global outbreak to an end.

Nature of the disease
Symptoms are influenza-like and include fever, malaise, myalgia, headache, diarrhoea, and shivering (rigors). No individual symptom or cluster of symptoms has proved to be specific for a diagnosis of SARS. Although fever is the most frequently reported symptom, it is sometimes absent on initial measurement, especially in elderly and immunosuppressed patients.

Cough (initially dry), shortness of breath, and diarrhoea are present in the first and/or second week of illness. Severe cases often evolve rapidly, progressing to respiratory distress and requiring intensive care.

Geographical distribution
The distribution is based on the 2002–2003 epidemic. The disease appeared in November 2002 in the Guangdong province of southern China. This area is considered as a potential zone of re-emergence of SARS-CoV.

Other countries/areas in which chains of human-to-human transmission occurred after early importation of cases were Toronto in Canada, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, and Hanoi in Viet Nam.

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SARS was only 8000 cases?!?!?!?!?!? I remember so much talk about this!

Puts into persepective when compared with COVID-19 doesn't it though! Across the world, there have been more than 124,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and more than 4,500 reported deaths.
 
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Do I get a Partial Refund on my Sydney Cricket Ground Membership Fees as no crowds are allowed. What about other members of A-League, NRL, AFL etc etc?
 
Public gatherings over 500 people banned/discouraged. Schools are cool though yeah......they follow health protocols and don't have assembly right???

I get it that some parents might not be able to work, including many in healthcare but this doesnt make sense, there's no fit-all solve and feels like we're heading to a whole shutdown like Italy. Which will be late like America.
 
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