It seems to be a little more threatening than the usual bird type flu illnesses coming from China the last decade or so..What are you seeing, hearing, reading from that part of the world? Are they going to be able to get a handle on it?
Well I just got back to Shanghai to find every N95 mask sold out. Online prices are about $60 equivalent. Good thing I already have a N99 mask.
This is Chinese New Year time. The 25th is the actual new year. CNY is traditionally a time Chinese travel to see family. Rumor has it that residents of Wuhan are hunkered down until the all clear is given. Official numbers are 9 dead. Official numbers are always suspect. My FO says it has spread to almost all provinces with 500 infections. Again, actual numbers are unknown.
I’m of the skeptical variety. Remember SARS, MERS, bird flu, swine flu? We were all supposed to get it and a great percentage would die. It hasn’t happened yet and I am of the same mindset as before. Every year we have flu. Every year some percentage dies. You take precautions and wear your mask but go about your business. If you get it then it’s just bad luck.
Personally, I got a flu shot the last time I was home and I also got a pneumonia shot against the latest bacterial pneumonia infections. There are no viral pneumonia shots unfortunately. This new corona virus can produce pneumonia symptoms where it’s difficult to breathe. Unknown whether it’s actually pneumonia or just this virus.
I sure hope I don’t get it but I am still working.
P.S. If Cliff Pennock reads this, did you intentionally block Chinese IP addresses? I have to use a VPN to avoid being blocked.
Originally posted by Hudini: P.S. If Cliff Pennock reads this, did you intentionally block Chinese IP addresses? I have to use a VPN to avoid being blocked.
I thought it was the Chinese that restrict what you could view on the internet?
"...This time, Chinese authorities were initially praised for what some observers called a relatively fast response. China first reported a pattern of unknown pneumonia-like cases in the city of Wuhan in late December. ...Authorities have offered daily updates and have said the number of infected people in China has passed 470. ...But some analysts have already raised doubts over whether the Chinese figures are accurate. Imperial College London researchers estimated Wednesday that the number of cases in Wuhan had probably risen to around 4,000 by Saturday — vastly exceeding the number of cases China had confirmed. …
..In Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, the numbers of people traveling in and out was “staggering,” he said. And officials did not suspend travel until Wednesday, weeks after the outbreak was first documented."
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 01-22-2020).]
I used to work for a company that made poly urethane foam. It was used for a lot of things, but one was as a nose bridge pad for the N-95 face masks. I used to scan the news all the time to see if something like this was brewing so I could get ahead of the orders for our foam. We would go from 2 shipments a week, which is 160 rolls of foam 3500 meters long to as much as 8 shipments a week when something like this hit. Each N-95 mask from 3-M took 4 to 6 inches of this gray foam 1 inch wide x 0.100 thick. So you can imagine how many masks were made from each container load. Every time we had a flue outbreak my boss secretly was happy because it put millions of dollars in his pocket.
All public modes of travel in and out of Wuhan have been stopped.
For the first time I saw health authorities screening outbound travelers yesterday when going to my flight to Tokyo. All inbound international travelers are screened and always have been, but never the outbound until now. I haven't flown a domestic trip in a while.
I figured there was a good reason. Just didn't affect me until the recent change. I've always set my VPN to Taiwan as it's the closest location outside the Great Firewall. Now that is blocked as well as Thailand and Korea and Japan. Now I just set my VPN to Los Angeles and take whatever speed I can get.
As far as this virus is concerned everyone in China is laser focused on protecting themselves. Apparently an estimated 300k people fled Wuhan before it was closed for fear of being walled in with the virus. Uh oh.
"Three of those US airports -- John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport -- are already checking those incoming passengers for symptoms such as fever, cough and trouble breathing.
By the end of this week, two more airports will screen passengers -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport"
Maybe this is common knowledge that I am lacking, but why does it always seem that these diseases start in China?
Coronavirus does start here mainly because of the interaction between people and birds as I understand it. (Northern Chinese like to make fun of Southern Chinese by saying they eat anything and everything; cats, dogs, birds, babies..) Birds have the virus in their system naturally and it does not affect them. Remember bird flu? When it crosses over to humans is when it becomes a problem. Your yearly flu vaccine starts with researchers coming over here to test what birds are carrying and then trying to guess what flu will emerge months later. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they miss it completely.
But don't forget Africa. Ebola and HIV started there due to humans eating wild animals.
I haven't seen anythin more recent than earlier today, but this was current as of 3:30pm central time. A suspected case of corona virus at Texas A&M University in a student that had recently visited Wuhan and returned to Tx A&M.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Officials at the Brazos County Health District said Thursday they are investigating a suspected case of the 2019 novel coronavirus.
The male patient, who has been identified as a student at Texas A&M University, had traveled from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus that has made headlines in recent days first originated, officials said.
Doctors quickly related the patient’s mild symptoms to the novel coronavirus and the patient is undergoing tests to confirm the suspected diagnosis. The results of those tests will be announced to the public if the patient’s tests come back positive for the virus.
Officials said the patient is being kept isolated at home until the results of the tests are received. Health officials said it is safe for students to attend classes at Texas A&M University.
Officials are asking anyone who has traveled to Wuhan, China, and are suffering flu-like symptoms to call the Brazos County Health Department at 979-361-4440.
Coronavirus does start here mainly because of the interaction between people and birds as I understand it. (Northern Chinese like to make fun of Southern Chinese by saying they eat anything and everything; cats, dogs, birds, babies..) Birds have the virus in their system naturally and it does not affect them. Remember bird flu? When it crosses over to humans is when it becomes a problem. Your yearly flu vaccine starts with researchers coming over here to test what birds are carrying and then trying to guess what flu will emerge months later. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they miss it completely.
But don't forget Africa. Ebola and HIV started there due to humans eating wild animals.
They recommend don't travel to China. (duh) Apparently people who live in China are saying it is a bigger problem than is being reported. (though this was heard second hand)
"Overnight, the number of cases of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus in China shot from 2,835 to 4,515, the New York Times reported. " -article
"Earlier Monday, CDC officials gave the latest update on coronavirus cases in the United States
"To date, we have 110 of what we call persons under investigation in 26 states. This is a cumulative number and will only increase," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the U.S. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing Monday morning. "We still have only five confirmed positive [cases] and 32 who have tested negative. We have screened around 2,400 people so far."
The case, which was confirmed Sunday, is in a person who is a member of the Arizona State University community, is under the age of 60 and does not have underlying health conditions, said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director for disease control at the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
Being "a member of the Arizona State University community" sounds like a big chance for a lot of exposure. ASU just hosted the ASU vs UofA basketball game last weekend.
According to the Mayor of Hunan, about 5 million residents left the city before it got locked down..that's 1/2 the population. Hard to see how this is going to be contained.
My last couple of flights had very low numbers of pax, 30 and 60. Yesterday I was supposed to fly 4 legs but the last two flights were cancelled. This left me stranded in Ningbo, just south of Shanghai. To get me back to base I had to take a DiDi (Chinese Uber). On the outskirts of Shanghai we ran into a huge traffic jam. Now this is very strange considering how many people are staying home. After about 40 minutes we finally approached the slowdown; health workers and police taking people's temperatures and questioning where they have traveled. If you are from Hubei province (where Wuhan is located) it's not going to go well for you.
So many stories about people being left on the aircraft for 12 hours because one person was sick. Entire aircraft being diverted because of groups of pax being from Hubei.
Now United Airlines has cancelled all flights to China until Feb 9th. My scheduled flight home is the 12th. If I get stuck here on my days off I will have a hissy fit. Especially if I catch this virus while stuck here. If I get sick then I stay until it's cured or killed me, this I know. But if I get it while not being allowed to leave.......
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