Thread by @rektcapital

#CoronaVirusUpdate - A thread

I watched Joe Rogan's podcast with Michael Osterholm, an internationally recognised expert in infectious disease epidemiology

Episode is 1hr 30mins long

To raise awareness about the #CoronavirusOutbreak here are the cliff notes from that episode

#coronavirus can be transmitted just by breathing

Just by breathing & sharing air you can infect or get infected

Which is why this coronavirus pandemic can be 10x worse than a bad seasonal flu year

It will primarily affect the older population with underlying health problems

Risk factors include obesity & high blood pressure

Incubation period of the #coronavirus is 4 days

That means that someone may have become infected with the coronavirus but won't have symptoms for 4 days

But during this time that person is highly infectious

Some may even have the coronavirus but their symptoms could be so mild that they may not even know they have the virus

In China, only 2.1% of #coronavirus cases were under 19 years of age

They didn't get sick but they were infectious meaning that they could still infect others

So for some the virus may cause mild symptoms

For older people - the virus can be fatal

That said, there are many cases where 40 year olds have complications from the virus

Coronavirus is not just an old person's disease

Here's the difference between other coronaviruses like SARS

With SARS people were infectious on day 6 so easy to quarantine them

COVID-19 people are infectious before they even have symptoms so they'll infect many people before they realise they're sick

Difficult to quarantine

People who have the #coronavirus have incredibly high amounts of the virus in their throats

Up to 10,000 times the amount compared to people with SARS

This is because the coronavirus develops in the nose rather than in the lungs

The nose is colder than the lungs

Coronavirus is not like the seasonal flu

Just to compare

The Spanish Flu of 1918 had a 3.2% case fatality rate which preferentially impacted 18-25 year olds

Seasonal flu has a 0.1% fatality rate

#coronavirus could have a 2% mortality rate & will preferentially impact ages 65+

The coronavirus is causing shortages in critical drugs for people with underlying health conditions

There are 153 drugs in the USA that people need right now otherwise they die

100% of them are generic, all of them are made off-shore in the USA with a large part made in China

and India. There are shortages in normal conditions but because of this #coronavirus pandemic - supply chains are down

It's not just about the virus itself being highly infectious and being a problem

It's also about the second- and third-order effects of the virus

Do we close schools in the USA?

38% of nurses in the USA have kids

Kids tend to not exhibit symptoms of the #coronavirus but can easily infect parents

If kids infect nurses unknowingly, then nurses will infect their patients in hospitals

Adverse impact on healthcare system

Do we close schools in the USA?

1/4 of the American population has no sick leave

If schools get closed, people don’t get paid

Adverse impact on these individuals

Very important to consider these second-order effects before rushing to close down schools

Some myths that needs to be dispelled:

- Masks will help you

Not true unfortunately

If anything wear a mask to signal to someone else that you are sick

N91 masks are very effective but there is an extreme shortage in the public healthcare system because a lack of stockpiling

- A change in season will get rid of the disease

There is no evidence that a change in season to Summer will get rid of the disease

For example - another #coronavirus called MERS persisted in hot climates

- Sitting in a hot sauna will cure you of infectious disease

Sitting in a sauna doesn’t cure infectious disease like flu or #coronavirus

It may make you feel better but there's no research to suggest it actually helps you get better

- Hand sanitisers will help combat the #CoronavirusOutbreak

Hand sanitisers are great to combat against bacteria in general but there is no data to support that it will help combat the #coronavirus

- Not touching your face with your hands will minimize the risk of infection

There is no research data to support that not touching your face will stop the spread of the #coronavirus

However you should still wash your hands and use hand sanitiser to protect from other bacteria

#coronavirus will continue to be a problem for many months

It is highly infectious and it will be difficult to avoid getting infected

After all, if people can get infected just by breathing and sharing air then this disease truly is like fighting with the wind

But...

Here are a few things you can do however to minimize risk of infection:

- Limit close contact with others

- Avoid crowded, public areas

- Staying at home can help but is not an option for many working people. If work from home is an option - go for it

Here's what you can do to boost your immune system as a preventative measure to prepare your body just in case:

- Eat well

- Sleep well

- Exercise often

- If you have underlying health conditions don’t miss your prescribed drugs

I hope you found this summary from the Joe Rogan episode with Michael Osterholm about the #coronavirus useful

Here's the full episode if you'd like to listen to it in its entirety

It is well worth your time



#CoronaVirusUpdate #CoronavirusOutbreak