CORONAVIRUS AND
THE USA
COMPILATION AND
COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
MARCH 17, 2020
I HAVE INCLUDED
IN TODAY’S BLOG THIS ARTICLE SEGMENT FROM WIKIPEDIA BECAUSE MOST OF US KNOW
THAT A VIRUS ISN’T A BACTERIA OR A PROTOZOAN, BUT NOT MUCH MORE THAN THAT. WHEN
I WAS YOUNG, IT WASN’T POSSIBLE TO SEE AND PHOTOGRAPH THINGS AS SMALL AS VIRUSES
AND ATOMS, BUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE CHANGED THAT, AT
LEAST IN SOME CASES. THE CORONA VIRUSES ARE SO NAMED BECAUSE THEY HAVE A “CORONA”
OF SORTS AROUND THEM. SEE THE WEBSITE FOR A PHOTOGRAPH OF SEVERAL CORONAVIRUSES
AND LOTS MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THEM.
WHAT WE HAVE
GOING AROUND AND CAUSING A PANIC AMONG THE POPULATION THIS TIME IS COVID-19,
BUT IT’S CLOSELY RELATED TO SARS, MERS AND OTHERS THAT HAVE HIT THE NEWS IN THE
LAST 20 YEARS OR SO FOR THEIR SEVERITY. AS USUAL, IN THIS CASE THE VULNERABLE GROUPS
SUCH AS IMMUNODEFICIENT INDIVIDUALS AND THE ELDERLY ARE IN THE MOST DANGER OF BECOMING
MORE ILL THAN WE WOULD BE NORMALLY WITH AN ORDINARY COLD OR FLU.
WHAT IS A BIT
MORE FRIGHTENING THAN USUAL TO ME IS THE RAPIDITY OF THE SPREAD OF THIS NEW
COVID-19 AND THE NUMBER OF DEATHS. WE CAN ONLY DO WHAT THE AUTHORITIES TELL US TO
AND WAIT FOR THE EPIDEMIC TO LEVEL OFF TO A LESS DANGEROUS POINT. THE
SCIENTISTS ARE PREDICTING IT'S PEAK IN THE RANGE OF 45 DAYS. ASSUMING THAT IT WON'T DIE DOWN AGAIN IN A SIMILAR TIME PERIOD, THAT IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM, ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS INCLUDES LACK OF INCOME AND RESTRICTED ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING
GOING TO WORK. WE WILL ALSO MISS OUR FAVORITE ENTERTAINMENT FORMS SUCH AS MOVIE
THEATERS, WHICH ARE BEING CLOSED IN SOME PLACES.
THERE IS ALSO
THE MATTER OF PANIC BUYING THAT HAS ALREADY STARTED. THAT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE, SO NOW I HAVE TO GO OUT AND DO SOME PANIC BUYING OF MY OWN. IF THAT GOES ON FOR A TIME
PERIOD LIKE 45 DAYS, AS DR. FAUCI SAID, WE NEED A NATIONAL RATIONING PLAN LIKE WE HAD IN WWII, AND IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY, THAT OPERATES AT THE
LOCAL LEVEL SO THAT STORE HOURS ARE RESTRICTED AND NO BUYER IS ALLOWED TO GET
MORE THAN A WEEK’S SUPPLY OF HOUSEHOLD TISSUE PAPER OF ALL KINDS, CLEANING
PRODUCTS, BREAD, EGGS, DAIRY PRODUCTS, PLUS GASOLINE FOR THE FAMILY CARS. THE WAY IT WAS DONE, IF I REMEMBER WHAT MY PARENTS SAID CORRECTLY, WAS THAT COUPONS FOR THE SPECIFIC ITEMS WERE ISSUED TO BE USED AT LOCAL BUSINESSES. I HAVE
NO DOUBT THAT PRICE GOUGING WILL ALSO BE RAMPANT IF NO MEASURE IS PUT IN PLACE
TO PENALIZE BUSINESSES WHICH DO THAT. HAVING A SERIOUS DISEASE AMONG US IS UNNERVING,
BUT THE WAY PEOPLE REACT TO IT MEANS A GREAT DEAL.
I AM A RETIREE LIVING
ON SOCIAL SECURITY WITH DEPENDABLE HOUSING, BUT FOR THOSE WHO DO STILL WORK FOR
THEIR LIVING, THERE WILL BE A MUCH MORE COMPLICATED SITUATION. IF THEY CAN’T GO
TO THEIR WORKPLACES DUE TO THE SPREAD OF THIS ILLNESS, FAMILY FINANCIAL ISSUES MAY QUICKLY BECOME DIRE. THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN TALK OF AN ECONOMIC RECESSION AS A RESULT,
AND ONE OF WORLDWIDE SCOPE. THINK “DEPRESSION,” RATHER THAN “RECESSION.” HOPEFULLY,
THAT WON’T HAPPEN, AND OUR CONGRESS AND EXECUTIVE BRANCHES WILL ACT TO RESTORE
ECONOMIC ORDER.
CONCENTRATING
NOW ON VIRUSES AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM, SEE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES.
Coronavirus
From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
This article is
about the group of viruses. For the specific coronavirus causing the 2019–20
coronavirus pandemic, see Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. For
the disease caused by this strain, see Coronavirus disease 2019.
Coronaviruses
are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In
humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can be mild, such
as some cases of the common cold (among other possible causes, predominantly
rhinoviruses), and others that can be lethal, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.
Symptoms in other species vary: in chickens, they cause an upper respiratory
tract disease, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhea. There are yet to be
vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.
Coronaviruses
constitute the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order
Nidovirales, and realm Riboviria.[5][6] . . . . The genome size of
coronaviruses ranges from approximately 27 to 34 kilobases, the largest
among known RNA viruses.[7] The name coronavirus is derived from the Latin
corona, meaning "crown" or "halo", which refers to the
characteristic appearance reminiscent of a crown or a solar corona around the
virions (virus particles) when viewed under two-dimensional transmission
electron microscopy, due to the surface covering in club-shaped protein spikes.
HAND WASHING
AND CLEANING
Good Hygiene
Practices - Reducing the Spread of Infections and Viruses
What are good
practices to slow the spread of infections?
Ways you can
reduce or slow the spread of infections include:
Get the
appropriate vaccine.
Wash your hands
frequently.
Stay home if
you are sick (so you do not spread the illness to other people).
Use a tissue,
or cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand. Turn away from other people.
Use single-use
tissues. Dispose of the tissue immediately.
Wash your hands
after coughing, sneezing or using tissues.
If working with
children, have them play with hard surface toys that can be easily cleaned.
Do not touch
your eyes, nose or mouth (viruses can transfer from your hands and into the
body).
Do not share
cups, glasses, dishes or cutlery.
Note that the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that adults can shed influenza
virus 1 day before symptoms appear and up to approximately 5 to 7 days after
onset of illness. It is for this reason,
wearing masks selectively, such as when face-to-face with individuals who are
showing symptoms, may not help limit the spread of the virus in the community.
If cleaning is
necessary, how should it be done?
Additional
measures may be required to minimize the virus from transmitting by hard
surfaces (sinks, door and cupboard handles, railings, objects, counters, etc.).
The length of time a virus survives on hard surfaces depends on the type of
virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States
indicates that "Most studies have shown that the flu virus can live and
potentially infect a person for up to 48 hours after being deposited on a
surface."
In most
workplaces and homes, cleaning floors, walls, doorknobs, etc. with regular
disinfectants or soap and water is very adequate. Follow the directions on the
cleaning or disinfecting products. Wear personal protective clothing, such as
gloves or eye protection, where required. Know the appropriate procedures for
general sanitation and infection control, and how to work safely with hazardous
products, including bleach. Only in some workplaces, such as a hospital or
health care facility, are specific cleaning and disinfection steps required.
What is meant
by social distancing?
Social
distancing is a strategy where you try to avoid crowded places, large
gatherings of people or close contact with a group of people. In these
situations, viruses can easily spread from person to person. In general, a
distance of one to two metres (3 to 6 feet) will slow the spread of a disease,
but more distance is more effective.
Should social
distancing be recommended, steps to follow include:
Use telephone,
video conferencing, or the internet to conduct as much business as possible
(including within the same building).
Allow employees
to work from home, or to work flexible hours to avoid crowding the workplace.
Cancel or
postpone any travel, meetings, workshops, etc. that are not absolutely
necessary.
Drive, walk, or
cycle to work, but try to avoid public transit. Alternatively, workplaces can
consider allowing staff to arrive early/late so they can use public transit
when it is less crowded.
Allow staff to
eat at their desks or have staggered lunch hours to avoid crowded lunch rooms.
Spend as little
time as possible in tearooms or photocopy centres.
When meetings
are necessary, have the meeting in a larger room where people can sit with more
space between them (at least about one to two metres apart).
Avoid shaking
hands or hugging.
. . . .
THINGS HAVE
IMPROVED, THOUGH. TAKE A LOOK AT THE PAST.
The evolution
of hand-washing, explained by a historian
A brief social
history of hand-washing.
By Constance
Grady@constancegrady
Mar 17, 2020,
10:40am EDT
PHOTOGRAPH -- BSIP/Universal
Images Group via Getty Images
Are we all
washing our hands several times a day? As the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic
spreads, we should all be washing our hands several times a day. Take a moment
right now, go give your hands a scrub with some warm soapy water for 20
seconds, and then come back. Maybe spritz around some hand sanitizer if you
don’t have access to a sink. Put on a little hand lotion so your skin doesn’t
get too chapped.
Ready? Great.
Right now, all
of us either are or should be very vigilant about washing our hands, but for
much of human history, that wasn’t the case. Hand-washing as a social
responsibility is a fairly new concept.
To learn about
how that concept developed and when and why it emerged, I called up Peter
Ward, a professor of history at the University of British Columbia and the
author of The Clean Body: A Modern History. Over the phone, we discussed
the history of hygiene, when people started washing their hands, and why we
usually wash our hands — and it has a lot less to do with medicine, and a lot
more to do with social acceptance, than you might think. Highlights from our
conversation, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, follow.
INTERVIEW
Constance Grady
To start off, tell
me a little bit about your book, The Clean Body. What’s the central argument?
Peter Ward
The book is a
history of personal hygiene in the West from the 17th century to the recent
past. It’s about how people have thought about their bodies and treated their
bodies.
In the 17th
century, people didn’t have baths regularly. They thought that to be clean, it
was enough to change their underwear and wash their underwear frequently.
The first
person I mention in the book is Louis XIV of France, who had two baths in
his adult lifetime. They were both for medicinal reasons. He had
headaches and his doctors recommended baths. It didn’t work to cure the
headaches, so he lived another half century and never bathed again.
But he washed
his hands once a day in scented water and his face every second day. And
he changed his underclothes. That was it. That was the habit of middle and
upper-class people in the Western world until the middle of the 19th century.
Constance Grady
So what changed
in the middle of the 19th century?
Peter Ward
A lot changed
then! It began in the upper reaches of Western society. People began to
think about their bodies as something to be cared for, and that treatment as
something to distinguish themselves from the lower classes, who didn’t wash
in the same way. By washing you were making a statement about what class you
belonged to.
Then there’s
the technological side, like the development of new bathing equipment.
And the architectural side, the beginning of the appearance of the bathroom
first in the homes of the extremely wealthy, and then over the course of about
a century, down to mass housing.
There’s lots of
strands here. Some of them have to do with the history of plumbing, some of
them have to do with the history of domestic architecture, the history of
clothing, of class understanding. A lot of them have to do with the history of
business and the advertising of soap, which became highly industrialized in the
late 19th century. That had a huge educational impact on hygiene.
Constance Grady
And when did
people start to talk about hand-washing specifically?
Peter Ward
Well, Louis
washed his hands every day. The idea was there. Our current concern for
hand-washing was a product of the germ theory era more than anything else. The idea that
people should habitually wash their hands is not an idea that existed before
the latter part of the 19th century.
Before then,
people had no particular reason to wash their hands unless they were dirty or
sticky or something of that sort. There was no epidemiological
reason to wash until the germ theory emerged, which was another gradual process.
It really didn’t take root fundamentally until the 1880s, with the
discoveries of Pasteur.
Constance Grady
There’s this
story I read that I’ve always thought might be apocryphal of surgeons
refusing to wash their hands during the beginning of the rise of germ theory,
because “a gentleman’s hands are always clean,” so on those grounds
hand-washing was unnecessary. Is there any truth to that story?
Peter Ward
I’ve not heard
that one, so it’s probably too good to be true. But at that point in time,
surgeons and all attending physicians didn’t have any clear reason to wash
their hands as they moved from one patient to the next. This was an acute
problem for physicians and any medical attendants who dealt with women
delivering children. One of the leading causes of maternal mortality was
childbed fever, which was circulated in maternity hall settings and passed from
physicians to patients during the process.
Some of the
earliest people who began to think more clearly about this began to think there
might be a connection between hand-washing and the passage of disease. One
of the first was an American, Oliver Wendall Holmes. He was a Boston poet and
physician who wrote an article in the 1840s positing that there might be a
connection between medical practitioners moving from patient to patient and
women’s post-birth deaths. But there was no theoretical basis for the idea
to gain any broad acceptance. It more or less disappeared from sight until the
1880s.
It wasn’t until
Pasteur came along that people began to think about these microbiological
elements, the unseen life of germs. Pasteur proved it. But even after
Pasteur, it took a decade or even more, a generation, for his ideas to be
accepted.
Constance Grady
Why was there
so much reluctance?
Peter Ward
There were
competing theories. We tend to think of Pasteur as this great genius who came
to a universal truth, but he wasn’t working in a vacuum. There were other
people in his field working on the same problems and coming to different
conclusions. He was one of many competitors, and not all his
competitors fell away.
Constance Grady
So what can we
take away from that history? This long period where hand-washing wasn’t
considered important, and now all of a sudden it’s medically necessary?
Peter Ward
Until very
recently, most of our bathing practices had to do with our idea of ourselves
as social beings. We want to go through our daily lives in a way that is
agreeable to other people, and we assume — probably correctly — that one of
the best ways of doing that is to be very, very clean. To look clean, to smell
clean, to feel clean, to be clean. And a lot of that has to do with using the
products that purport to make us clean. The commercialization of personal
hygiene is driven by a different agenda than a medical one. It’s primarily
a social one.
Constance Grady
Do you think
that’s changing now?
Peter Ward
I think
everybody is scared skinny at the moment. We all know that you must wash your
hands many times a day right now, for 20 seconds, singing “Happy Birthday” to
yourself twice. There’s going to be a degree of care at least in the short
run that’s driven by a medical agenda, but I think the underlying issues are
going to be the same. From the 20th century on, the hygienic revolution of
modern times has to do with the social imperatives of our communal lives
more than anything else.
That takes the
argument back to the 17th century: People appeared to be clean by wearing clean
underwear that showed over their outer clothes through collars and cuffs.
If you look at Dutch art, one of those marvelous Franz Hals portraits or
really any other Dutch artist in the 17th century, you’ll see these people who
are very somberly dressed. But they all have something white coming out over
the tops of their outer garments: a collar, a cuff. There are often slashes in
the outer garments that reveal white clothes next to the skin.
What these
people were doing were displaying their cleanliness. They were differentiating
themselves from the poor, who in some cases didn’t wear a second layer of
clothing and in other cases couldn’t afford to wash their underclothes. It
was a social statement of a different time, one of social differentiation
rather than social inclusion. But right now, we clean ourselves to make a
statement of social inclusion. We’re making ourselves agreeable to each other.
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