[aslyfox]

The NBA season has also been cancelled, right?

Spain has cancelled classes (my brother is going home for a couple weeks), public buildings are closing, events are limited to 50/500 indoor/outdoor attendees, and breaking quarantine is now considered a crime against public health.

NBA suspends season indefinitely after player tests positive for coronavirus

[mkgd1]

In another couple of weeks, when the UV index hits 10, I will walk outside for a couple of minutes to sanitize my camera. (And my exposed skin)

[luftfluss]

The NBA season has also been cancelled, right?

NBA is on hiatus. They are going to re-evaluate things in 30 days.

[PDL]

Here is an interesting link I received from the University of Washington this morning. It shows the spread of the virus world wide and you can drill down. However, it is contingent on Governments and their agencies to publish their data via the CDC and WHO.

https://hgis.uw.edu/virus/

[photolady95]

I suppose you all know KEH, right? I got this email from them this morning concerning COID=19

To our customers and community,

Considering the current situation with COVID-19, I’d like to share an update on the steps we’re taking to ensure KEH Camera continues to operate with the health and safety of our customers and staff at the forefront.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve added to our regular cleaning procedures and implemented numerous preventative measures in our facilities. We have instructed our team on how to follow CDC guidelines, and have installed additional hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipe stations throughout our gear processing stations and in the offices.

Towards that end, we are committed to keeping our services up and running in a safe and efficient manner. You can count on us to fulfill orders, buy gear and answer the phones.

Currently, our “Sell Your Camera Gear” events across the country are also still going on as planned – though please look for updates prior to heading to events, as things may change depending on how this situation evolves regionally. We are asking that our employees and customers just stay home if feeling ill.

We also understand if you have concerns about being in public at this time. So as a reminder, on our website you can sell your used cameras, lenses and accessories from the comfort of your home, keeping in mind we provide free downloadable shipping labels.

We are continuing to monitor the situation and will notify you immediately of any changes or postponements to events. Our thoughts are with all of those affected during this time. We will continue to do all we can via responsible actions and timely communications.

With regards and well wishes,

Jon Safran, CEO

[aslyfox]

According to wikipedia "corona virus may stay viable and contagious on a metal, glass or plastic surface for up to nine days at room temperature".
If you bought a used lens or camera (it may come from china, vietnam, japan etc), it may have been touch by an infected person. To prevent infection, don't use your newly purchased lens or camera for at least nine day. If you can't wait (most likely the case of us with LBA or GAS) you have to disinfect the lens or camera with a 60% ethanol solution before you can touch it.

Going back to the original post

Coronavirus can stay infectious for days on surfaces. But it’s still okay to check your mail.

By
Joel Achenbach
March 13, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. CDT
Scientists studying the novel coronavirus are quickly uncovering features that allow it to infect and sicken human beings. . . .

Although it is theoretically possible for a person to become infected a day or two after someone has deposited virus particles (for example, by sneezing) on a surface, it is much less likely than in the first couple of hours after the sneeze, said Munster.

“The risk of becoming infected via these routes of transmission reduces over time,” Munster said. ‘That window of becoming infected is highest in the first 10 minutes, or one hour or two hours.”

He addressed a commonly voiced concern: that a package in the mail may be a vector for the disease. He said that is very unlikely, but added, “There’s never zero risk if the person who gave you the package just sneezed on that package one second ago.”

A new study in the Lancet, based on research in China, found that the median length of time the virus remains in the respiratory tract of a patient after symptoms begin is 20 days. Among patients who survived the disease, the virus continued to be shed for between eight and 37 days.(The study did not reach any conclusions on whether and to what extent this persistence could lead to infections in other people.) . . .

Munster and his colleagues have been studying the novel coronavirus under laboratory conditions to better understand its viability outside a host organism — in the air and on surfaces.

Those experiments found that at least some coronavirus can potentially remain viable — capable of infecting a person — for up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

When aerosolized into fine, floating particles, the virus remained viable for three hours. On a copper surface, it was four hours, the study found. The median length of viability for the virus on stainless steel was 13 hours, and 16 hours on polypropylene, a common type of plastic.

The new paper from Munster and his team was posted on a preprint site, and it has not yet been published in a journal. . . .

Although it is theoretically possible for a person to become infected a day or two after someone has deposited virus particles (for example, by sneezing) on a surface, it is much less likely than in the first couple of hours after the sneeze, said Munster.

“The risk of becoming infected via these routes of transmission reduces over time,” Munster said. ‘That window of becoming infected is highest in the first 10 minutes, or one hour or two hours.”

He addressed a commonly voiced concern: that a package in the mail may be a vector for the disease. He said that is very unlikely, but added, “There’s never zero risk if the person who gave you the package just sneezed on that package one second ago.”

Coronavirus can stay infectious for days on surfaces - The Washington Post

[lesmore49]

This from a post I first put in another thread at the PF:

My advice is to use information from a highly respected source. In my case I use the Johns Hopkins map, which illustrates the areas on the globe where this disease happens, the number of reported cases, the number of deaths from those same countries and the number of people who have recovered from this disease in those countries.

It is interesting to note the number of people who have recovered. It is quite substantial and a significant number, that doesn't seem to be reported as much in some media.

Now, a further issue that must be taken into account regarding the number of cases reported, etc. Any information that is available is only as accurate as the information submitted by different countries health departments. If some countries are under reporting, can't keep up with testing, etc...this has to be a factor that is considered in the overall numbers.

I don't pay much attention to media reports , due to my concern about accuracy and what appears to be sensationalism of some reporting. I do have a concern about news reporting, particularly reporters talking to reporters and not expert medical people, and lapsing into opinion and drifting away from fact and also 'tailoring' their delivery to what will keep viewers/readers ...on that channel...reading that paper, etc...or politicizing it. Oh yes...I understand that this can happen.

[Serkevan]

This from a post I first put in another thread at the PF:

My advice is to use information from a highly respected source. In my case I use the Johns Hopkins map, which illustrates the areas on the globe where this disease happens, the number of reported cases, the number of deaths from those same countries and the number of people who have recovered from this disease in those countries.

It is interesting to note the number of people who have recovered. It is quite substantial and a significant number, that doesn't seem to be reported as much in some media.

Now, a further issue that must be taken into account regarding the number of cases reported, etc. Any information that is available is only as accurate as the information submitted by different countries health departments. If some countries are under reporting, can't keep up with testing, etc...this has to be a factor that is considered in the overall numbers.

I don't pay much attention to media reports , due to my concern about accuracy and what appears to be sensationalism of some reporting. I do have a concern about news reporting, particularly reporters talking to reporters and not expert medical people, and lapsing into opinion and drifting away from fact and also 'tailoring' their delivery to what will keep viewers/readers ...on that channel...reading that paper, etc...or politicizing it. Oh yes...I understand that this can happen.

The Johns Hopkins map shows that Italy has 1440 recoveries and 1260 deaths. Hardly an optimistic number...


China, however, at this point has reported* 3180 deaths and 64K recoveries, which is a much more "tame" 4.7% mortality. Still very high, but likely to go a bit down (recoveries lag behind: it takes longer for a survivor to be discharged from hospital than it takes for a typical victim to die...) as the epidemic gets further under control.

*This is a very important consideration: as you say, if the central government of a given country obscures the numbers then we are more or less blind. Italy, for example, has stopped widespread testing due to the sheer number of cases: they just treat everyone as if they were infected. Of course, this means that their numbers are going to look terrible, because most "reported" cases now will be those that need a ventilator to survive. Meanwhile, South Korea started blanket testing very early, so they are reporting a huge number of mild cases - which helps bring down the apparent mortality rate.


There won't be an accurate tally until this is all over, if at all. Best we can do, IMHO, is to assume everyone to be at-risk and follow the required health guidelines.

[Digitalis]

Cases of Covid-19 in Australia are on the rise.

[cartesio]

Serkevan, I agree with you, number are taken with different approaches.
There is a difference between counting deaths of people WITH coronavirus, and deaths BY coronavirus. Moreover it is unlikely that the German businessman who took the coronavirus to Italy did not pass it also to someone else in Germany. We have the feeling something like a media fight is taking place, with some countries trying to hide what is happening, just to avoid economic consequences.

Something similar occurred with Chernobyl, when the radioactive fallout reached Germany and Italy, but not France. Not officially. That was weird, because seemingly it was able to bypass the Alps, but was not able to bypass the shorter mountains at the German-French border.

[cartesio]

Italy is buying protection masks from abroad. 830,000 were purchased from China, but they had to transit through Germany. Germany had forbidden masks export, so they were blocked in Germany. The Italian Embassy obtained the authorization to have them sent to the italian firm which ordered them, but the masks disappeared. "Nobody" knows were they are, seemingly.

Coronavirus, 830mila mascherine destinate a tute gialle e ospedali bloccate in Germania - Cronaca

[PDL]

In another couple of weeks, when the UV index hits 10, I will walk outside for a couple of minutes to sanitize my camera. (And my exposed skin)

No one needs to see that.

[Serkevan]

Italy is buying protection masks from abroad. 830,000 were purchased from China, but they had to transit through Germany. Germany had forbidden masks export, so they were blocked in Germany. The Italian Embassy obtained the authorization to have them sent to the italian firm which ordered them, but the masks disappeared. "Nobody" knows were they are, seemingly.

Coronavirus, 830mila mascherine destinate a tute gialle e ospedali bloccate in Germania - Cronaca

Agh, that's a lot of masks.
I have several friends in Spain working in healthcare - they are all having to reuse masks because of the shortages, and they don't even have N95 respirators... It's tough

The virus isn't the plague but it is much worse than the average influenza. It's probably right in the middle - being about 20X as lethal as flu but only about 1/20th as lethal as plague.

If it's not stopped, it's going to kill a lot of people (mostly older people with pre-existing conditions).

If it's not slowed, it's going to kill a lot more people because many people who could be saved won't be due to lack of hospital resources. The US runs a lean healthcare system -- there's not a lot of spare beds or ICUs to handle uncontained contagion with this one's rate of hospitalization.

It's up to the politicians (and the public) to decide how many people die. Personally, I doubt the Western nations will take the kinds of steps required to stop the spread the way the Chinese have -- draconian quarantines seem politically palatable. However, slowing the spread to keep the case load manageable is more feasible.

Panic isn't warranted, but prudent action is.

Thing is, it ain't gonna stop, no matter what we do (short of sterilizing the planet with hydrogen bombs, and I'm not sure even that would work). It's a wild thing, out in the wide world; sooner or later, everyone on the planet will have been exposed to it, and yes, many people will die, just as they do from all sorts of diseases. Suspending the Constitution, as they have in Maryland, isn't going to do anything to promote public health, but it is a really big toe in the doorway for future restrictions on civil rights. I figure that, as soon as most motorists obey the speed limits (which controls the distance within which the vehicle can be safely stopped), stop dead at stop signs, and learn and obey the rules of right-of-way, then they can talk about improving public health. Until then, all blather about a virus is mere hypocrisy; deaths from corona virus is nothing compared to deaths from the irresponsible use of motor vehicles. But no one panics about motor vehicle deaths, do they? Maybe we could get Michael Bloomberg's "red shirts" to get some "common sense virus reform" legislation to keep us safe from the coronavirus.

[Serkevan]

Thing is, it ain't gonna stop, no matter what we do (short of sterilizing the planet with hydrogen bombs, and I'm not sure even that would work). It's a wild thing, out in the wide world; sooner or later, everyone on the planet will have been exposed to it, and yes, many people will die, just as they do from all sorts of diseases. Suspending the Constitution, as they have in Maryland, isn't going to do anything to promote public health, but it is a really big toe in the doorway for future restrictions on civil rights. I figure that, as soon as most motorists obey the speed limits (which controls the distance within which the vehicle can be safely stopped), stop dead at stop signs, and learn and obey the rules of right-of-way, then they can talk about improving public health. Until then, all blather about a virus is mere hypocrisy; deaths from corona virus is nothing compared to deaths from the irresponsible use of motor vehicles. But no one panics about motor vehicle deaths, do they? Maybe we could get Michael Bloomberg's "red shirts" to get some "common sense virus reform" legislation to keep us safe from the coronavirus.

If you still think that the problem is only the mortality rate, then you're in for a very rude awakening.