Corona Virus: How Are We Doing?

[C R]

@fossyant regarding your T1 diabetic son, this may give you some comfort

https://www.jdrf.org/coronavirus/

TL;DR summary, for an otherwise healthy and well controlled T1, coronavirus should not pose any more risk than any other infection. Usual sick days rules apply in case of catching it.

 

[marinyork]

I have quite severe asthma that is very well controlled by drugs to the extent that it places no restrictions on my life (apart from the side effect of an alarmingly fast resting heart rate!)
Am otherwise fit and healthy. Not sure how much additional risk this puts me at if/when I catch coronavirus.
I had flu once a few years ago (despite my annual jab). That felt like I was dying!

How controlled it is does matter a lot, as was hinted on another thread there is a tiny (but worryingly large enough) minority of patients whose asthma is very badly controlled and likely underdiagnosed and they don't really know or don't care. A much larger group it's not controlled as well as it could be. Aside from that it depends which drugs, a lot of steroids weaken the immune system, these can be used in varying doses for allergies or for other things like Crohn's or even MS patients who take them.

 

[winjim]

Swine flu, which just about everyone under 25 caught in 2009-10 was horrid. The interesting thing about swine flu at the time is they were using tamiflu that they thought worked, but also it later transpired that all the endless flu jabs in the western world may have given substantial protection to those over 60 so what might have been a fairly nasty epidemic like this wasn't anywhere near so bad. Not the case this time.

From what I understand it's because there was an outbreak of a similar strain of virus some time in the first part of the last century, so people exposed at that time had acquired immunity.

 

[MontyVeda]

Due to my poor lifestyle choices, I've had a persistent cough for about 8 months now... I don't half get some rancid looks from customers when i break into a cough at work I'm toying with hanging a sign around my neck stating "Don't Panic. This is my normal cough"

 

[marinyork]

From what I understand it's because there was an outbreak of a similar strain of virus some time in the first part of the last century, so people exposed at that time had acquired immunity.

That's what people said at the time, flu pandemics are relatively common, more recently been the stuff I said, which is interesting, but not read up on it much. It's interesting whichever way it is.

 

[Pale Rider]

Due to my poor lifestyle choices, I've had a persistent cough for about 8 months now... I don't half get some rancid looks from customers when i break into a cough at work I'm toying with hanging a sign around my neck stating "Don't Panic. This is my normal cough"

I was in a waiting area a couple of weeks ago.

A woman was about to take a seat in my row, but I coughed just as she approached.

No doubt in my mind that caused her to divert to a different row.

 

[Fab Foodie]

An elderly wheelchair-bound regular in the Restaurant where one of my daughters work has died of Coronvirus. :-/

 

[oldwheels]

My projected cycling trip next week has been knocked on the head as my mainland accommodation is in lockdown because one of the kids has what is probably a cold. I was told to stay away. This was in conjunction with a hearing test at Oban hospital which has not yet been cancelled but since my emergency accommodation is now closed off I think I will cancel the appointment. In any case travelling on a ferry may not be a good idea as I am in a high risk group. Cal Mac may eventually give me back £10.70 of my ferry fare.

 

[Stephenite]

I think you'd be better off, as you say, staying at home. I'm not sure where you are. Are there any reported cases there?

 

[Dave7]

Self isolation is ok. Yes,we're 'sociable creatures',but I suppose interaction via the internet,text messages etc is a decent substitute for not having human contact.

Just make sure you clean your hands before you type. I am allergic to Lancashire.

 

[Dave7]

Like a lot of people me and MrsD got the lurgy just before Christmas and it just would not go away. We are still 'chesty' and aged 73 it does concern me. To use the phrase.....I would like to go quickly with a young blond but for some reason doubt that will happen . I really don't want this virus but..... .
Might have said this before (dosing up on 60 proof alcohol affects the memory) but I got real flue 1982ish. I was delirious and bed ridden for 3 weeks. At first the Doc' diagnosed it as Meningitis. I was off work for over 2 months.
And don't forget I was a very fit 35 year old back then. If it gets you bad then it really gets you.

 

[MontyVeda]

Due to my poor lifestyle choices, I've had a persistent cough for about 8 months now... I don't half get some rancid looks from customers when i break into a cough at work I'm toying with hanging a sign around my neck stating "Don't Panic. This is my normal cough"

@raleighnut ...you might want to change that 🤗 smilie to a thumbs up... safe distance and all that

 

[lazybloke]

Take a 25mm cube of frozen distilled water with a mass of 15g. Tilt your head back until you can't see the internet and balance the cube on your forehead. During fusion, temperature of the ice and thus temperature difference remains constant, 37 ºC - 0 ºC. So heat rate is constant, if you assume a constant heat transfer coefficient h. Therefore, total energy transferred is equal to 0.0015 kg times enthalpy of fusion (J/kg) of water equal to h (W/m2.K) times superficial area A of the ice mass times temperature difference (37 ºC = 37 K) times time t. From this, you get time t. For the mass of 0.0015 kg you get the volume V with density of ice at 0 ºC (slightly less than 1,000 kg/m3). The question is then what it is the area A, which in our case is 375mm squared. I have taken a typical value of heat transfer to ambient by natural convection and thermal radiation h = 10 W/m2K which means the ice cube should melt completely in 76 minutes and 33 seconds assuming you stay perfectly still and facing away from the internet. If it melts quicker than this, your temperature is elevated.

Get back to us and let us know how you get on.

You've just destroyed my life-long love of physics

 

[oldwheels]

I think you'd be better off, as you say, staying at home. I'm not sure where you are. Are there any reported cases there?

None so far. Nearest heard of is about 100 miles away.

 

[byegad]

My elder son has been sent home on Friday, as has the rest of his firm. They're working from home until further notice. Nobody in his office knowingly has the disease, but the Norwegian owners closed head office last week and have now rolled it over to the UK side.
Meanwhile, we* are making ourselves as aloof** as we can from human contact for the duration.


*68 and 70 yrs old, both with different health issues that could prove tricky. My wife is additionally lately home from hospital following a brain abscess operation and is just recovering from antibiotic induced anaemia!

** We constantly hear about being alert, because the country needs lerts.
But we feel we're Stutes and Wares so decided to become Loofs.


Good luck everyone, keep safe and try to keep ahead of events, because we also need heads.