Coronavirus – One Month Later

Oh look I’m back again with more Coronavirus info for your noggins.

Why? Because the CDC in the US has said what I told you a month ago- it’s not if, but when you / your family/ those damn meddling kids all come down with this cold bug. And that my good friends have lit up my feed and private messages with questions and rational fears. [By the way, I’m not complaining, I’m flattered you trust me and I hope I’ve been helping]. So on with my REALLY long post…

Okay- let’s skip all the joking for a moment.

Even if you have a compromised immune system, you will be fine.

My brother has Crohn’s and on special drugs to help it. I’m not worried about him.

I have other friends who have issues with other things and are also immunocompromised too [cancer treatments, etc]- I fear not for them.

My mom who is over 70 and gets pneumonia almost every year recently. She is almost exactly what they list as people dying from this coronavirus… ALMOST. For her, I have a bit of worry for- but I’ve already informed her what to look out for [ie temp, breathing issues, and the usual pneumonia signs] and when to get to a dr. But overall, I don’t fear for her. Why? Because it isn’t that bad.

The fact of the matter is this really is equal to most colds.

There are over 200 ‘common cold’ viruses – but really, in general, there’s like 4-5 [plus their many serotypes] and ALL kill some grouping of people. They all have a similar death rate. About 2% or less. The same as this coronavirus. And they all kill the same group of people, in general, those who are old AND with poor immune systems. [But yes there are always an exception to the rules]

Did you just notice it’s 2 things? Yeah, there’s the big detail.

Your body already has to be lagging pretty darn badly. Is there a rare case of a healthy young person dying? Yep. Were they actually as healthy as it seemed? Probably not. Was there likely an underlying health issue that was unknown and will remain unknown. Yep.

Now, why do I say this- because I figure you don’t fear every time you get a cold.

I figure you still take care of your loved ones [family and friends] when they are sick.

What is the Likelihood of Dying From the Coronavirus?

What the media isn’t good at explaining [because it doesn’t get eyeballs or sell ads] is that to die from this the following has to happen for this coronavirus…

1) You get infected [we actually don’t know how tough this is, but I suspect it’s similar to most of them- easy yet still hard if you are vigilant- I’ll explain more below]

2) That infection somehow gets hold [currently 53% of all infections of the coronavirus end up asymptomatic]

3) If it does beat the initial immune system stages it then has to keep going to get worse than a general cold. 14% of people get to this stage.

4) This is where it comes to being bad- if it gets past the initial cold infection, then it can take a turn for the worse. This would lead to pneumonia or very severe lung inflammation. But how often does that occur? Of that 14%- only 5% of those- yes 5% of 14% of the total!

5) Now how much of that goes fatal? Well, this is where the numbers are confusing… you will hear about 2%, but that 2% is based on diagnosed cases. In reality, it’s probably less than 1%

Now you are thinking, am I finally the 1%- oh damn it’s not the financial 1%. 🙂

I also doubt you will be part of that 1%. I doubt you are part of the 5%. And even the 14%.

But let’s go almost worst-case scenario … you end up as part of the 14%. You have a cold!

What should you do? Well first and foremost- REST! Also, take your temp. See if you are over 101.5F/39C – if so take some Tylenol/paracetamol, drink some fluids [not alcohol, it really doesn’t kill things like this], rest. IF your temp doesn’t dip after 2 days then you need to consider calling the Dr/GP. Obviously, if you have true issues breathing (not congestion) see someone ASAP.

In general, if you are reading this you probably have access to Dr. Maybe even one who already knows you. He/She will be the best judge of how you are doing- but you’ll also be hyperaware – why because damn it the media have you freaking out with their nonsense.

Here are some important things to be mindful of… If you’ve never gotten pneumonia before then you still are unlikely to with this virus. Not saying it can’t happen, just saying this is unlikely to be the cause of it. [Scientifically, there is though isn’t an upper respiratory viral infection, but a lower lung infection- hence the pneumonia rates being higher. But that is currently 1 group in Germany that has seen this in a quick primate study.].

Why MANY of these deaths occurred is actually due to the strain of the medical system in China [yes there are deaths occurring elsewhere in the world, just not in the numbers China has seen at this point]. There is panic and too many folks are going to the hospital when they don’t need to. And there aren’t enough medical folks to help and pay attention to every detail. Medical personnel all over the world are usually already overworked and under-resourced. Times like these make it worse due to all the unnecessary folks requiring attention.

But if you are reading this most likely you live in a place with LOTS of medical access (compared to China, North Korea, etc) and most likely have pretty good medical around you. You don’t live in an overpopulated area with too few hospitals.

On top of that, these brilliant medical folks in your area are hyperaware of this coronavirus and the fact that sooner or later they will get hit and hit hard by the coronavirus.

So they are already preparing for it. But they too will get rushed by people panicking. Happens all the time. And sadly they will become overburdened with scared folks.

But again this virus if it ever gets to these stages with you, you’ll already be ready for it because you are thinking about it now, which means it won’t even get to be so bad.

Here are those helpful Coronavirus tips:

1) Wash your hands. Remember this is a virus not a SciFi alien creature with the ability to grapple onto anything it touches. The use of water, even better if it’s soap and water while rubbing your hands removes most viruses from you. It’s not killing them, it’s taking them off you. [And for those of you curious, that hand sanitizer isn’t really gonna work unless you then wipe it off with a tissue or napkin- alcohol evaporation should work but it’s not as effective as they like to make you think].

2- Stop touching yourself…okay I mean your face. Your mouth, nose, and eyes are your main areas where this baddie [ and the vast majority of germs] get into you. Unless your line of work trains you to not contact your face, this is a darn difficult thing to accomplish. We all touch our faces all day long randomly without thinking about it. So as much as I recommend this, it’s the hardest of everything to control. Hence why that hand washing thing is so important.

3- No masks needed unless you are sick. What?! you say… Well, masks don’t help prevent you from catching anything. Unless someone coughs /sneezes in your face (ie you have a kid you’re screwed, I know)

this virus doesn’t just float in the air – if it did then those cruise ships would have a 100% infection rate. It’s passed by contact of sorts. Meaning those sick wipe it onto surfaces and you and others pick it up randomly. Hence why if you are sick, YOU wear the mask and help contain the virus by not spewing particles on surfaces, etc. IF you still feel you need a mask, you need goggles too – so go full crazy paranoid.

That’s it, folks. As this post is WAY longer than I intended I’m going to cut it off here. See my comments section for a newer article that I think has some good info. But go about your lives not worrying you’re gonna probably catch this virus but most likely you’ll have some sniffles. So go back to your normal lives.

If you missed Coronavirus: Tom’s Thoughts – Part I