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- Dec 4, 2004
COVID-19: Coping and Social Distancing
- Thread starter CoyoteChris
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
This probably should have gone in Random.Confessions...I confess I can not sew very well
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- Apr 23, 2018
I'm crying this morning, as British comedian and one of The Goodies (iconic, anarchic British TV show of the 70s) Tim Brooke-Taylor has been taken by this virus.
So many British and Australian people grew up absolutely devoted to that show, and I was one of them.
So many British and Australian people grew up absolutely devoted to that show, and I was one of them.
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- Mar 24, 2019
TBT was my favourite Goodie. Much sorrow here, too.
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- Dec 4, 2004
I asked a personal friend who is a veterinarian today. She is really into the science, specializes in cats, has friends in the CDC and NIH and all that good stuff. I am none of those things, so I hope I am explaining this correctly. As the academics say, all errors are mine.
TL; DR version: humans can transmit to cats. Cats will not get (ETA: deadly )symptoms. Cats are “dead end receptors” and cannot transmit to humans.
As far as we know now.
More detail: Humans can transmit the virus, which is called something like Sarco2(?); COVID19 is the disease. The virus is transmitted through receptors, which have an identifying number I don’t remember. Cats share some of the receptors with humans. But cats don’t get sick like humans do, the tiger had very mild symptoms. And the cat doesn’t transmit back because they don’t get sick. (In humans, older folks and males have more of the receptors and therefore get more of the virus)
She analogized it to heartworm. Dogs can get very sick from heartworm. Humans and cats can get heartworm, but they don’t get nearly as sick. And they can’t give it to dogs.
And again, I may be vastly oversimplifying as I tried to retain what she was saying. Dogs share fewer receptors with humans and therefore are even less susceptible to the virus. The poor ferret, however, shares many of these receptors.
Never heard the term "dead end receptors" but it makes sense. I wonder if this is like animals like bats and skunks carrying rabies? Civet cats and Pangolins may be dead end receptors also for SARS Cov-2 and SARS Cov.
China seems to be "managing" research more closely now. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/asia...RwDVOy05udTJ15LL5TiGc-cNAR2qfjb-7NYLMNiZPl4Ug
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- Dec 4, 2004
Much more sadness to come, I fear....
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- Dec 4, 2004
Check out this baby! I found it in my mask collection...bought this one during a bad fire season, IIRC as it has a ship date of 2008. REgretabbly, the expiration date if 2013 and its only a P95, not an N95. But I will still use it during our wildfire season. Or for volcanic ash. NASCAR APPROVED!
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- Mar 14, 2007
Everything is certainly not fine on the testing front, but it was important to find out if cats can contract the virus and if so can they pass it to humans. There are also two animal specific COVID tests that have now been approved. However, the USDA is not recommending testing of animals at this time.
El Henry is correct. People can transmit the virus to cats. Cats cannot transmit it to people. Also, it appears for some reason big cats may be more susceptible than domestic cats. https://consciouscat.net/2020/04/10/clearing-up-the-confusion-about-covid-19-and-cats/
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- Jan 28, 2013
Observations on my weekly outing to the local grocery... FEWER people seemed to be wearing masks and gloves than the week prior. I was very surprised.
I don't know exactly why, but I have some hypotheses.
First, we're not in a hot zone. Relatively few people near us have contracted the virus. Complacency may be setting in.
Secondly, people are questioning the government response. At least locally, where we've felt very little impact from the virus other than layoffs and furloughs, people are wondering why our response is the same as New York City's. I see it in the social media of our community members. I live in a conservative area, heart of the Bible Belt, and people want to know why they can go to a liquor store, but not to church. Why are lottery tickets an "essential" purchase but other items in the same store are not? There was a LOT of blowup when a near-by local government threatened people who went to a drive-in Sunday service for Easter - one where they wouldn't even get out of their car.
I think that, at least where I live, the government needs to make a stronger effort in making people understand that we're not in the same situation as New York, and we don't want to be in that situation. Isolation helps, and so does common-sense personal protection, even just a scarf. And, also, this is important... there needs to be some common sense applied to government restrictions. The public health is NOT endangered when people go to a parking lot church service with the same people they're quarantined with and don't get out of the car. Communal worship isn't a high priority for me, but it is to a lot of people, and I see no reason to deny them that comfort under safe circumstances. Also, if you can go into a store just to buy lottery tickets, there is little justification for prohibiting other purchases.
I know the people who live near me, and I love them. But I gotta say, it's not that long until they are in open rebellion.
I don't know exactly why, but I have some hypotheses.
First, we're not in a hot zone. Relatively few people near us have contracted the virus. Complacency may be setting in.
Secondly, people are questioning the government response. At least locally, where we've felt very little impact from the virus other than layoffs and furloughs, people are wondering why our response is the same as New York City's. I see it in the social media of our community members. I live in a conservative area, heart of the Bible Belt, and people want to know why they can go to a liquor store, but not to church. Why are lottery tickets an "essential" purchase but other items in the same store are not? There was a LOT of blowup when a near-by local government threatened people who went to a drive-in Sunday service for Easter - one where they wouldn't even get out of their car.
I think that, at least where I live, the government needs to make a stronger effort in making people understand that we're not in the same situation as New York, and we don't want to be in that situation. Isolation helps, and so does common-sense personal protection, even just a scarf. And, also, this is important... there needs to be some common sense applied to government restrictions. The public health is NOT endangered when people go to a parking lot church service with the same people they're quarantined with and don't get out of the car. Communal worship isn't a high priority for me, but it is to a lot of people, and I see no reason to deny them that comfort under safe circumstances. Also, if you can go into a store just to buy lottery tickets, there is little justification for prohibiting other purchases.
I know the people who live near me, and I love them. But I gotta say, it's not that long until they are in open rebellion.
There might also be some tribalism setting in: places where people are dismissive of Global Climate Change also tend to be more dismissive of the idea of Staying In Place and avoiding gatherings to prevent Covid from spreading. (That being said, the drive in service sounds like a great compromise!).
It might help more if a certain news channel's editorial broadcasts which comprise the majority of the scheduling weren't so dismissive of steps to prevent Covid from spreading. (Their actual news reporting is good.)
I wish though that people would think about things more: you can go to a liquor store or get lotto tickets because you're not spending a lot of time inside, and the number of other people in a space can be limited. A church service, particularly one for Easter, is not going to have only, say, 12 people inside at a time because that's not fair to the rest of the congregation nor is it going to be a quick duck-in-and-grab what you need. I think most Easter services are at least an hour (I'm Catholic and went to a church where everyone sat in the pews closet to the parking lot exits...) if not longer.
Also, proceeds from lotto tickets go directly to the state's coffers... I can't imagine why any state with a lotto would want to give that up.
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- Jan 28, 2013
I don't disagree with anything you wrote, but want to highlight this snippet.
It's true, and it's also why limiting purchases to "essential" items makes people angry. Lottery tickets are essential just because the government says so, and not for any other reason. So they've lost any moral high ground in banning sales of "non-essential" items. So the thinking goes... and I tend to agree.
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- Jul 11, 2018
i write this here too. an italian-british team is working on a vaccine. tests on humans will start at the end of the month. i can't find anything in english, i leave here a link of a major italian newspaper, maybe you can use google translate.
https://www.repubblica.it/salute/me...i_primi_test_del_vaccino_sull_uomo-253880656/
https://www.repubblica.it/salute/me...i_primi_test_del_vaccino_sull_uomo-253880656/
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- Dec 4, 2004
I got a shock today...I read this article about Covid in China and the China CDC putting a Covid lab with infected bats 300 yards away from the "wet" market, so I asked my skating friend from Taiwan who is very much in touch with the situation if she knew and she said its common knowledge in Taiwan. :sad21:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/worl...L0y9jd57ujPfUChOdIN17-gHE6IFH7Iu3o2yw31rA-3Cw
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/worl...L0y9jd57ujPfUChOdIN17-gHE6IFH7Iu3o2yw31rA-3Cw
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- Dec 4, 2004
Wyoming is a very nice place....
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- Dec 4, 2004
I respectfully disagree. We simply dont know. All we know is from the last SARS CoV attack.
Civets have long been suspected of playing a role in SARS transmission, but SARS experts have stopped short of saying the animals, which are eaten in China, are the natural reservoir of the virus or its conveyor to humans. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says on its SARS Web site that "viruses very similar to SARS-CoV" have been found in civets and that some civet handlers have "evidence of infection with SARS-CoV or a very similar virus."
Guangdong currently has two suspected SARS cases—one in the restaurant worker and another in a 35-year-old man, both of whom are reported to be doing well. A case was confirmed Jan 5 in a 32-year-old television producer, also of Guangdong, who has recovered.
Early in January, Guangdong health officials ordered the slaughter of all civets in captivity, following a report by Hong Kong researchers that civets carried a virus similar to the one in the confirmed case. An AP report today said 3,903 civets and 665 other wild animals were slaughtered between Jan 1 and 12.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2004/01/who-sees-more-evidence-civet-role-sars
Let me get this straight: are you complaining that a store that sells "non-essential goods" can still be open because they sell lotto tickets but they can only sell lotto tickets and not say what they usually stock, or do you have your knickers in a twist because a grocery store can still sell lotto tickets? Because that is very different than saying that you've banned the sale of 'non-essential' items. And nothing has been banned. You just can't buy a lot of stuff at physical shops right now, but you can still go online and order the same thing for the merchant's website or amazon.
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
I encourage everyone who is good at gardening to plant a vegetable garden this year, especially in the USA.
The closing of the Smithfield pork plant points out real vulnerabilities with the way food is produced in this country.
https://business.financialpost.com/...ely-warns-of-meat-shortages-during-pandemic-2
You might want to raise chickens, too.
The closing of the Smithfield pork plant points out real vulnerabilities with the way food is produced in this country.
https://business.financialpost.com/...ely-warns-of-meat-shortages-during-pandemic-2
You might want to raise chickens, too.
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- Joined
- Mar 24, 2019
I'm hoping that some good changes come out of this horrendous situation, ie that people become more aware of what they consume, how and where it is produced and what the effects are of both production and transportation. We may have a new "normal" that we don't like but the old "normal" wasn't exactly working.
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- Jan 28, 2013
I don't have my knickers in a twist about anything. I'm simply reporting what I am experiencing in my corner of the world.
And that is people are getting frustrated, leaning towards angry, about some of the decisions that local and state governments have made. They don't think some of these prohibitions and exceptions make any sense, and if I'm being honest, I tend to agree. Can you make the case that paint is not an essential item to protect the public health in emergency conditions, but lottery tickets are? Do you think it's right that people are fined $500 for sitting in their car in a church parking lot?
Even in the midst of this virus, people still value the concept of "consent of the governed" and the signs of their discontent are rising. As more families lose their livelihoods, I expect the mood will get darker.
The tone of your questioning seems personal. So here's my situation. I stay in my home with a few exceptions. I go to mile-long walking trail near my home to get some exercise and sunshine, weather permitting. There are rarely more than 3 other people there, and we maintain far more than the recommended distance. I go to my local small grocery once a week to purchase groceries, and I wear gloves and a homemade mask when I do it. We don't purchase many other things, but I use Amazon when I do... just like I generally do. Not going to a store is not a hardship for me - I generally don't go there anyway. My wife sprays everything that we bring into our home with an alcohol solution that she made, or it gets wiped down with a bleach-based wipe. Furthermore, I never buy lottery tickets, pandemic or not. I don't attend a local church. My wife and I prefer to stay at home most of the time, pandemic or not. My income is not affected by this situation.
My observations are not based on my personal comfort/discomfort. They are what I'm seeing... again, just in my part of the world.
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