Important Facts About Novel Coronavirus

2019-nCoV

This a bit far from tech news, or motivational- I know. But I am growing uneasy with the information on the net about this ‘Coronavirus”. I live in British Columbia Canada, and we just got our first presumptive case of coronavirus and as I fed through the internet trying to find consistent information. I realized that the information between Western Media and Chinese Media was very different. It’s not what you think. You are probably thinking “the Chinese  are hiding something”. Well, they’re not. The Western Media is- well they’re at least contradicting Chinese researchers.

I decided to share my search for proper answers on my blog, so that any other person out that who is looking for information can feel like they got a complete picture of what’s happening. Although it’s contradictory information at best, we can at least apply some common sense.

 
Coronavirus began long before it hit the news:

Based on research it looks like the virus has been around as early as December 1st which means many more people would have been exposed before its first detection.

The researchers, seven of whom work at Wuhan’s Jinyintan hospital, designated for patients with the illness, revealed on Friday in The Lancet medical journal that symptoms of the new disease were first reported on December 1 – much earlier than the Wuhan government’s initial announcement on December 31 of 27 cases of the pneumonia-like infection.

The Game Changer In Viruses

China revealed that the coronavirus can actually spread before the host shows any symptoms. Which as you can understand is VERY concerning and VERY contradictory to what Canadian Health Ministry is saying. Because anyone who has been infected may not show symptoms right away and continue their daily lives possibly infecting others without a single symptom.  The country’s Health Minister Ma Xiawei confirmed the bad news on Sunday, which panicked some US doctors.

Dr. William Schaffner, an adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the news a “game changer”, and said it means the virus is “more contagious than we originally thought”.

 

Mutating & Growing Stronger

“The virus’ transmission ability has become stronger”, National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiawei said at a press briefing on Sunday. Ma said the the previously-unknown coronavirus, which has already killed 56 people in China, is spreading faster, while the outbreak is entering a “more serious complicated phase”.

The virus is mutating and is growing stronger.  Ma Xiaowei noted that the government’s knowledge of the new virus remains limited and they remain puzzled about the risks posed by it’s mutations. Beijing will dispatch additional teams of medics to assist patients and study the virus, he added. They are also setting up a hospital in 6 days to meet the demands of the disease and keeping patients in isolation.

                                                 “The virus’ transmission ability has become stronger.”
-National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said at a press briefing on Sunday.

Aside from not understanding completely the virus or the mutations, is how the virus was transmitted. It’s still unknown for certain if it did transmit from the ‘animal market’ to human. With all animal markets closed, there are still no answers, but the first case of infection is from a man who had not been to the animal market. Which strikes the question: how did it start then?

How Did It Start And Spread?

As mentioned, the first case of infection confirmed in a man who did not have any contact with an animal or seafood market or any wild animals. Which opens the flood gate of questions: How did it then transmit to humans? Why is it still openly a fact that it was transmitted from a market? If not the animal market, where did this man contract it from, or who? And is he actually the first man to be infected, or just the first to show signs of coronavirus?

So many questions, not enough answers. Researchers and Scientists have been studying the virus and its mutation, but have not yet come to any conclusions. With entire cities like Wuhan in quarantine and shut down, China is hoping to cut down the people infected and subsequently the number of deaths at home and abroad. It’s important to remember that majority of those infected and dead are in China, and thus the extreme quarantine measures are seen by many in China and the East as needed, whereas many in the West view it as extreme and inhumane, ignoring the fact that nobody understands this virus and what it’s capable of doing and to what extent. We could be in the beginning stages of a pandemic or just a flu that will push by like the Bird flu and SARS did.

Without knowing what this virus is and what it’s capable of doing each time it mutates, I think shutting down might have saved a lot of lives. Especially now, with the first case of coronavirus in BC.

In this article by DailyHive, the Health Ministers office is explicitly saying that as long as you’re not showing symptoms your safe- which contradicts what Chinese authorities are saying and have seen. This is the contradiction and inconsistency I’m seeing when trying to filter out the information. Should you worry and panic? The Ebola scare was similar in terms of media frenzy and panic, but also contradiction in information.

How to prevent getting Novel Coronavirus?

Hygiene, health, precaution and N95 mask.

Keep your hands clean. Cover your mouth when you cough and don’t go out when you’re sick. Wash your hands often in warm water and soap. Be careful to not use Lysol 99.99% disinfectants, or similar products, as the .1% that survives is now immune to the disinfectant and now you have a super bug all over your home.

This is something we learned in grade 9 biology class way back in the 1997’s (and yet nobody has done anything about stopping these products from  being made and sold to the general public). Warm/hot water with soap is still the BEST clean. All else fails, grab your vodka bottle or Purell and wipe your hands.

Keep eating and drinking good foods and plenty of water. The best way to fight off any virus is to eat immune system boasting foods. Don’t forget to get your rest and destress- you would not believe how hard a fully grown man who does gym and healthy eating can fall because his body was under stress. The term “Stress kills” is real.

Take precaution. Don’t go to super crowded malls and places. We did not do Lunar New Year Dim Sum this year, simply because we took precaution. Our health is more important than our lust for Dim Sum. Make sure to teach healthy habits to your kids about washing their hands and keeping their hands out of the faces.

N95 that face of yours. One of the best public masks would be the N95 which can significantly reduce your chances of spreading or catching bugs. Although you’re going to have a hard time finding much of anything, as many are sold out, or being resold by greedy sharks of humanity who wanted to make a quick buck from people trying to protect their families.

Is There A Cure?

Not everyone who got the coronavirus is dead. That’s a good sign. 2463 people in Jan 26 were reported to be infected, only 80 died. Which means majority lived. The odds of dying is not really high up there, but it is still a pretty serious viral infection and should be treated with seriousness, it’s also the beginning stages from what is being reported.

“Like its siblings SARS and MERS, the new coronavirus causes pneumonia—the infection of one or both lungs. But that may be only one potential syndrome, which is one of the factors making it difficult to spot”.

There is no cure- no vaccine to prevent either. All you can do is normal flu prevention practices and for the cure, to rest and seek medical attention at the first sign of being sick. My son got sick recently, and we were just in China in Dec. I didn’t bat an eye I took him in. Thankfully he just had a bad head cold and recovered. My daughter was severely sick in Singapore, it was a flu unlike she had ever had and it was frightening. But thankfully, she also recovered with lots of rest and liquids.

This can go 2 ways.

1: It can go significantly worse and become a world wide spread pandemic.

2: It does what SARS did and just not do much more than it already has.

But prevention and taking proper steps if you are sick will greatly increase your survival and recovery chances as well as greatly reduce spreading of the infection. So take your health into your control.

If you have been traveling to China, in particular in Wuhan or area’s around Wuhan, China in general or any country that has documented coronavirus cases, please go the hospital and get checked. Even if you do not have a single symptom, that virus can still be inside you and infecting others. The sooner you seek medical attention, the better your have to recovery and survival in my opinion. Self isolation like the Vancouver man did is also good and he could have very well prevented others from getting infected. It’s left to be seen if any more cases pop up in Vancouver or if this will be the lone case.

What are your thoughts about Coronavirus? Are you scared?

Areeb

Sources:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047646/no-link-seafood-market-first-case-china-coronavirus-chinese

https://www.rt.com/usa/479257-china-coronavirus-death-cases/