Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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There was an article this morning that deal into the logic of face mask/respirator recommendations:

Some of the confusion about "masks versus N95 respirators" exists because so little is known about COVID-19. At first, it wasn't clear if the virus spread predominantly through large respiratory droplets (like influenza) or also through a fine mist, called an aerosol, which can linger for hours (like measles). This great unknown made it unclear whether a heavy-duty mask, known as an N95 respirator, which blocks the smallest virus particles, or a regular surgical mask, which only blocks larger droplets, was better suited to protect against the virus.

At first, the CDC advised health care workers to wear N95 respirators because it wasn't clear whether COVID-19 could spread through aerosol. A March 17 study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) seemed to justify the fear of airborne spread, showing that the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 could survive in the air for up to 3 hours as an aerosol.

But Yang doesn't see it that way. The new study showed that the virus was viable as an aerosol in a lab, but not in real life, he said. In the study, the researchers "took extremely concentrated virus, much more concentrated than a person makes, they used an artificial aerosol machine [a nebulizer], which probably generates way more aerosol than a normal person does," Yang said. "So their conclusions were in this system."

The researchers of that study looked at SARS-CoV-1 (the original SARS from the 2003 outbreak) and SARS-CoV-2 and found that both could be aerosols. "But we already know that the original SARS virus was not transmitted that way," in the general public, so that makes their model "not very believable," Yang said.

In other words, except in certain hospital situations such as a bronchoscopy, which essentially creates a fine mist of virus, SARS-CoV-2 is likely spread mostly through droplets, like the flu, Yang said. That's supported by a Feb. 24 case report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which found a man sick with COVID-19 on a flight from China to Canada in January did not infect his fellow passengers, even though he had a dry cough during the 15-hour flight. The man was wearing a face mask, but because no one else on the plane got infected, this case "supports droplet transmission, not airborne, as the likely route of spread of the COVID-19," the researchers of the case study found.

However, it's still unclear whether the virus can spread through aerosol. For example, after the Skagit Valley Chorale in Washington met for rehearsal on March 6, 45 of its members were diagnosed or showed symptoms of COVID-19, at least three were hospitalized and two were dead within three weeks, according to the Los Angeles Times. Perhaps the choir singers' forceful breathing as they sang dispersed the viral particles, Jamie Lloyd-Smith, an infectious disease researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles and a co-researcher on the NEJM study, told the Los Angeles Times.

"One could imagine that really trying to project your voice would also project more droplets and aerosols, Lloyd-Smith said.

Due to the N95 respirator shortage, the CDC recently relaxed its guidelines, saying that among health care workers, face masks were "an acceptable alternative when the supply chain of respirators cannot meet the demand," except in situations when respiratory aerosols might be produced, such as intubation or nebulizer treatments.

However, even regular face masks are in short supply, prompting the CDC to recommend the use of bandannas and scarves when necessary. There's not a lot of research on homemade masks, but a small 2013 study found that masks made from cotton T-shirts were effective, though not as good as surgical masks.

"The surgical mask was three times more effective in blocking transmission [of microorganisms] than the homemade mask," the researchers of that study found, who noted that homemade masks "should only be considered as a last resort to prevent droplet transmission from infected individuals."

For people opting to use scarves and homemade masks, Yang recommended washing them after every use, and to stop wearing them when damp from breathing. Wearing eye protection, such as a face shield or goggles, could also physically block the virus, said Yang and Dr. James Cherry, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles.

In a 1987 study Cherry did with colleagues, health care workers who wore face masks or goggles were less likely to get respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from hospitalized children than doctors who did not take these measures.

Source: Should you wear a face mask to prevent COVID-19? Experts disagree.

Jobless claims soar to record-breaking 6.648 million



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavi ... 58189.html

The 2nd week in a row in which we've shattered all time records for jobless claims.

The Fed predicts a 32% unemployment rate for COVID-19, which would beat out the highest number in the Great Depression, which was 24%:

https://nypost.com/2020/03/31/federal-r ... ronavirus/

Interesting point, jimmy m. However, there is one possible issue. If CPAP machines are used in hospitals and the patients are intubated, then that could also create an aerosol that can more easily spread the virus. And some hospitals I hear are having to resort to using them.

Train engineer tries to crash train into USNS Mercy.

The USNS Mercy is a 1000-bed ship will help free up space for patients in local hospitals.

"Around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Moreno allegedly ran the train at full speed off the end of the tracks near the Navy medical boat, smashing through several concrete and chain barriers, before sliding through a parking lot nearly 250 yards from the Mercy, according to the criminal complaint"

He says he wanted to "wake people up".



https://www.yahoo.com/gma/engineer-trie ... ories.html

EMTs have stopped taking people in cardiac arrest to coronavirus-strained hospitals

7 week infant old dies in Connecticut.