The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

annieb64

DD2 travels abroad a lot for work and always comes down with a cold or sore throat after she's back. She's off to New Zealand soon and was supposed to be changing planes in China. They have managed to change their flights but it took over a week to get everything sorted.

Hope your daughter is ok , Airthrey.

Nargleblast

Even if it does turn out to be Corona, it seems that normally fit and healthy people can recover from it just like any other bug. The important thing is isolation, good hand hygiene, and making sure other members of the same household take the same precautions and look out for symptoms. Of course, you can have the virus for a few days before showing signs and symptoms, and in that few days you could potentially infect hundreds of people. It will obviously hit harder those people with comorbidities and/or compromised immune systems. 

In public buildings I make a point of opening doors by grasping the handle above or below the usual place that people touch, and I try not to touch the handrail when using stairs. Of course, there  are public phones, lift buttons, computer keyboards, computer mouse.......you could really obsess over this stuff.

Airthrey

She’s being tested this morning. They’ve insisted on testing her partner too. Neither have been out now for almost 2 weeks so if either has it, at least they haven’t spread it about their city.  Her job brings her into contact with a lot of people, so it’s a good thing she hasn’t been at work. 

[Deleted User]

I also try to touch things like doors etc. in a different place to where most folks do and don't use handrails or put my hand on the moving belt on escalators but that's a small part of being out, giving and receiving change in shops, using the buttons on a card machine/cash machine in the bank, being on the bus and then getting hold of the pole to wait for it to stop, for myself being in the shop behind the counter and dealing with the public, taking their money, sorting donations etc. no chance of avoiding contact altogether other than isolating ourselves at home and even then it may be too late.  If this thing is going to work it's way through populations then I really feel there is nothing that can effectively be done to halt it's progress until there are no more uninfected people for it to pass to.  I'm not going to stop living because of fear because that's not living is it?

euronorris

Airthrey said:

Well, my daughter developed mild cold symptoms a couple of days ago, 11 days into her isolation period, and today phoned her GP.  She is to be tested by the Infectious Diseases department and is not to leave the house until they have the results. I’m fretting...

Oh Airthrey, I'm sorry. Keeping fingers and toes crossed for you that it is just a standard cold virus and not Covid-2019. Try to stay positive and keep focussed on other stuff xx

euronorris

I've been very vigilant with hand wasing, particularly at work where viruses spread so easily, but the pink hand soap in the toilets here is proving to be very, very harsh on my hands drying it up completely and then it cracks. So I've treated myself to some of the good stuff to take with me each time, that I will keep in a little bottle and hang on the lanyard around my neck.

Been topping up the over the counter cold meds and paracetemol etc as it took a beating recently. Oh poop, still forgot ketchup this morning! I need a better memory.

DigForVictory

The office has the pink goo and air dryers - while I'm willing to handwash & thoroughly, I thought the whole point of paper towels was you could abrade off dead skin cells. Rubbing my hands in a draught by a wall with other spatter does not seem clean to me but just the antibac gel doesn't feel clean to me either.
What is this good stuff of which you speak? Plus where do you get a lanyard compatible refillable bottle? As I worry being seen with a bottle of hibiscrub Causes anxiety...

MingVase

From FluTrackers:

The Novel Coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, is Highly Contagious and More Infectious Than Initially Estimated

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a recently emerged human pathogen that has spread widely since January 2020. Initially, the basic reproductive number, R0, was estimated to be 2.2 to 2.7. Here we provide a new estimate of this quantity. We collected extensive individual case reports and estimated key epidemiology parameters, including the incubation period. Integrating these estimates and high-resolution real-time human travel and infection data with mathematical models, we estimated that the number of infected individuals during early epidemic double every 2.4 days, and the R0 value is likely to be between 4.7 and 6.6. We further show that quarantine and contact tracing of symptomatic individuals alone may not be effective and early, strong control measures are needed to stop transmission of the virus.

[Deleted User]

Suspect it's already too late for strong control measures to be effective.

euronorris

@DigForVictory https://groceries.asda.com/product/hand-wash/dettol-antibacterial-hand-hygiene-gel/1000017525394?&cmpid=ppc-_-ghs-_--_-google-_--_-dskwid-s92700048873713180_dc&ds_rl=1254319&gclid=CjwKCAiAhJTyBRAvEiwAln2qB11wMlZscddM2Qec9Q0DJBJ8IBHiVUdJ-ltFpJRBKZ81vyFQChkw7BoCYUsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

But I have seen similar by the tills at Matalan (oddly not online though). Just needs the hook, so you can fashion a connection to the lanyard.

As for the soap, I find Carex dermacare one to be much gentler on my hands, whilst still being antibacterial. But others may be different (DH can only just Dove soap otherwise he reacts horrendously, for example).