Coronavirus 2019-2020 thread (no unsubstantiated rumours!)

[Rettam Stacf]

Chinese Businessman Jack Ma to Donate 500,000 Coronavirus Test Kits, Other Medical Supplies to U.S.
Zachary Evans

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March 13, 2020, 1:54 PM CDT


Businessman Jack Ma, Asia’s richest man, announced on Thursday he would donate 500,000 test kits for the Wuhan coronavirus and 1 million masks to the U.S. to help fight the outbreak.
“Drawing from my own country’s experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!” Ma

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in a statement.

Ma is the co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba. He has also made donations through the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation to other countries hit by the outbreak, including Italy, Iran, Korea, Japan and Spain.
Ma was revealed in 2018 to be a member of the Chinese Communist Party. The businessman has defended Premier Xi Jinping’s attitude toward foreign firms who want to gain a foothold in China. In an interview with the BBC that same year, Ma

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of international companies, “if they come here they have to say OK, I follow the Chinese rules and laws.”

“The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country,” Ma said. “Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At this moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.”

The U.S. is facing a shortage of coronavirus diagnostic tests, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with federal agencies for not preparing enough tests.
“We have a serious deficiency in being prepared for testing,” Senator Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.)

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on Thursday. “We not only need a better system for later. We need a better system for now, and we’re going to focus on that as rapidly as we can.”

Would these Chinese test kits meet the high standard of CDC for use in the US ? Or they will just be thrown away.

Remember, the CDC just today approved, and only on an emergency basis, the Roche test kit which has already been used extensively in Europe.

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[AndrewS]

The viruses should not like the extreme cold too much. They won't die and will become dormant at extreme low temps. We typically keep our bacteria, viruses and mammalian cells at -80oC. For long term keeping, we keep them in liquid nitrogen, which is around -200oC. At that kind of low temps, they suspend all activities but still stay alive just fine. The trick is of course how to revive them back to 37oC. that's a bit tricky...

With that being said, as the entire northern hemisphere is warming up, the virus is moving north. As the south is becoming too hot for the virus, the north is slowly getting into a temperature zone ideal for the virus. So watch out, the virus is going your way...

Once the entire northern hemisphere becomes too hot, the virus will move to the southern hemisphere, which is in winter. Thats how flu goes around the world yearly.

So you mentioned previously that other coronaviruses thrive and last longest at 6cC.

But suppose a coronavirus is cooled to 0oC or say -20oC in the winter air.

What is the likelihood of a coronavirus successfully reviving back to body temperature in real-life?

 

[localizer]

2: Range of time for 90% reduction of bacteria, virus, protozoa (C. parvum oocysts) and helminths (Ascaris eggs) in urine (yellow bar) and feces-urine mixtures (brown bar) during storage at ambient temperature, without the use of additives, i.e., potential self-sanitation. 56, 59-62 Note that amounts of NH 3 , which was shown to be a determining factor affecting inactivation (see Section 1.3.3), can vary between different stored urine and feces-urine mixtures.

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INteresting

@AndrewS we usually store viruses in solutions that stabilize them. Can't compare laboratory conditions with the myriad real world conditions.

 

[AndrewS]

From the geographical, economics, technical capability and population size points of view, China should be compared with EU as a whole, with Italy being the equivalent of Hubei. US is the third entity for comparision.

Yes

But one level down, you can also see Lombardy and Wuhan are comparable in terms of population.

 

[s002wjh]

I have stocked up with masks intended for flu and allergy but not going to wear them since a few unfriendly encounters in the early days. I have been avoiding crowds for the last few weeks. I always keep at least three to six months of toilet paper, cleaning products, and tissue paper so never needed to stock up for them except some frozen foods. It is pretty scary out here since yesterday for Costco and BJ's wholesales.

the problem is CDC said only sick person should wear mask, so if you are wearing a mask, this give ppl idea you are sick. i've seen some white guy in costco wearing mask, and some people give him the look and obviously try to distance themself. maybe in few months ill be seeing increase selling of toilet paper on craglist.

 

[OppositeDay]

It's the same molecular test that everyone is using all around the world right now. There's nothing special. They just automated their lines of production. You can do that by hand in 15 minutes... And it only helps in propagation phase and combined with a case when it's more or less stationary, later on the speed limit is put on public healthcare systems as it's the biggest limiting factor after a few houndreds of cases.

A potential game changer is the mass availability of serological tests. NMPA in China has approved almost ten serological test kits now, and the country is producing 1 million of them per day. But I don't think they're available in pharmacies in China and probably won't be because the government want confirmed patients to get hospitalized, not to self-isolate. But a Japanese company is trying to get one of the Chinese test kits approved in Japan and sell them directly to the general public. There are a lot of limitations to antibody tests but it could be done at home with almost instant result.

A Chinese lab is developing a urine antibody test, which would be even easier to use.

Antibody tests will be useful for employers to know which employee has immunity.

 

[siegecrossbow]

This picture is really badass!

 

[Hendrik_2000]

This is how they test in China very efficient and streamline procedure
How does a coronavirus test kit yield result? Follow Xu Zeyu into a coronavirus lab in Wuhan capable to conduct 10,000 tests every day.

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WuhanToday epi.09

 

[Hendrik_2000]

Interesting look into how they make thousand of Hazmat suit in China

 

[plawolf]

I have stocked up with masks intended for flu and allergy but not going to wear them since a few unfriendly encounters in the early days. I have been avoiding crowds for the last few weeks. I always keep at least three to six months of toilet paper, cleaning products, and tissue paper so never needed to stock up for them except some frozen foods. It is pretty scary out here since yesterday for Costco and BJ's wholesales.

If anyone gives you grief about wearing a mask, look them in the eye with no shame and ask them if they would prefer you to remove your mask and cough in their face? If they are too dense, literally spell it out that you wearing a mask is as much for their benefit as it is for your own.

All too often Chinese people adapt an apologetic and submission attitude in such situations, which creates the impression that they are somehow at fault for wearing the mask, which also often exacerbates the hostility.

As with animals, instinct and psychology play a far more important role in human interactions than what most people would give it credit for.

If you act like you are in the wrong, then people would start feeling like you are doing something wrong even if you are not. And showing any sign of weakness will again embolden thugs to push their luck.

By standing your ground and educating them on the basic benefits of you wearing a mask, you are both giving subconscious signals to the thugs not to mess with you; and also giving them the conscious fear of you lifting your mask and ‘infecting’ them.