Coronavirus Pandemic

[PFVA]

All is well, except of my nose that needs to be blown often.

This morning I got the nasal spray for the allergy rhinitis and a 12+4 pack of TP.

At least the next storm is coming in from the Atlantic not fm the Sahara or fm desertified areas of the country, which at the moment are actually flooding.

Lincie must be able to detect something because yesterday she kept a meter and half away fm me, meaning she slept at my feet but just now after I took my shower and sat down she got close and asked for a belly rub,, and chin rub, etc. Cats definitively are able to smell stuff we can't.

[Orava]

I think so, they can definitely detect if something is wrong with you. What happens next depends on the cat personality - stay away or keep company, sit on your lap. My late cat was the friendlier type, always sitting on you if you were a bit off and definitely having that sensing ability. Not sure if it is smell or something else, we humans are not as good with smell so difficult to tell.

[F-ZeroOne]

Oof. Feel a bit worse overall today, which I think is because I've had trouble sleeping. My back was killing me earlier this morning but that may be because I've been shuttling between a few hours of being up and a few hours of resting in bed, and have spent more time there than normal.

[F-ZeroOne]

Well, this is fun. Last few minutes I just started with shakes so bad I'm only just managing to type this. Its worn off a bit.

[Cloudane]

With basically everyone I know suffering from a shitty cold right now (tested and not covid) does anyone have a decent source about whether masking up helps with those? (I mean, if people associate them with cold avoidance rather than "that bloody covid" they might wear them more and also prevent more of the latter)

I do have environmental concerns though. Apparently you're best off with FFP2, N95 or at least some decent surgical type... which usually means disposable. And I'm sure the planet probably can't keep up with billions of single use masks discarded every day.

[KlaxonCow]

With basically everyone I know suffering from a shitty cold right now (tested and not covid) does anyone have a decent source about whether masking up helps with those?

I don't have any specific data, but remember that Covid and the common cold are both coronaviruses. They're cousins.

And while we had all the Covid restrictions in place, colds and 'flus completely fell off the radar for a few years (like, lowest levels ever recorded).

It also just makes logical sense that some filtering defence of your airway for an airborne pathogen - and washing your hands regularly, and standing 2 metres apart - would cut down on spread for any airborne disease. This is why these policies were implemented immediately, even before we knew any specific details about Covid, as they're just "generally good ideas for ANY type of disease".

(Indeed, weirdly, the degree to which Covid was underestimated as an airborne pathogen initially was kind of strange - lots of emphasis on hand washing, but the WHO was actually dis-recommending masks to begin with - though one suspects a lot of this was more to help PPE stocks for hospitals, doctors and nurses, by discouraging the public from just buying it all up. Though I still haven't quite forgiven them for issuing the wrong advice for months there. I get why, but indirect solutions - "nudge" solutions - are ripe for "unintended consequences". Even when masks became mandatory, folks were already "primed" from earlier bad advice to keep holding to the first advice they heard: "masks don't really help". Part of that whole anti-mask movement was governments and the WHO saying the wrong things, to protect PPE stocks, initially. But that "primes" people who have a tendency to come to quick conclusions and then doggedly stick to that forever more afterwards.)

Generally, what's good for the goose has proved equally good for the gander too.

(I mean, if people associate them with cold avoidance rather than "that bloody covid" they might wear them more and also prevent more of the latter)

But, ah, good luck with that. Folks complained to all buggery about masks, even with Covid and an actual new threat. Getting everyone to think of masks as a standard thing for colds and 'flus in the Western world feels like a Herculean task. Though, yeah, in Japan and around Asia, it's already always been seen that way, as their culture has integrated it as a "social courtesy". But the Western world always reads these things as "the government's trying to steal all my guns!!!" and reacts badly.

I do have environmental concerns though. Apparently you're best off with FFP2, N95 or at least some decent surgical type... which usually means disposable. And I'm sure the planet probably can't keep up with billions of single use masks discarded every day.

And, yes, masking up ain't ever going to be too great for the environment. It should be noted that such PPE is purposefully disposable, so even if they're compromised - the virus gets on or in them - then you're constantly throwing them away. That's part of the defence to be single use. But, yes, totally at the expense of the environment.

[Kelloggs]

I don't have any specific data, but remember that Covid and the common cold are both coronaviruses. They're cousins.

Sorry, dude, but there's something here that I just have to be picky about. You get so much right (even if it takes a lot of typing) that I don't like to see you throw partial understandings around. The "common cold" has no single "type" - there are, last I was looking, more than 200 known "common cold" viruses (and they do all seem to be viruses). I could be wrong, but I think we use the name "rhinovirus" to denote the most common type (so, effectively, we call them "nose-viruses" with great lack of imagination. Rhino-ceros - nose-horn). Of those ~200, four are coronaviruses (and, I suspect, five very soon, as CoViD-19 becomes the fifth).

As an aside - I keep needing to remind my mother, colds spread, not by one being cold ("Wrap up warm, or you'll catch your death of cold!"), but from keeping company with people who have colds (which happens more in winter, as we as a society huddle together for metaphorical warmth). What went missing during lockdowns was contact with people, some of whom would have had colds and flu - this, I think, is a major factor in the incidence of them falling off the radar (as, I suspect, did racial hate crimes and road traffic accidents, neither of which are respiratory). I'd like to think this has been a wakeup-call for the idea that "if you're feeling contagious, work from home" (now we've proved it can be done)... but sometimes my optimism gets the better of me.

[PFVA]

As an aside - I keep needing to remind my mother, colds spread, not by one being cold ("Wrap up warm, or you'll catch your death of cold!"), but from keeping company with people who have colds (which happens more in winter, as we as a society huddle together for metaphorical warmth).
...

That 's what I keep saying but no one listens.
They close doors and windows in overheated places, sit on top of each other then they catch colds and the flu and they say it's because a cold draft must have reached them.

And now they are even wrapping several of the outdoors cafés in plastic curtains so they can block the air as much as possible.

[gilesgoat]

As an aside - I keep needing to remind my mother, colds spread, not by one being cold ("Wrap up warm, or you'll catch your death of cold!"), but from keeping company with people who have colds (which happens more in winter, as we as a society huddle together for metaphorical warmth).
...

*SNIP* and they say it's because a cold draft must have reached them.

THIS is the FAMOUS "Colpo d' aria" i.e. "Air stroke" SO FEARFULLY DREADED in Italy

In Italy "there's various aliments" attributed to "Colpo d' aria!" .. you got bad back ? "Un colpo d' aria !" .. you got a cold ? "Sicuramente un colpo d' aria" ... a neck stiffness ? "Un COLPO D' ARIA!" .. A bad headache "Un colpo d' aria!" .. and so on ..

It's not just "folklore" even some doctors will talk about "an air stroke" .. it's really FEARED !

"Timmy get well dressed put the scarf and the hat on before to go out or you'll get AN AIR STROKE!"

Thanks Paula for mentioning it, I never tought as a translation " a cold draft " but that's PRECISELY IT

[zip accident]

As an aside - I keep needing to remind my mother, colds spread, not by one being cold ("Wrap up warm, or you'll catch your death of cold!"), but from keeping company with people who have colds (which happens more in winter, as we as a society huddle together for metaphorical warmth).
...

*SNIP* and they say it's because a cold draft must have reached them.

THIS is the FAMOUS "Colpo d' aria" i.e. "Air stroke" SO FEARFULLY DREADED in Italy

In Italy "there's various aliments" attributed to "Colpo d' aria!" .. you got bad back ? "Un colpo d' aria !" .. you got a cold ? "Sicuramente un colpo d' aria" ... a neck stiffness ? "Un COLPO D' ARIA!" .. A bad headache "Un colpo d' aria!" .. and so on ..

It's not just "folklore" even some doctors will talk about "an air stroke" .. it's really FEARED !

"Timmy get well dressed put the scarf and the hat on before to go out or you'll get AN AIR STROKE!"

Thanks Paula for mentioning it, I never tought as a translation " a cold draft " but that's PRECISELY IT

On Ilkley Moor b'at 'at

[KlaxonCow]

To quickly address Kellogg's rightful criticism, I was simplifying to make the point. Arguably, yes, simplifying to a fault - so I take your rebuke with good grace.

One of the many reasons why I insist on "long posts" is actually because to simplify beyond Aristotle's "necessary complexity" either leads to actual error, or - to correct that error - becomes re-inflated once more with all the exceptions and exemptions that put the missing "necessary complexity" back in. Einstein had a quote for this: "Make things as simple as possible... but no simpler".

Covid and four other viruses that are commonly labelled under the umbrella term of "the common cold" colloquially are coronaviruses. There are others - you're right - but I was simplifying those out of the way to make the point. Maybe incorrectly and inaccurately so.

But I thought it was fine in this instance, because my point - the focus of what I was saying - was that "what's good for the goose is good for the gander too". That these viruses - heck, even the ones that ain't coronaviruses - are comparable. Roughly on the same scale, transfer in much the same ways, etc..

You get the gist. A face mask that can filter covid can also filter other viruses - and, more generally, any particles - of similar or larger size.

And, yes, I also addressed - as you did - that lockdown and social distancing also worked because, yes, these viruses are transferred from person to person. Not because of an "ill wind".

Indeed, as PFVA noted, there is an irony that places lock themselves up as air-tight as possible, to keep the cold out. As they fear that "ill wind". But they're actually making things worse, by not ventilating that indoor space.

Yeah, if you or those around you are feeling unwell, then the real "go to" ought to be washing your hands and face. Maybe a swill of mouthwash. Antibacterial wipes on surfaces. That sort of thing.

Point is, this stuff is germs.

The reason why it tends to happen in cold Winter times is, yes, partly because folks huddle together for warmth. But another reason is that the immune system is actually weakened in cold weather too. It's a bit of a nasty "perfect storm", if you will. In Winter, you tend to expose yourself to other people in closer proximity - so you up the chances of coming into contact - AND the immune system ain't at its peak efficiency, when your body temperature is down.

As always with these little myths, there's a grain of truth hiding in there somewhere. Which is why it first formed, people believed it and the meme gets propagated. You should keep warm, though I wouldn't say that's anywhere near being the most important factor here.

BUT, with an airborne virus, then proper ventilation - so you hopefully don't even come into contact with it at all - is way better than putting on a scarf and gloves. Keeping the germs away in the first place - preventative - beats aiding the immune system - curative, as that only matters if you do actually catch it - because preventions are better than cures.

Though, ideally, you should probably do both.

[Ollie]

The reason why it tends to happen in cold Winter times is, yes, partly because folks huddle together for warmth. But another reason is that the immune system is actually weakened in cold weather too. It's a bit of a nasty "perfect storm", if you will. In Winter, you tend to expose yourself to other people in closer proximity - so you up the chances of coming into contact - AND the immune system ain't at its peak efficiency, when your body temperature is down.

The mucosal immune system, in particular, is weakened when your nose gets cold, which gives you another reason to wear a mask - to keep your nose warm.

[KlaxonCow]

The mucosal immune system, in particular, is weakened when your nose gets cold

Yeah, this.

As I say, there's usually a grain of truth underlying myths. A real and true nucleus upon which all the surrounding bullshit sticks.

We're talking about a virus. Viruses do not spontaneously appear, from nowhere, just because it's cold. The cold unto itself cannot cause infection.

But the Winter cold lowers our defences, whilst also affecting our behaviour - to be more social in indoor spaces. These environmental changes give the virus the edge it needs that we see these Winter "explosions" in infections.

Oh, also, the Sun's UV light is quite good at killing things off too. But, in Winter (for the Northern Hemisphere), there's less sunlight for less time. So we also basically lose another link in the chain mail of defences over Winter.

(Note also that you often run a temperature when you're ill. Your body temperature soars. That's part of the general immune defences, attempting to "burn it off". Make the internal environment "hostile" to the infection.)

The cold, unto itself, cannot cause infection. Viruses do not spontaneously appear because the temperature's down. But, when it is cold, some of our defences weaken - immune system, the Sun's sterilising influence, folks tend to huddle closer together, etc. - and this gives the viruses that "edge" it needs to increase its spread.

[merman]

China have given up on zero COVID. Worrying.

[skab]

But, in Winter (for the Northern Hemisphere), there's less sunlight for less time.

I'm pretty sure it's that way in the southern hemisphere, too