Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID-19)

[Michelle]

I think by now most people are aware of the novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), but because a lot of people in our forum travel, I wanted to spread awareness about the severity of the virus and what you can do to keep yourself and others safe.

Most experts and scientists agree that COVID-19 will continue to spread (it has a very high infection rate and people who have the virus can spread it even if they are not yet showing symptoms). Illness from COVID-19 has ranged from mild symptoms to severe respiratory illness and death. Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Complications include pneumonia, kidney failure, and death.

There is concern that it could reach pandemic status. The virus has hit China very hard (where it originated - first case documented in Wuhan on Dec 31, 2019) with entire cities shutting down as more and more people have become infected with the virus.

Travelers from China are banned from entering the US (with the exception of American evacuees who have been brought to US military bases for a 14 day quarantine). The CDC is recommending that travelers avoid nonessential travel to China.

WHO has declared a global emergency. There is growing concern of COVID-19 spreading to countries with weak healthcare systems. With more cases popping up everyday outside of China, and very strict quarantine procedures for those people, in the upcoming days we'll see if these measures will slow and contain the spread of COVID-19.

Please let this further encourage you to cover your nose and mouth if you cough/sneeze, avoid travel if you are sick, wash hands frequently, when you can't wash your hands use hand sanitizer, and avoid touching your face. If you're traveling by airplane (or bus), it would not be unwise to bring along a travel pack of disinfectant wipes to wipe down your armrests and table.

Here are some links for info on COVID-19:

Basic protective measures against the new coronavirus: https://www.who.int/emergencies/dise...ice-for-public

CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak: https://www.who.int/emergencies/dise...ronavirus-2019

[kittyo9]

Absolutely!!! I am astounded by the number of people who still sneeze into their hands, or cough without covering their mouth. Sneeze or cough into your elbows if you can and wash your hands after being in a public area (toilet, subway, university, etc.). Travel size bottles of hand sanitizer are available at many convenience stores or any place you'd get travel toiletries.

For those interested in following the spread and recovery, Johns Hopkins has put together a really cool interactive display that they update regularly as information about confirmed cases and recoveries is reported. https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/a...23467b48e9ecf6

[Michelle]

For anyone wanting to keep up to date on the latest on COVID-19, I have found these YouTube channels to be very informative:

Dr. John Campbell https://www.youtube.com/user/Campbellteaching

Peak Prosperity: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChrisMartensondotcom

[Michelle]

I hope everyone is paying attention to the news on the coronavirus. It is really starting to get out of hand.

Another good source of info: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/

[Christophe516]

I have been focusing solely on what:

Dr Fauci(NIH Director, NIAID)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus(WHO Director-General)
Robert R. Redfield(Director, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)

-say. So I avoid the opinionated inaccuracies of the politicos', the tv networks, and the everyday individual. So, I don't get consumed with runaway fear. As I have seen in a number of people close to me.