COVID-19 | Effects on Skoolies - No Politics please.

[gs1949]

I can't remember exactly where I read that most agencies reporting COVID-19 deaths in the US were not counting people who died at home.

However. Oregon is reporting them, at least now.
From the latest Oregon Health Authority COVID bulletin: "Oregon’s 75th COVID-19 death is a 45-year-old man in Marion County, who tested positive on April 14 and died April 18 at his residence. He had underlying medical conditions."

 

[EastCoastCB]

social distancing 420-

 

[gs1949]

That's the way to do it.

 

[JDSquared]

social distancing 420-

I thought maybe you let the pup carry it back and forth lol.
Edit: on the left hand side of course

 

[EastCoastCB]

I thought maybe you let the pup carry it back and forth lol.
Edit: on the left hand side of course

Nah, that's about as close as I let the dog get to me. He's socially distancing too. With his low nostrils he's not a big worry. I wasn't happy he brought the dog again but all I have to do is clap my hands and the dog curls up under his owner.

 

[banman]

I have been thinking about putting my used masks in the freezer, but instead what I have been doing is just leaving them in the car, since it's usually about a week before I use it again. Except today, when it hadn't been a week, so I used a new mask.

I do have a 3M P95 Organic Vapor mask that I bought from Amazon when I was painting the inside of the bus with oil-based enamel, which completely kills the paint smell when wearing it. It uses cartridges which are fairly expensive, but there are dust filters you put over the outside of the vapor cartridges. I have no idea if it would work for COVID, but I think it should probably work better than a paper dusk mask. The dust filters are like multiple layers of gauze.

I'm glad you sound a little calmer -- stress lowers the body's immunity...

Storing a mask in the freezer will allow the virus to survive longer compared to a warm car -- my car heats up over 100°F inside pretty quickly with some sunshine. This higher heat will kill the virus quicker...

Your P95 mask will work very well for you in public if it was fitted to you and worn correctly.
I was wearing my respirator (p100 filters) for 3 hours straight last week working in my attic, swimming in 14" of loose fiberglass insulation...
(thanks military misery conditioning training -- it comes in handy sometimes...) still tired me out...

You've identified yourself as a person at risk (pneumonia) by all means wear your mask if you have to go out and be around others you can't control.
Realize after wearing your mask in public that the filter may be contaminated with covid-19 -- that's why you wore it in the first place right? So take care in removing and storing the mask. I won't speculate how many hours of exposure time the P95 filters you have are good for. Read OSHA's use charts and make your own conclusions as you're no longer using the filter for oily substances. My respirator was for working around fuel vapors and we'd use 'em till we felt a change in breathing effort...
You obviously won't clog your filter breathing ambient air -- potential for cross contamination will be your bigger issue.

Stay well

 

[gs1949]

That fiberglass does not sound like fun, but at least you have the right equipment, and the right attitude.

You may be right about warmer temperatures being faster to destroy viruses, but I am not sure 100 is warm enough, and this old 1959 Carrier we have here for a freezer is very cold, nearly -15F if I remember correctly. Plus it has no temperature adjustment mechanism. It was pre-set at the factory.

Because viruses are not alive, just a package of genetic material that hijacks their host's cells to reproduce. But viruses are usually protected by a protein coating which can be damaged or destroyed in a number of ways, thus allowing the RNA inside to deteriorate enough to become unable to hijack host cells. I suspect that would occur faster at -15 than at slightly warmer temperatures, but it might not.

 

[banman]

That fiberglass does not sound like fun, but at least you have the right equipment, and the right attitude.

You may be right about warmer temperatures being faster to destroy viruses, but I am not sure 100 is warm enough, and this old 1959 Carrier we have here for a freezer is very cold, nearly -15F if I remember correctly. Plus it has no temperature adjustment mechanism. It was pre-set at the factory.

Because viruses are not alive, just a package of genetic material that hijacks their host's cells to reproduce. But viruses are usually protected by a protein coating which can be damaged or destroyed in a number of ways, thus allowing the RNA inside to deteriorate enough to become unable to hijack host cells. I suspect that would occur faster at -15 than at slightly warmer temperatures, but it might not.

Temps I gave here and in my PM to you are not my recommended temps -- They're the CDC's recommended temps...

Regarding basic biology and RNA you're technically correct -- still, it's so much simpler to say "kill" the virus...
*More importantly you can keep the covid-19 RNA intact (and thus dangerous to you!) for up to two years at -15°F Why in the world do you wanna do that!

 

[gs1949]

I guess there probably isn't enough moisture in a virus to damage the RNA when it freezes. And maybe there wouldn't be enough moisture in it for a microwave to damage it either. But the problem with depending on the sun to warm up a car enough to cook viruses around here is that it doesn't ever get very hot here. The warmest day we have had so far this year is about 66. That was a few days ago There was plenty of sun, so in a car in full sun it might have hit almost 90. Today there was no sun at all and it never got much over 50.

I am about ready to call it a day today, since I get up at the crack of dawn these days, but tomorrow I think my first research project will be finding out what's been written about destroying these viruses, or at least help them deteriorate quickly.

At least they're not as tough as some viruses. I have always been told that canine distemper viruses can remain viable in the dirt for several years.

 

[Oscar1]

social distancing 420-

You guys need to relax! Way too much stress going on there. Lol

 

[gs1949]

Yeah, they look fairly relaxed but there's always room for a little more relaxation in times of such intense stress.

 

[Native-SKO]

Regarding social distancing...
"It's akin to saying, 'The parachute has slowed our rate of descent, so it's now safe to take it off,'" State Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Dallas, said of Abbott's eagerness to reopen businesses.

It is a little misleading to quote a political rival's politically motivated comment on what Governor Abbot actually said. This is an article covering Gov. Abbot's plan to open up the Texas economy in which he states:

"Texans are battling a colossal challenge, an invisible enemy that has tested our lives and tested our livelihoods,” Abbott said. “Together, we can bend the curve. Together we can overcome this pandemic. We can get folks back to work.”

... which is a far cry from taking off the parachute right after it opens.

 

[banman]

It is a little misleading to quote a political rival's politically motivated comment on what Governor Abbot actually said. This is an article covering Gov. Abbot's plan to open up the Texas economy in which he states:

... which is a far cry from taking off the parachute right after it opens.

D'oh!
I didn't even think about that -- truth be told I was just looking for this meme and found the above quote first...

This is what I wanted to post:

 

[Native-SKO]

I guess there probably isn't enough moisture in a virus to damage the RNA when it freezes. And maybe there wouldn't be enough moisture in it for a microwave to damage it either. But the problem with depending on the sun to warm up a car enough to cook viruses around here is that it doesn't ever get very hot here. The warmest day we have had so far this year is about 66. That was a few days ago There was plenty of sun, so in a car in full sun it might have hit almost 90. Today there was no sun at all and it never got much over 50.

I am about ready to call it a day today, since I get up at the crack of dawn these days, but tomorrow I think my first research project will be finding out what's been written about destroying these viruses, or at least help them deteriorate quickly.

At least they're not as tough as some viruses. I have always been told that canine distemper viruses can remain viable in the dirt for several years.

You may want to also look up how the CDC and other research labs preserve the viruses they work on. Doing the opposite would lessen the chances of it infecting you.

 

[gs1949]

Well, that's not really a quote, not strictly speaking. Her use of the word akin signals that this is her interpretation.

But from reading what he said, it looks to me like she might not have been listening very well because of her general political opposition.

So have the Texas Democrats come up with either their own plan or specific criticisms of Abbot's plan, or are they just offering vague criticisms of Abbot's plan? It seems to me that a cautious approach like Abbot's is usually better than sitting still and hoping more stuff doesn't fall on your head.

 

[Native-SKO]

D'oh!
I didn't even think about that -- truth be told I was just looking for this meme and found the above quote first...

This is what I wanted to post:

View attachment 43565

LOL!!!


My wife and I saw that meme too .. we had a chuckle. Strange that the Rep. from Dallas chose to quote it.

 

[Native-SKO]

Well, that's not really a quote, not strictly speaking. Her use of the word akin signals that this is her interpretation.

But from reading what he said, it looks to me like she might not have been listening very well because of her general political opposition.

So have the Texas Democrats come up with either their own plan or specific criticisms of Abbot's plan, or are they just offering vague criticisms of Abbot's plan? It seems to me that a cautious approach is usually better than sitting still and hoping more stuff doesn't fall on your head.

I have not seen any such reported plans other than the one Abbot presented. Comments, yes.

 

[banman]

LOL!!!


My wife and I saw that meme too .. we had a chuckle. Strange that the Rep. from Dallas chose to quote it.

Right?!

What I'm guilty of in this case was following the good rule of siting a quote to the point of ignoring the context and it's grounds for distraction...

 

[gs1949]

I have not seen any such reported plans other than the one Abbot presented. Comments, yes.

That's exactly what I figured. Not surprising at all.

 

[Native-SKO]

We have been in stay-at-home mode for so long, I do not even know what the price of fuel is now. I heard that the May oil futures dropped from $20.00/barrel to -$40.00/barrel ... yes, negative!


It sure would be nice to be able to take a trip with the fuel prices dropping.


Looking at GasBuddy ... our local QT has diesel for $1.99/gallon ... not bad. Now regular gas is $1.16/gallon ... wow!


So when will the diesel prices drop more?