Hacker News Reader

Comment by dvduval | Hacker News Reader

It's getting real now. Wash you hands, and avoid touching your face. Plan to spend less time in close proximity to others.

I saw a message at a dance studio in Monterey Park, which is like a Chinatown section of Los Angeles. The sign outside says that if you have been to China recently, please self quarantine yourself for 14 days before entering the dance studio.

I could definitely notice a difference in the approach they had. They are already worried about it and they are taking steps. I'm not really sure we're ready for this thing. But it's here. It sure seems that way anyway.

View on HN

> The sign outside says that if you have been to China recently

It is no longer only China at this moment, it is literally EVERYWHERE....

I'm not going to disagree with you on this point. I was more just reporting what I saw at this dance studio in Chinatown.

97% of cases have been in China so far.

Of course if you don't test, there's no case. I came back from Japan 3 weeks ago, when I saw the news of the community transmission there (happened 4 weeks ago) I figured I'd get tested because of flu symptoms.

The doctor didn't have advice besides to ask the emergency room, who weren't going to send anything in unless I had a high fever and a recent trip to Hubei.

I'd hoped 3 more weeks was enough time for the US to get prepared, but it seems not. Am I carrier? Who knows.

But US had rejected China travelers' entry and it had been almost 3 weeks now.

The chance that people here in get the virus from travelers from Italy/Japan/South Korea/Middle East is MUCH higher than that from China at this very moment.

US citizens are still allowed to travel to and from China, and there are multiple flights every day.

Yes, and they are supposed to self-quarantine on return for 14 days.

No such rule is present with S. Korea or Italy.

A random traveler from S. Korea/Italy is far "riskier" at this point.

(Bonus: It's actually really hard to fly directly from China to the US at this point. Your best bets (esp. in the north) are transit through S. Korea or Japan, both infected places)

New cases outside China now out number new cases in China. So the balance is shifting.

South Korea has tested 66k 2 days ago. China has no such capacity to test even that much, let along 800 million in quanrantine, and people have been welded in their own homes with no escape. The dead bodies have been going straight to the furnace in Wuhan. Which government’s number would you rather trust?

Their Fire Eye lab claims to process 10k tests per day. Wuhan in total can process 25k per day [1]

Plus China recent donated 12,500 test kits to Japan [2]

Of course, you seems to dismiss anything from China's official account, then you can choose to believe whatever depends on you political stance.

[1] https://m.chinanews.com/wap/detail/zw/kong/2020/02-26/910563...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E18_1mwDTrM

Countries that are heavily affected right now primarily have open borders with China (still!!?) - japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran, with tons of Chinese workers going back and forth

US had banned travelers with recent Chinese history from entering the countries effectively from Feb 2nd.

I would be much more alert right now as regards to people from Europe/Middle East. Iran is a pretty powerful source of infections to the whole region and so far is just keep escalating.

BTW: in Iran's case, they banned entry from China early on, but one of the merchants gets to China via 3rd country and bring the virus back home.

At this point, I suspect that the East Coast, like New York or Boston, is going to get hit next. And the infected vectors are going to come in from Europe.

Once Manhattan reports its first confirmed case, then it’s over. This thing will go full blown.

What does it matter anymore who can and can't enter really ? It's everywhere, it's spread the globe, it's now in American communities and it's here to stay. It's no longer just a foreign issue now.

It's time to assume the brace position, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Because GP's username is "taiwan boy" and if you look at his comment history it would be obvious why it matters for him.

Italy has blocked flights to and from China pretty early. It seems that this prevented tracing and monitoring people coming from China, because they just flew in through a different country.

" It's getting real now. Wash you hands, and avoid touching your face. Plan to spend less time in close proximity to others."

It is airborne. This virus attacks the lungs (please google). Why on earth are people saying wash your hands. It transfers through: "respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes." Wash your hands sure, but this isn't going to save you --- watch what you BREATH.

The virus isn't truly airborne. The respiratory droplets can be carried in the air short distances, but direct infection from that is extremely unlikely outside of someone literally sneezing in your face.

This is in contrast to diseases like anthrax, where particles can be carried on air currents basically indefinitely and direct infection from the airborne disease is likely.

Did you make this up? Can you site a source?

I'm too lazy to cite sources but I'll say I've read plenty that confirm that it is not 'airborne'.

Nonetheless, I understand that it's aerosolised and this does carry further than just a sneeze to the face. So, worse than crooked-v says, but better than airborne.

Happy to be corrected though.

Droplets contaminated public surfaces like door handles, elevator buttons, etc, and one person normally touches his/her face hundreds of times per day.

Because there are other vectors of contact besides breathing. Since we can't stop breathing, we can at least minimize infection through other vectors, even if they represent less likely avenues of infection.

Not sure why you are getting downvoted. There are many unknowns with this and if you see what is happening in China to disinfect, they clearly believe it is airborne.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com