The COVID-19 Science and Medicine Question Thread

Just a word about wearing gloves. They are great but they often give the wearer a false sense of security. I have seen multiple people with gloves touching their faces with them on. Just think about what you are touching while wearing them. After you take them off use soap and water or purell to clean your hands, and for the love of God DISPOSE OF THEM PROPERLY. In a garbage can not the ground.

I have done it. Just make sure whatever you are using doesnt break down the glove

That second post was a reply to you Cany

I have done it. Just make sure whatever you are using doesnt break down the glove

Thanks Bud I try too use them when I have to touch a bill or a delivery I dont wear them when working(on cars) and I try my best not too touch me face during the process

Great idea on "rotations" . I hang my "car masks" by off the rear view mirror so they get a UV bath...

I did this today....LMFAO...... this would have been my next question.

Gloves I am ditching more often ( properly) some people just drop them in parking lots...that horrible.

People Suck.

[Ultra Violet Sanitizers]('https://www.amazon.com/Sanitizer-Disinfection-Long-Life-Ultraviolet-Batteries/dp/B086464B62/ref=sr_1_43?crid=VR531LDKMIPU&dchild=1&keywords=ultraviolet+sanitizer&qid=1587508100&s=beauty&sprefix=Ultraviolet%2Cbeauty%2C235&sr=1-43')

Not looking for an recommendation on this particular product, but in general are they effective for small areas such as facial masks, bits of counter tops etc. I’m sure that protection of ones eyes is paramount. I no longer own a car so I don’t have a rear view mirror.

[Ultra Violet Sanitizers]('https://www.amazon.com/Sanitizer-Disinfection-Long-Life-Ultraviolet-Batteries/dp/B086464B62/ref=sr_1_43?crid=VR531LDKMIPU&dchild=1&keywords=ultraviolet+sanitizer&qid=1587508100&s=beauty&sprefix=Ultraviolet%2Cbeauty%2C235&sr=1-43')

Not looking for an recommendation on this particular product, but in general are they effective for small areas such as facial masks, bits of counter tops etc. I’m sure that protection of ones eyes is paramount. I no longer own a car so I don’t have a rear view mirror.

I wonder if my UV light i USE for detecting HVAC leaks would work

[Ultra Violet Sanitizers]('https://www.amazon.com/Sanitizer-Disinfection-Long-Life-Ultraviolet-Batteries/dp/B086464B62/ref=sr_1_43?crid=VR531LDKMIPU&dchild=1&keywords=ultraviolet+sanitizer&qid=1587508100&s=beauty&sprefix=Ultraviolet%2Cbeauty%2C235&sr=1-43')

Not looking for an recommendation on this particular product, but in general are they effective for small areas such as facial masks, bits of counter tops etc. I’m sure that protection of ones eyes is paramount. I no longer own a car so I don’t have a rear view mirror.

I wonder if my UV light i USE for detecting HVAC leaks would work

The only recommendation I can give is NOT! For effective sterilization, without making yourself a lobstah or blind, you need a proper wavelength in a sealed chamber. Kids, don't try this at home...

I'm sure we'll be seeing a spate of "COVID-19 UV Sanitizers" popping up left and right, but it will be doubtful they were properly tested for efficacy and/or safety.

R7- (and others) great job on this thread. Being retired we go out once a week for groceries and a take-out place but other than walking at our nearby park, have really stayed at home. Better half at jigsaw puzzles and me making another model, HMS Warspite this time. Question-
We already had a couple dozen dust masks I use sanding (and the couple that better half sewed for herself), along with a box of latex (?) gloves I wear when dressing a deer. If I hang these out on the patio in full sun for a couple of days, turning them inside out etc. and then washing my hands, they can be reused ?

R7- (and others) great job on this thread. Being retired we go out once a week for groceries and a take-out place but other than walking at our nearby park, have really stayed at home. Better half at jigsaw puzzles and me making another model, HMS Warspite this time. Question-
We already had a couple dozen dust masks I use sanding (and the couple that better half sewed for herself), along with a box of latex (?) gloves I wear when dressing a deer. If I hang these out on the patio in full sun for a couple of days, turning them inside out etc. and then washing my hands, they can be reused ?

I'm not sure if you're talking about the gloves, masks or both? Obviously you can throw the cloth masks in a the washing machine in a "Sterilization Cycle". The dust masks, I'd just use a few times and toss, but it wouldn't hurt hanging them outside in the sun every couple of days. Remember not to touch the exterior and then touch the inside. Remember that cloth and dust mask are more to protect others from you than for protecting them from you.

Gloves are an interesting question. I would think that you it you wanted to reuse, I'd suggest washing them on your hands in very warm water with an antibacterial soap. This way you don't have to worry about taking them off and infected yourself while handling. If you do this, make sure you wipe off the faucet and handles with a disinfectant wipe and any other surfaces you may have touched on the way to wash your hands.

Remember you can't wash your hands too much nor too often... If you're not grabbing a bottle of moisturizer every couple of days, you're not washing frequently enough.

If the virus can't survive more than 72 hrs on its own, couldn't we just rotate gloves and masks every three days?

The gloves will dry out and get very brittle if you keep them outside or in the sun

If you want to wash and reuse I would dry them off completely and put in a ziplock bag for storing them

Nitrile gloves will stand up better than latex. Not even sure they make latex with all the allergies lately. At least we have not had them in the hospital for a few years now. The nitrile are blue and they stand up better than the yellowish ones.

mine are blue so yes, nitrile. From HFT more than a few years back. Not powdered so you really want dry hands! (latex was easier to remember, lol)

The gloves will dry out and get very brittle if you keep them outside or in the sun

The blue ones (like mine) lying on the street from some pig a few houses down haven't shown any deterioration in two weeks.

Yes nitrile will hold up better but they may not stretch if you put them on. They will look ok till you try and stretch them on your hand then they will break.

If I can chime in? I’m still working wish I could stay home. Gloves I wear all the time. I change them constantly! Even Purell them suckers while wearing as long as I didn’t tear them. Don’t drive yourself crazy if you’re not in a exposed environment your chances are low. Use good judgement. Wash hands change outside clothes and shower like you’re getting paid for it. Be fearful of anyone not wearing a mask right now. This shit will subside but not anytime soon. We gotta get used to it. If you’re a healthcare worker whole nother story. You guys fish right? We plan for danger? I know I do. Same mentality, safety first! Sandwiches and drinks second ??

The blue ones (like mine) lying on the street from some pig a few houses down haven't shown any deterioration in two weeks.

People are so thoughtless. At least yours are tossing them in the street. I've seen pictures of people leaving them in a shopping cart!!

BTW, I expect photos when you complete your model of that veteran from the Battle of Jutland!!

Maine may have just turned the corner. Nice to see the number of active cases going down, which means more people are resolving than new cases developing. Hopefully this trend will continue.

Granted, our numbers are rounding errors on the butt of more populace states like NY...

From today's "Don't Shoot The Messenger Files". Until there is an effective vaccine, it doesn't look like this problem is going away anytime soon. Many aspects of today's situation will continue as "the New Normal" into 2021 and possibly beyond...

[SIZE=7]CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus next winter will likely be worse[/SIZE]
[pressherald.com/2020/04/21/cdc-director-warns-second-wave-of-coronavirus-next-winter-will-likely-be-worse/]('https://www.pressherald.com/2020/04/21/cdc-director-warns-second-wave-of-coronavirus-next-winter-will-likely-be-worse/')

By Lena H. Sun Washington PostApril 21, 2020

Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more dire because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season.

“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”

“We’re going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,” he said. Having two simultaneous respiratory outbreaks would put unimaginable strain on the health-care system, he said. The first wave of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has already killed more than 42,000 people across the country. It has overwhelmed hospitals and revealed gaping shortages in test kits, ventilators and protective equipment for health-care workers.

In a wide-ranging interview, Redfield said federal and state officials need to use the coming months to prepare for what lies ahead. As stay-at-home orders are lifted, officials need to stress the continued importance of social distancing. Officials also need to massively scale up their ability to identify the infected through testing and find everyone they interact with through contact tracing. Doing so prevents new cases from becoming larger outbreaks.
Asked about the appropriateness of protests against stay-at-home orders and calls on states to be “liberated” from restrictions, Redfield said: “It’s not helpful.”

He said he, along with members of the White House coronavirus task force, have been clear about the importance of social distancing “and the enormous impact that it’s had on this outbreak in our nation.”

As part of the White House guidelines released last week for a gradual reopening of the country, testing by CDC teams is already underway in nursing homes in four states for asymptomatic cases. The four states are Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Tennessee.

The CDC has also drafted detailed guidance for state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. Redfield said that guidance will be “in the public domain shortly.”

The CDC has about 500 staff in the states working on a variety of public health issues, and most of them will be pivoting to the covid-19 response, Redfield said. CDC also plans to hire at least another 650 personnel as experts to “substantially augment” public health personnel in the states and assist with contact tracing, among other tasks, he said.

But he acknowledged a much larger workforce is needed. Redfield said the agency is talking with state officials about the possibility of using Census Bureau workers and Peace Corps and AmeriCorps volunteers to build “an alternative workforce.”

The Census Bureau had earlier suspended field operations because of the pandemic and census personnel are already located in every jurisdiction, Redfield said. If there is an agreement to use census workers, they could be trained “to be part of a comprehensive contact tracing effort,” he said.

“These are all discussions that are going on to try to determine what is the optimal strategy to be used,” he said. “And it may be some combination of all three.”

Former CDC director Tom Frieden has estimated that as many as 300,000 contact tracers would be needed in the United States. The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials — which represents state health departments — estimate 100,000 additional contact tracers are needed and call for $3.6 billion in emergency funding from Congress.

In the coming summer months, U.S. health officials need to persuade Americans to think ahead to the fall and the importance of getting flu shots. That way, public health officials can minimize the number of people hospitalized from flu. Getting a flu vaccination, Redfield said, “may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus.”

Luckily, the arrival of the novel coronavirus in the United States came as the regular flu season was waning, he said. By itself, a severe influenza season can strain hospitals and clinics.

If the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak and flu season had peaked at the same time, he said, “it could have been really, really, really, really difficult in terms of health capacity.”

During the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, the United States experienced its first wave in the spring, followed by a second, larger wave in the fall and winter, during typical “flu season” time for the country.