Coronavirus Q&A

I have a compromised immune system and have been getting gamma globulins every 28 days since I was a child(I'm 41 now).I'm also on a immunosuppressant(Remicade for severe arthritis since I was 16).I talked to my doctor who is infectious disease two weeks ago because I help out my father.He's 77(just retired as a pharmacist after 50 + years in December).He's in good health.No underlining condtions(in that way,he's in better shape than me).but my doctor said that between the two of us,I'm the better candidate to go out places for necessary errands(grocery and supply shopping,banking,pharmacy) due to 1) my age and 2) my immune system is being boosted by the gamma globulins.

I'm being as careful as I can.I wash,wash,wash my hands regularly.I only go out for supplies(food,meds if necessary,and the bank drive threw) once a week,on Friday mornings.And I do the grocery shopping as soon as they open at the crack of dawn when the stores has the fewest people(and I keep my distance of the ones who are there).The past two weeks,I started at 6 am and I'm completely done everything by between 10 or 11 in the morning finishing with dropping off stuff for my father(so he doesn't have to go out to places at all).Every place I go I wear rubber gloves and change them after each store(so I usually have two or three extra pair of gloves on me depending on how many stops I'm making).I have several boxes of rubber gloves.Probably more than enough to last over a year.And I wear a mask.Since I have a limited number of masks I just keep the mask on until I'm completely done for the morning(I have two boxes of masks and I believe there is 20 in a box.Since I only go out once a week,I only need one mask a week so I think they will last me a while.Plus I'm careful not to touch my eyes/non mask parts of my face while out and about.As soon as I'm done for the morning and the final pair of gloves off,I scrub my hands.I have hand sanitizer but limited because it's hard to get.My doctor said hand soap is just as good and I have plenty of that.So I only use the hand sanitizer to clean with after being out and use hand soap the rest of the time.

So Friday mornings(like today) I do the errands for myself and my father and then I don't have to set foot outside my home for another 7 days.1 morning a week out for errands,the rest of the days I go nowhere.

Is there any other precautions I can take?I wouldn't even go out once a week if I didn't have to but there is no way around that for certain things(delivery isn't a good option for groceries and some of the supplies needed nor banking) and I'm trying to keep my dad from having to go out places.

The short answer is - Yes!
These sorts of "population curves" have been used by biologists for many years (so they are nothing new).
In fact, the *preliminary data* does appear to indicate that the population curve is beginning to flatten here in the US (in other words, social distancing seems to be starting to work):

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/03/24/coronavirus-social-distancing-fever-charting-kinsa/2897136001/?for-guid=3f01ae80-8344-4a91-af96-81a8cc3c05d0&utm_source=usatoday-The+Short+List&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=narrative&utm_term=article_body&fbclid=IwAR0FVJJxB7pdiipZMT3l9S-0u8HYGBQaWS9V5yfms0DomYArZCParzjXO8s

A friend of mine asked whether the virus passes through the digestive tract unharmed (it does), and which disinfectants work. All the common ones will destroy the virus, but you have to leave them on the surface for a minute or so before wiping them off:

"She is correct about the Coronavirus passing through the digestive tract untouched. Although it is protected only a thin layer of lipids (not a thick protein coat like gastrointestinal viruses), the gastric juices and stomach acid won't destroy this virus. However, the lipid layer is easily penetrated and the virus subsequently destroyed by bases (like the quarternary ammonium compounds in disinfectant sprays like Lysol), alcohol (70% solution or higher concentration), and oxidizing agents (including bleach and peroxide)."

Hi comicfan, sorry to hear about your situation. Being immunocompromised, the virus is indeed a severe danger for you and your father.

Yes,not a great situation but I do the best I can.I'm actually not surprised my doctor recommended me to be the one to go out over my father.As he pointed out,between the two of us I have a little more going for me because I'm much younger than my father and the big thing is that I do get Gamma Globulins every month.That's probably the difference maker.If I wasn't getting them,my father probably would of been the better option.Before the Gamma Globulins as a child,I was sick all the time.Infection on top of infection on top of infection.Once I began Gamma Globulin treatment,I stopped getting sick and only get ill maybe once in the blue moon with a cold.Basically like normal people.I tried going off the Gamma globulins treatment about 14 years ago(this was before I started Remicade) and immediately starting getting sick with infections again.I quickly resumed treatment and was fine and no way can I ever be off them now while taking a immunosuppressant for my arthritis.It's a pain in the neck because both are I.V. medications.At least I can coordinate them together so I only have to be stuck once.The Gamma Globulins are every 28 days while the Remicade is every 8 weeks.So a Remicade month,I leave the catheter in and flush the line after the Gamma Globulins and reuse it the next day for the Remicade.

Your precautions sound pretty airtight. One thing I might point out though is you mention changing gloves. Be sure to wash/disinfect your hands between changing gloves. That applies to masks as well, also avoid touching face as much as possible when removing mask. Other than that sounds like you’re doing the best you can given what you have. Stay safe and good luck

Yes,I keep one of my hand sanitizers on me when I'm out and use it after each glove change in my car and then again when I'm completely finished at home and use hand soap the rest of the time.And I'm careful with removing the gloves too.

I wish I could get more hand sanitizer but no place has it that I can find.I'm fine for now though.

I'm very careful removing the mask.And I only remove it once I'm completely done being out for the morning/day.I know the masks are better for use if you're already sick to keep others from catching things from you but my doctor said since I have them,it's not a bad idea to use it given my condtion.But he emphasized definitely use the gloves.

I'm loaded up with gloves due to my I.V. needs.I use them when I flush the line and remove the I.V. when done.

The only reason I have the masks is because I bought them when my mother had to go in the hospital several times over the years(she passed away a number of years ago) and had to wear them when I would visit her due to my immune system.

What we're doing is working - so let's keep it up!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/04/07/coronavirus-anthony-fauci-social-distancing-deborah-birx/2959335001/?fbclid=IwAR2xgO6glvMXl7J5GSlWljsKUb1XP6CFckXJg9ULn8BtKRlhUoC7vY_DtDQ

An interesting interview with the director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).Good to hear most people are in fact "social distancing". The original CDC models got it wrong, because they assumed (incorrectly) that only about half the public would do as they requested.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/07/cdc_director_robert_redfield_because_american_public_did_social_distancing_coronavirus_death_toll_will_be_much_much_much_lower.html

There is something that needs to be said about the COVID-19 pandemic, but most people in the scientific community don't seem to want to come right out and say it. So I guess I will. The pandemic will run its course, but don't expect things to return to the way they were anytime soon. There will eventually be a vaccine, but it may well take years for an effective one to be developed. (So far the record for the fastest has been the mumps vaccine, which took four years.) Until then, the novel coronavirus will be with us, just as polio once was.Until there is a vaccine, there will be periodic outbreaks and flare-ups of COVID-19. Hopefully, there will effective treatments available by the end of the year. Unfortunately, chloroquine (and hydroxychloroquine) has not lived up to its initial promise.For one thing, its side effects have been a major problem. Some trials on COVID-19 patients had to be halted, because the patients developed serious heart problems (cardiac arrhythmia). And in some cases, ti didn't seem to help anyway. On the other hand, remdesivir (originally developed to counter the Ebola virus) has shown promise in recent trials against COVID-19, Perhaps it, and other compound similar to it, will indeed prove useful as a treatment for coronavirus patients. But at any rate, we're going to have to deal with this pathogen for a while yet - probably years. It's not going to disappear any time soon. Unfortunately, we're going to have to face that fact.

Yes, the curve has flattened here in Florida!
Social distancing has worked here, too.
Good news, finally!
I really didn't think we'd be past the peak of the first wave of the pandemic this quickly
(Earler predictions were that it wouldn't peak until about the second week of May.)
\

Yes, the second wave of the Spanish Flu was worse than the first.
What I really meant to say was that I didn't think that the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 would be over so fast here in Florida. (The earlier predictions were that it would peak around the second week of May.) Now that's good news, and I'll take it.
As fo a second (or third) wave, it's way to early to make any meaningful predictions at this point. Let's just hope for the best.
At any rate, things are shut down here in South Florida, and will likely be that way through May. We will surely not be returning to our classrooms this school year.

Yes, in my own Supergirl fan fiction, I've tried to make my Latina chemistry professor character, Susan Ramirez, as realistic as possible (in a science fiction screenplay). Basically, I've tried to make her the sort of person that Kara would immediately take a liking to, and would very likely regard as a best friend.
Here's how I picture her, on the job in her lab

:

Actually, she is based on a former colleague.But one who was an English (not science) teacher at my school. That's where I got Susan's personality quirks and pet phrases from.
I changed her from an English to a science teacher to give Kara and the other "Superfriends" a go-to person for questions or problems dealing with chemistry or biology. Susan's research field is forensic chemistry. So she knows all about compounds that are actually dangerous in the real world - like chlorine trifluoride. Susan also figured out the chemical composition of kryptonite quite easily, so she was able to come up with a efficient method of deactivating it.

Yes, finally! The first real breakthrough on COVID-19 treatments. I thought that remdesivir might very well turn out to be effective against a coronavirus.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/29/gilead-coronavirus-remdesivir-220484?fbclid=IwAR0zdYvOmVcVyOjEQMu00tv-yiMAKVKPMuP-Tr-AmFCCeRla-S0DVCZhyvE

Yes, finally! The first real breakthrough on COVID-19 treatments. I thought that remdesivir might very well turn out to be effective against a coronavirus.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/29/gilead-coronavirus-remdesivir-220484?fbclid=IwAR0zdYvOmVcVyOjEQMu00tv-yiMAKVKPMuP-Tr-AmFCCeRla-S0DVCZhyvE

Stew, while Remdesivir looks to be the weapon against this virus, the truth is an even bigger one, especially when it comes to the number of people dead because of this. Is the number listed as dead from Covid-19 REALLY dead from it?

Project Veritas, an underground journalism outlet which does the work the big money controlled media will not, has done another one of their undercover investigations. This one found funeral directors in the city hardest hit by the virus, New York saying the number of dead is being artificially inflated.

In late April, a Project Veritas reporter spoke with Michael Lanza, the director of Staten Island’s Colonial Funeral Home.

“To be honest with you, all of the death certificates are writing COVID on it, they’re writing COVID on all the death certificates,” Lanza said.

Lanza said [Mayor Bill]DeBlasio might see inflated COVID death tallies as a way to bring more money to New York City. “Whether they had a positive test or didn’t, so I think again this is my personal opinion, I think like the mayor and our city--they’re looking for federal funding and the more they put COVID on the death certificate the more they can ask from the federal funds.”

A Brooklyn Funeral Director said a 40-year-old died at home with no symptoms other than fever, but was toe-tagged as a COVID-19 Victim.

https://www.projectveritas.com/news/breaking-funeral-directors-in-covid-19-epicenter-doubt-legitimacy-of-deaths/

Now here you go - one of :"Florida's Best and Brightest"!

[video]https://www.facebook.com/stewart.tick/videos/1932842276847129/[/video]

I thought this might be helpful to some of you:

From the American Chemical Society, a "disinfectant cheat sheet"



https://cen.acs.org/safety/consumer-safety/chemists-guide-disinfectants/98/web/2020/05?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=CEN

From Chemical & Engineering News (an American Chemical Society publication:

"Alcohol-based products work,” Thordarson says. “But nothing beats soap.”

Yes, that's what I've been telling everyone - soap is the "gold standard" for disinfecting your hands!
Hand sanitizer works, too - but not as well.

Useful when you don’t have access to a sink and some soap, hand sanitizers have become a hot commodity in the face of COVID-19

http://cen.acs.org/content/cen/articles/98/i12/hand-sanitizer-does-keep-hands.html?fbclid=IwAR2XrXMthD1pzBl_cwwyL3JEvrjy6fBPj5MEFcFdl1QT4QsmMkmgTB_fSN0

I am wondering if Black Lightning will be the first to resume production of the Arrowverse shows, as it films in Geogia as opposed to Vancouver. GA was one of the first states to reopen and Tyler Perry studios, located in GA, announced it will soon reopen.

This is interesting and informative.
A "Summer Survival Guide" during the pandemic:


https://www.wpbf.com/article/rossen-reports-heres-how-risky-these-summer-activities-are-for-coronavirus-spread/32759068?fbclid=IwAR0rp0dCnimRgqcu8D19ClqnEEOvKy8ypKd1USC2IDc_aGJVlbdQnJczfxY

This is what I thought might turn out to be case - the COVID-19 vaccine will likely require a booster shot after the first one, like the tetanus or shingles vaccines:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/06/04/coronavirus-vaccine-may-require-two-shots-effective-heres-why/5309046002/?fbclid=IwAR3u_hV9QbsIe-J6omHUGlUE6jlwcTGN1r2xp2k8fE3hGu--_96vn9ZyswE

What's with the movement in the US against Coronavirus measures like social-distancing?