Everything you need to know about COVID-19

 Yes - I know, you are probably sick of reading about Covid-19. In this post I plan on telling you how to protect yourself and how to protect others. In addition I'd like to squash a few Covid-19 myths and point out a few truths about Covid-19. Let's start in reverse order.

Truths about Covid-19

Only a third of people infected with Covid-19 show the symptoms we've been told to look out for - a fever, a dry cough, loss of taste and smell. These are far from the only symptoms and some of the other symptoms are common. Here's what to look out for

• Headache	• Chest pain	• Difficulty sleeping	• Abdominal pain/tummy ache
• Sneezing	• Achy muscles	• Runny nose	• Red/purple sores or blisters on your feet (including toes)
• Diarrhoea	• Loss of sense of taste	• Loss of sense of smell	• Shortness of breath affecting normal activities
• Sore eyes	• Sore throat	• Hoarse voice	• New persistent cough
• Blocked nose	• Chills (feeling too cold)	• Fever (feeling too hot)	• Raised, red, itchy areas on the skin
• Tightness in chest	• Felt more tired than normal	• Severe fatigue (e.g. inability to get out of bed)	• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Dizziness	• Decrease in appetite	• Numbness or tingling somewhere in the body	• Feeling of heaviness in arms or legs
• Sudden swelling of the face or lips	• Brain 'fog' - inability to think clearly.	• Stroke, heart attack, kidney and other organ failure.

At some time we've all had some of these symptoms so having one of them doesn't mean you have Covid-19

Wearing a mask won't protect you from Covid-19. It's true that wearing a mask offers YOU little protection. However if other people around you wear one that will protect you if they wear the mask properly. More on that later. If everyone wore a correctly fitted and effective mask the pandemic would quickly fizzle out.

The virus can survive on some surfaces. Metal, glass, and plastic surfaces can be contaminated with the virus. It won't survive long on porous surfaces such as fabric, paper, cardboard and wood. Brass, silver and copper surfaces will quickly destroy the virus if they are not protected from tarnishing using a clear lacquer.

Shouting, singing and talking increase the risk of spreading the virus. Each increases the number of droplets sprayed from your mouth. Normally we are not aware of these but there are videos showing what happens when you speak, with and without a mask. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNeYfUTA11s When you are out shopping, stopping to talk to friends you meet isn't such a good idea. Singing in church or taking part in a protest are good ways to get infected. The image below shows droplets, normally invisible, when speaking the word "two" in a normal voice

The picture above shows the droplets emitted. We don't normally see these unless you are out in cold weather. Then you will see condensation from your breath. That quickly evaporates and at a distance of 2 metres (6.5 feet) you won't see it. That evaporation process explains why in most cases a mask fails to protect the person wearing it. Masks are designed to protect others from YOU. Recent information indicated that 40% of people infected with Covid-19 have no idea they have it.

The virus can infect anybody - not just the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. Certainly the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions are the most likely to fall severely ill, but any age group can be infected and those without pre-existing conditions can still die.

Some ethnic groups seem to be more vulnerable. People of African, Asian and American Indian descent seem to be more vulnerable. Scientists are not sure yet whether this is due to genetics or socio-economic factors.

Some blood groups seem to be less likely to suffer severe illness from Covid-19. If you are blood type O you appear to be less at risk than other blood groups (by 35%). Those who are Rhesus negative also seem to have reduced risk. Those who are blood type A seem to be most at risk (by 45%) of developing severe symptoms.

Some people suffer very long term effects from Covid-19. 'Long Covid' is now fully recognised. According to the British medical Journal 45% of those infected do NOT fully recover in two to three weeks and 10-20% do not fully recover in months. This is true for both mild cases and of those who needed hospital treatment. Four different syndromes of long term Covid make diagnosis difficult. Dr Claire Steves, from Kings College London said that people who displayed five or more symptoms of Covid-19 in the first week where at greatest risk of long term Covid. Women too were more vulnerable.
Some people will never recover fully due to organ failure.

We are getting better at detecting and treating Covid-19

The charts above show this clearly. More  cases are being detected and the death rate from these detected cases has dropped.

The 1918/1919 flu outbreak taught us a lot about how to deal with a pandemic
We expected a second wave of the disease and know it will be worse than the first wave.
We know that wearing masks will cut down the rate at which the disease spreads.

We know that lockdowns and social isolation work. This was graphically demonstrated by the different approaches taken by Philadelphia and Seattle in the US. In Philadelphia it was business as usual. In Seattle strict lockdowns were prepared and put into action before the outbreak reached the city. Philadelphia suffered badly. Seattle did not. Source

One key difference between these pandemics though is that the 1918/1919 pandemic affected the young whereas the Covid-19 pandemic hits the elderly harder.

Children should be encouraged to wear masks. The CDC says:

"Children 2 years of age and older should wear a mask. Help your child (if 2 years of age or older) wear a mask correctly when in public and when around people they don’t live with." That goes against what governments advise should happen in schools where children have been told they need not wear masks in classrooms.

You can re-use disposable masks but you need to know how to do this. Masks should be allowed to dry out thoroughly for at least three days before being re-used. If you can, leave the mask where it will be exposed to direct sunlight that will help since ultra-violet light destroys the virus. Know that glass is an effective UV light filter though so a window ledge won't work. The best way to dry out a mask is by sealing it in a plastic bag with a desiccant. Again Amazon is a useful source of this. https://amzn.to/38i3KHP The desiccant can be periodically regenerated in an ordinary household oven.
SAGES, a worldwide medical association,  say these masks can be re-used up to five times if they are not contaminated visibly. link Take care when removing and storing the mask though.

The Covid-19 Myths

5G mobile networks DO NOT spread COVID-19 of all the Covid-19 myths this is clearly the most ridiculous. The World Health Organization points out that viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks. The only possible justification for this theory would be if 5G networks made you more susceptible to the disease. However, if that were the case then countries without 5G networks would be less impacted by the disease. The WHO points out that COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks. 

Hydroxychloroquine does NOT cure the disease. Hydroxychloroquine, a drug much touted by President Trump in the US, is a treatment for malaria, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. It has been under study as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Current data shows that this drug does not reduce deaths among hospitalised COVID-19 patients, nor does it help people with moderate disease. This drug can have some quite nasty side effects. (headache, dizziness, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, vomiting, rash - all symptoms of Covid-19.)The ONLY possible justification for taking it as a 'treatment' for Covid-19 is that it helps the body take up vitamin D. However there are much safer substances to do this. Quercetin and green tea will do this without the nasty side effects.

Drinking or inhaling a mist of bleach  will NOT protect you from the virus. Drinking bleach is likely to poison you. Inhaling a mist of it is likely to damage your lungs. Read the labels on bleach bottles - they clearly warn against this.

Covid-19 is not spread on your shoes. The virus is unlikely to be spread on shoes. If you are at all concerned or have children who crawl/play on the floor then this tiny risk can be eliminated by taking off your shoes when you enter the house.

Drinking methanol, ethanol or hydrogen peroxide DOES NOT prevent or cure COVID-19 and can be extremely dangerous. All these chemicals are poisons in pure form (yes even the ethanol in alcoholic drinks) Alcoholic drinks do not contain enough alcohol to destroy the virus and drinking an excess of it will make you less likely to treat the disease with care.

'A mask is as effective at protecting you as chicken wire is good for keeping out mosquitoes.' I've already dealt with this in a previous blog post here. The fact remains that masks are designed to stop the spread of the virus from infected people to non-infected people. If you refuse to wear one because of your 'rights' then you are being selfish and prolonging the pandemic. When you exhale virus contaminated droplets the reality is that the mask to droplet size is the same as chickens to chicken wire. Chicken coops are effective at containing chickens and any mosquitoes riding on them.

Wearing a mask does NOT cause oxygen deficiency or carbon dioxide poisoning. Think about it. medical professionals spend much of their day wearing masks. They suffer neither oxygen deficiency or carbon dioxide poisoning. Even if masks are worn daily for years their life expectancy does not seem to suffer. In a recent statement the WHO suggested masks should not be worn while exercising but in one test I've seem A mask was worn during a 20 minute workout but oxygen levels never dropped below 93%

How to protect yourself

1. Social isolation. 

If you never come into contact with infected people or items then you cannot catch the disease. Of course, isolating yourself like this is not always possible but there are things you can do to minimize the risk Here's what you can do to help:

Wash your hands more often. If the virus gets on your skin then it's quite easy to transfer it to your face. We frequently touch our face, especially lips, nose, eyes and ears. We do this without being aware of it. Soap and water destroys the virus quickly. Of course it's not possible to carry soap and water and use it away from the sink so:

Use hand sanitizer. This should be a mixture of 70% ethanol and 30% water and other substances. 100% alcohol is too strong and makes the virus 'hide' from it. Less than 70% alcohol is too weak to destroy the virus. Note the alcohol in spirits is usually described as 70° proof. This is NOT 70% alcohol by volume. It's 40% alcohol and too weak to destroy the virus.

If you do have to go out:

Wearing gloves does help. They act as a barrier between you and contaminated surfaces. Ideally get hold of gloves which are thin and which can be sanitized. Gloves which work with touchscreens help too. I found some on Amazon which check all the boxes. They are protected on the palms by a nitrile plastic layer and can be washed, used with hand sanitizer, work with touchscreens and the reverse side can be used to clear condensation from a face shield.  https://amzn.to/352dPqt

Protect your eyes. As previously said a mask does little to protect you. By the time droplets carrying the virus get to you they will probably have evaporated and got small enough to pass between the fibres of a mask. If inhaled or landing on a moist surface then you can be infected. Your eyes provide such a surface. protect them by wearing at the least glasses. You can get clear glasses designed to protect eyes from dust and sparks but ordinary eye glasses will help. Better still wear a face shield. Again Amazon is a good source https://amzn.to/2I7MKt2 Note however, a face shield does not protect others much  so wear a mask also.

Rather than shopping in person see if you can shop online and get things delivered. When things are delivered:

Wipe down items with sanitizing wipes. Look at the labels of these wipes carefully. If they say something like 'Kils H1N1 flu virus' then they will do the job of destroying Covir-19 also. Items made of glass, metal or packed in plastic are the most likely to have contaminated surfaces. Under ideal conditions the virus has been fount to remain infective for up to three weeks. However those ideal conditions, cool, damp and dark are not common. The risk is small  but worth taking precautions against. You do not know how the person packing and delivering the products from manufacturer to retailer to you handled these things.

paper and cardboard wrapped products will quickly dry out the virus making it harmless but wipe them if you wish.

Stay back from other people. Try to stay 2 metres (approximately 6 feet) from other people. Virus laden droplets exhaled by these people will have fallen to the ground or dispersed before they get to you. Think about the condensation you see from your breath on a cold day. Does it spread more than 2 metres?

DON'T stop to talk to a friend you meet. Such conversations are usually done within 2 metres. Tell them you'll call them and move on.

DON'T go anywhere where people are shouting, cheering or singing. Each of these means more viral particles being spread. Avoid protest marches, concerts or sports events and churches! By now you must have heard of the super-spreader events organised by politicians and churches.

Consider taking a Vitamin D3 supplement. If you spend a lot of time indoors and don't get much sunlight you may be deficient in this vitamin. It's important for proper immune system support and while it won't stop you getting Covid-19, it may well make the difference between a mild case or a severe case. I read a report recently where doctors found most of their severe Covid-19 cases were vitamin D3 deficient. The trouble is that the human body is not good at taking up vitamin D3 in tablet form. The health food Quercetin helps vitamin D3 be absorbed. So does drinking green tea but you may have to drink more of that than you are comfortable with.

Consider taking a Zinc supplement. Zinc supplements also help the immune system. Researchers from Spain reported finding an association between low zinc levels in the blood and poor health outcomes among patients with Covid-19. In severe cases monitored those with low zinc levels died, those with normal levels survived. if you do take a zinc supplement make sure it also contains traces of copper.  These two minerals must be kept in balance for optimal health source Too much zinc in the body is simply excreted.

Update - since this blog was first written full face visors which incorporate a filter have become available. I found this one at Amazon (https://amzn.to/3i0V2VU) 

It protects your full face, works with glasses, lets people see you smile, allows those with hearing problems to lip read what you say and has a replaceable filter. The filters can be used as a template to cut more filters from normal medical masks. Obviously, it's re-usable and it's also quite cheap (£11.99)

Why did I write this?

Ten years ago I and my wife were researching a book series where we suggested that the only way of getting people to take notice of an impending asteroid impact thousands of years in the future was to make people immortal. It's actually not just science fantasy but based on real science today. We postulated a genetic  fix to do that and suggested using a virus to spread it. We had to do a LOT of research into how viruses spread. Corona viruses such as colds and flu were part of this study. Ideas which spread or prevent the spread of these viruses are equally effective at spreading or preventing Covid-19. I wrote a blog about this  (bio-terrorism and the cure for the common cold) in 2011. The lessons we learnt from this have been protecting us from colds and flu ever since and now protect us from Covid-19 too.

In the last few weeks has come the announcement that vaccines have been developed which are 90-95% effective at preventing Covid-19. I find it remarkable that this has been achieved in so short a time. Normally vaccines like this take years to develop. I also find it encouraging because in theory, the same technique could be used to develop a vaccine against cold and flu. (Update Dec 2022: The vaccine protecting against all strains of flu - more than 100 of them is now possible and being produced.) Each year pharmaceutical firms make a small fortune from the sale of cold and flu relief medication and therefore do not have an incentive to develop a vaccine against cold and flu. The trouble is that these similar diseases are not normally  considered killers and as a result do not get the same level of  funding. BUT - the cold and flu diseases ARE killers. Each time your body is infected by a virus some cells are destroyed and replaced. Some cells are only slightly damaged and when they eventually are replaced they are replaced with equally damaged cells. It's this process which makes us age and aging kills everyone! We consider this normal but there is growing evidence that this need not be the case.

Update Dec 20th 2020

A new variant of Covid-19 has been identified. (Source) Corona viruses normally mutate, making them difficult to produce an effective vaccination for. Covid-19 has shown little sign of this but in the last few days a new variant has been found in southeast England. It's spreading rapidly and has forced the UK government to greatly restrict movement in the area and re-think their planned relaxation of the rules for mixing over Christmas. This new variant appears to be MORE infectious than the existing one. It's led to two European countries shutting down air travel from the UK. More will follow but this is not likely to stop the new variant infecting the rest of the world. At the moment it seems to have about the same mortality rate.

One last thing - You can get the first book of the book series, 'Immortality Gene,' free at books2read.com/immgen. It works on all ebook readers.

Mosquitoes, chicken wire, COVID-19 and masks

Is wearing a mask to stop the spread of COVID-19 really pointless? Let's take a look at one of the objections in detail.

By now you've probably heard some people say that using a mask to stop COVID-19 is like using a chicken wire fence to keep out mosquitoes. In some respects that’s true. The virus is tiny, 120-160 nanometres in diameter where a nanometre is one billionth of a metre. A top quality medical mask can trap particles as big or bigger than 2.5 micrometers. The virus is about 21 times smaller than that so it seems that it can pass through a mask easily.  HOWEVER it’s not quite so simple.

To remain capable of infecting, the virus must be in droplets of water. When we sneeze, cough, shout, pant, talk or even breath we emit such particles with the smallest being two micrometres in diameter. Each can contain hundreds of viral particles. These droplets would seem to still easily pass through the gaps between the mask fibres. BUT it’s not as simple as that.

The mask fibres carry a small electrical charge and they attract the water droplets. When they touch, they absorb the water and with it the virus. Few viral particles will get through in theory. Those who complain against mask wearing say this is theoretical and no one has proved this.

BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER!

If those against mask wearing are right then what harm will be done? - a slight bit of inconvenience. It would make no difference to the number of people infected.

If those against mask wearing are wrong then what harm will be done? - the disease will spread more and a greater number of people will die.

Wearing the mask is the least risky option. If everyone wears one then there’s a good chance of stopping this virus spreading.

If you could make all 7.5 billion people on Earth sit down and read a book of your choosing, what book do you choose and why?

First give me time to write it.

It would be an optimistic book. One which points out what’s wrong with the world today but which suggests how we can fix things.

It would require a different political system. One which fulfills the needs of the people rather than the profits of the rich. It would mean raising the living standards of the poor. That would lead to more industry and higher profits while also reducing crime.

It would draw attention to the fear that we needlessly face. For example you are ten times as likely to drown while taking a bath as you are to be killed by a terrorist.

It would point out that evolution has engineered us to be nice to each other. We work together better to improve things - that has survival value, rather than work against each other. We hear a lot about the ‘bad’ because our media considers bad news is more interesting. Bad news generates fear. Fear makes us demand action. Idiot politicians pander to this and their actions generate more bad news.

Sorry religion - you would be required to justify your existence. It’s not enough for you to defend your ‘faith’. Let’s look at ‘faith’ in terms of what it really means - a belief which does not depend on evidence, one which is not open to reason and discussion. Faith has no right to being secure from being questioned. Faith can’t move mountains but we’ve seen what it can do to skyscrapers. We may blame the Islamic faith for acts of terrorism but other religions cannot say their ‘faithful’ followers did not carry out brutal acts.

The book would draw attention to how we are damaging our planet and suggest ways we can fix this. We cannot continue to treat finite resources as though they were infinite. We need those resources to look further for new resources and we are unlikely to find those on earth.

Instead of war I would propose we work together on expansion into the last frontier. Space. We must colonize space to ensure the survival of our species. Certainly we can look to the moon and Mars but that’s NOT enough. We need to move further to the stars. When we do so we should take with us all the lifeforms we can collect. When we have moved out a radius of 30 light years from earth, then and only then can we think of Earth’s life being secure.

Is this all a pipe dream? It is until we make the effort to start.

How humans and computers follow instructions

Years ago, when I taught Information technology, I used two stories to explain the difference between how computers and people followed instructions.

1. People are rubbish at following the simplest of instructions.

I'd ask the class to all point at the brainiest pupil in the room and then select that person as my victim to demonstrate. I'd bring them out in front of the class and tell them:

Teacher "I'm going to say three simple words with a pause between each word. All you have to do is repeat the word. Here's the first - Cat."

Pupil  "Cat."

Teacher "Rhino"

Pupil "Rhino"

Teacher "WRONG!"

Pupil, looking flustered "What was wrong? I said Rhino."

Teacher You failed. The third word was the word 'WRONG'.

People think about their answers - computers just do what they are told to do.

2. Computers do EXACTLY what you tell them to do.

Imagine a boy with a computer instead of a brain. he is woken up one morning and told the following by his mother.
"Run down to the shop and get a loaf of bread. Take £2 from my purse on the kitchen table. And for heavens sake - Get dressed"
The boy immediately runs to the nearest shop. It's a butcher's shop and doesn't sell bread so he waits there until someone comes in with a loaf of bread. That may take a while. Eventually a little old lady comes in with a loaf of bread in her shopping basket.
The boy wasn't told to pay for the bread so he 'gets' it. Effectively he steals it from her.
The boy wasn't told to come back but the next instruction was to get £2 from the purse on the kitchen table so he does come back.
The purse isn't on the kitchen table. it's on a work surface at the side. So he waits again for the purse to move to the table. He doesn't put the bread away because he wasn't told to do that.
When the purse is eventually on the table he tries to take £2 from it. If the purse only has five pound notes in it he is again stuck waiting.
When the boy eventually has a £2 coin only then does he get dressed.

Humans take bad instructions and correct them. They decide the best order to do them in and include missing instructions. Computers can't do that. We won't have true Artificial Intelligence until a computer can follow the second task and get it right.

A viral post (and how to protect yourself)

Do you understand how viruses spread? Knowing this can help safeguard your health. That's particularly important if you want to minimise your risk in the event of a COVID-19 coronavirus or flu pandemic. It can help protect you from the common cold too.

Back in 2011 my wife and I wrote the second book in our A Vested Interest series. In it we figured out how a benign virus could be deliberately spread to infect as many people as possible in as short a time as possible. We pressured an antagonist into doing the job and carry any possible blame. Here's what he was told to do:

“We have a little task for you,” Sir Richard said. “Take these cans of antiseptic. Spray it on this cloth, and then use it in Hexham. Visit every single pub there.”

“Go to the toilets,” Lady Triplet said. “Spray the door handle or plate of each toilet and stall and give them a quick wipe. We want them nice and shiny.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Liu,” Juanita said with mocked respect.” It won’t hurt you. In fact, it’ll do you good.”

Richard smirked. “If anyone asks, why you’re doing this, tell them you’re mysophobic, a clean freak.”

Donna softly chuckled, watching Liu flip his attention from one side of the table to the other. “Next, put on a pair of these gloves,” she said and slid a box to the end of the table. “Spray them and go shopping.”

“Visit all the supermarkets, department stores, fast food shops, everywhere you can.” John chuckled; enjoying the look of horror on Liu’s face. “Make a trip to the hospital and browse through the magazines and leaflets.”

“Be nosy,” Gary said. “Touch everywhere. Don’t forget things like lift buttons, shopping trolleys, children’s rides, handrails, touchscreens. You get the idea.”

“Why? What is this stuff?”

“Surely, you can guess, John,” Sir Richard said.

In this clip the spray Liu was given really was an antiseptic, the virus had already been released. Liu thought he would be spreading the immortality virus though.

This clip demonstrates how many corona viruses can be spread. They are not just the COVID-19 'Wuhan coronavirus' both common colds and flu are coronaviruses too. They can spread directly by droplets from coughs and sneezes but they can also be spread by contact with an infected surface. Once on your hands you can increase the chance of infection by eating, touching your lips or nose or particularly by touching your eyes. You would be surprised how often we do that without noticing it.

Time can play a big part in this. Most viruses can't survive long as infectious agents outside their host. Under ideal conditions, a damp cool surface hidden from sunlight it's possible for viruses such as these to survive for nine days outside a living host. The examples mentioned in our story are good targets for passing on infection though.

So how can you protect yourself? If you are going out shopping:

• wear gloves. 
• avoid touching any part of your face if you can and if you must rub your eyes then use a knuckle rather than a fingertip.
• Wash your hands often, especially when you get home.
• While out, use hand sanitizer. Get your children to use it also.
• Wear eye protection of some sort.

The older you are, the more you are at risk as this image from Statista shows. For those people maybe it's time to get your groceries delivered if you can.

What about if you are younger? Can you safely risk catching Covid-19? The answer to that is still 'no'. The reason that it's so devastating to the elderly is that Covid-19 is very proficient at creating senescent cells. The common cold does this too but to a lesser extent. 'Senescent' may not be a word you are familiar with. It means 'old'. In cellular biology a senescent cell is defined as 'no longer capable of dividing but still alive and metabolically active.' These are the cells which make you age! Covid-19 (and the common cold) kills younger people but very slowly. It's the reason that the symptoms of 'long covid' are easily recognised by the elderly as, "that's how I feel." If your body is already full of senescent cells due to age then a sudden influx of extra ones can easily kill you.

What about a mask? The chances are that wouldn't be very effective. people find them uncomfortable, they feel stupid wearing them and many don't fit very well. They won't protect you from contact with an infected surface. They would be useful in preventing the spread of the virus from an infected person though. They easily catch the relatively large particles exhaled but by the time these get to you from someone else they will have evaporated enough to pass through a mask.

When the COVID-19 'Wuhan' coronavirus becomes a serious problem in your area then bear these hints in mind.

And if you want the 'Dark Secrets' book, it's available as an ebook via books2read.com/dse. It's the second book of the series. The first is available free.

Update May 2021

The #Covid19 pandemic has hit India badly and that's something which the whole world should help out with or we are in danger of an even worse pandemic.

Viruses evolve. If a person is infected with two different viruses then there is the possibility that they will merge to create a new virus. Currently in Asia there is a potentially dangerous Nipah virus spread through bat droppings and urine which can infect humans. It kills 40-45% of all those infected but it isn't passed from person to person. 

It's a matter of time before someone in India is infected with both Covid-19 and the Nipah virus. When that happens there's a chance of a new virus evolving which is spread like Covid-19 but as deadly as Nipah.

We have a good reason to be scared of this!