Carl Goldman gifted his wife, Jeri Seratti-Goldman, a combined Christmas and birthday present this year of a trip to Southeast Asia on a Princess Cruise. The Diamond Princess, to be exact. Along with two of their close friends, he left for Tokyo on January 17 and boarded the ship three days later. On the final day of the sail, the captain announced that a passenger who had left the ship in Hong Kong four days earlier now had the coronavirus.
The ship went back to Yokohama Harbor in Japan, Goldman explains on this episode of
Today, Explained, so authorities could come aboard and make a decision. All of us kind of resigned ourselves and said, okay, it’s one day. Japanese health officials had come on board. They took everybody’s temperature. That was about an 18-hour process. They then told us when we woke up the next day, the captain announced that we were not going to be able to leave the ship the next day. And we were now quarantined in our cabins for 14 days.
Later, it became clear that 10 people on the ship had tested positive for Covid-19. After that, Goldman says, began the “daily count” — basically, “the captain coming on to the speaker every day and announcing more and more had the virus.”
Eventually, Goldman was one of the 328 Americans on the ship who got on two cargo planes headed for military bases in the US: the Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, or Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. When he spoke with Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram from a quarantine facility in Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, he had been there for 16 days.
And he tested positive for Covid-19.
Listen to the full episode of Today, Explained — Vox’s daily explainer podcast — to hear Carl Goldman share more about his quarantine experience. In the second half of the episode, Vox’s Kelsey Piper explains “community spread” — when somebody who isn’t caught goes about their life and exposes other people.
Background on Wuhan Coronavirus.
The 2019-nCoV virus now known as COVID-19 (commonly known as the Wuhan coronavirus) originated in China and is spreading around the globe, including confirmed cases in Europe and North America. Chinese authorities initially blamed the virus on a seafood market, then suggested it may have come from snakes or bats. Information now suggests this virus may possibly have been manufactured in a Level 4 bioweapons research lab located in the City of Wuhan where the virus originated.
The true number of people who have contracted and died from this illness in China is difficult to come by given the communist Chinese government’s resistance to transparency. One statistical analysis suggests the numbers coming out of China don’t add up and are highly questionable. However, the fact that China has locked down several major cities, and is even forcing citizens into quarantine camps, suggests they are taking this very seriously and fear the worst in terms of ease of transmission and prognosis.
Although health authorities initially hoped to limit spread by measures such as travel bans and quarantines, these efforts have not been highly successful in slowing transmission. Most recently, several cases are being reported in the U.S. that are attributed to “unknown origin.” According to reports, these people had not recently traveled overseas or had any known close contact with someone who had traveled to China, or with a known infected person.
Even if the severe measures used in China have somewhat slowed transmission in that country, it will be very difficult to slow the spread in less developed and western countries that are unable or unwilling to impose the same strict measures used in China.
Scientists believe there are at least two different strains of the COVID-19 virus causing illnesses. A preliminary study conducted at Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institute Pasteur of Shanghai discovered that one strain of coronavirus, type L, accounted for about 70% of the cases in China and is much more aggressive than the other strain, type S, which is milder and is the source of about 30% of the infections. Researchers said type L was more common in the “early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan” but began to decrease after early January 2020.
“Human intervention may have placed more severe selective pressure on the L type, which might be more aggressive and spread more quickly. On the other hand, the S type, which is evolutionarily older and less aggressive, might have increased in relative frequency due to relatively weaker selective pressure,” the scientists wrote. The researchers said the S type is thought to be the ancestral strain and that the findings “strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with the coronavirus.”
It is difficult to get accurate statistics in terms of the mortality rate (the percentage of people that die who contract the disease). However, based on early figures from the World Health Organization: Twenty five percent of confirmed cases reported by China have been classified by Chinese health authorities as seriously ill ( from Wubei Province: 16% severely ill,
5% critically ill, and 4% having died ).
But these numbers are very fluid and change daily. Another source indicates that out of all currently infected patients, 18% are considered serious or critical, with an early estimate of 2% fatality rate. Mortality rates from past influenza epidemics range from around 0.1% to 2-3%. One study suggests the Wuhan coronavirus could be 20 times more lethal than the flu.
One epidemiologist predicts up to 70% of people worldwide will contract the coronavirus. Another has even suggested up to 80% of people worldwide could eventually be infected. While a death rate of 2% may not seem like a huge number, given a worst-case pandemic where a majority of people worldwide contract this virus, we could potentially see millions of deaths globally.
If this does continue to develop into a global pandemic, the cost in terms of human lives and economic devastation will be tremendous. Although the World Health Organization has not yet classified the coronavirus outbreak as having pandemic status, it recently indicated the risk of this spreading globally is “very high.” In addition, health officials indicate it could be at least a year before a vaccine for coronavirus is developed.
Since the coronavirus epidemic:
A strict ban on the consumption and farming of wild animals is being rolled out across China in the wake of the deadly coronavirus epidemic, which is believed to have started at a wildlife market in Wuhan. Although it is unclear which animal transferred the virus to humans — bat, snake and pangolin have all been suggested — China has acknowledged it needs to bring its lucrative wildlife industry under control if it is to prevent another outbreak. In late February, it slapped a temporary ban on all farming and consumption of “terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value,” which is expected to be signed into law later this year.
But ending the trade will be hard.
This isn’t the first time Chinese officials have tried to contain the trade. In 2003, civets — mongoose-type creatures — were banned and culled in large numbers after it was discovered they likely transferred the SARS virus to humans. The selling of snakes was also briefly banned in Guangzhou after the SARS outbreak. . The cultural roots of China’s use of wild animals run deep, not just for food but also for traditional medicine, clothing, ornaments and even pets. But today dishes using the animals are still eaten in parts of China. Public health experts say the ban is an important first step, but are calling on Beijing to seize this crucial opportunity to close loopholes — such as the use of wild animals in traditional Chinese medicine — and begin to change cultural attitudes in China around consuming wildlife.
Markets with exotic animals.
The Wuhan seafood market at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak was selling a lot more than fish. Snakes, raccoon dogs, porcupines and deer were just some of the species crammed inside cages, side by side with shoppers and store owners, according to footage obtained by CNN. Some animals were filmed being slaughtered in the market in front of customers. CNN hasn’t been able to independently verify the footage, which was posted to Weibo by a concerned citizen, and has since been deleted by government censors. It is somewhere in this mass of wildlife that scientists believe the novel coronavirus likely first spread to humans.
The disease has now infected more than 94,000 people and killed more than 3,200 around
the world. The Wuhan market was not unusual. Across mainland China, hundreds of similar markets offer a wide range of exotic animals for a range of purposes. The danger of an outbreak comes when many exotic animals from different environments are kept in close proximity. “These animals have their own viruses,” said Hong Kong University virologist professor Leo Poon. “These viruses can jump from one species to another species, then that species may become an amplifier, which increases the amount of virus in the market substantially.”
When a large number of people visit markets selling these animals each day, Poon said the risk of the virus jumping to humans rises sharply. Poon was one of the first scientists to decode the SARS coronavirus during the epidemic in 2003. It was linked to civet cats kept for food in a Guangzhou market, but Poon said researchers still wonder whether SARS was transmitted to the cats from another species. “(Farmed civet cats) didn’t have the virus, suggesting they acquired it in the markets from another animal,” he said. Strength and status!
Annie Huang, a 24-year-old college student from southern Guangxi province, said she and her family regularly visit restaurants that serve wild animals. She said eating wildlife, such as boar and peacock, is considered good for your health, because diners also absorb the animals’ physical strength and resilience. Exotic animals can also be an important status symbol. “Wild animals are expensive. If you treat somebody with wild animals, it will be considered that you’re paying tribute,” she said. A single peacock can cost as much as 800 yuan ($144).
Huang asked to use a pseudonym when speaking about the newly-illegal trade because of her views on eating wild animals. She said she doubted the ban would be effective in the long run. “The trade might lay low for a few months … but after a while, probably in a few months, people would very possibly come back again,” she said. Beijing hasn’t released a full list of the wild animals included in the ban, but the current Wildlife Protection Law gives some clues as to what could be banned. That law classifies wolves, civet cats and partridges as wildlife, and states that authorities “should take measures” to protect them, with little information on specific restrictions. The new ban makes exemptions for “livestock,” and in the wake of the ruling that all animals including pigeons and rabbits are being reclassified as livestock.
Billion-dollar industry.
Attempts to control the spread of diseases are also hindered by the fact that the industry
for exotic animals in China, especially wild ones, is enormous. A government-sponsored report in 2017 by the Chinese Academy of Engineering found the country’s wildlife trade was worth more than $73 billion and employed more than one million people. Since the virus hit in December, almost 20,000 wildlife farms across seven Chinese provinces have been shut down or put under quarantine, including breeders specializing in peacocks, foxes, deer and turtles, according to local government press releases.
It isn’t clear what effect the ban might have on the industry’s future — but there are signs China’s population may have already been turning away from eating wild animals even before the epidemic. A study by Beijing Normal University and the China Wildlife Conservation Association in 2012, found that in China’s major cities, a third of people had used wild animals in their lifetime for food, medicine or clothing — only slightly less than in their previous survey in 2004. However, the researchers also found that just over 52% of total respondents agreed that wildlife should not be consumed. It was even higher in Beijing, where more than 80% of residents were opposed to wildlife consumption. In comparison, about 42% of total respondents were against the practice during the previous survey in 2004.
There has been vocal criticism of the trade in exotic animals and calls for a crackdown.
A group of 19 academics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leading universities even jointly issued a public statement calling for an end to the trade, saying it should be treated as a “public safety issue.” “The vast majority of people within China react to the abuse of wildlife in the way people in other countries do — with anger and revulsion,” said Aron White, wildlife campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency. “I think we should listen to those voices that are calling for change and support those voices.”
Traditional medicine loophole.
A significant barrier to a total ban on the wildlife trade is the use of exotic animals in traditional Chinese medicine. Beijing has been strongly promoting the use of traditional Chinese medicine under President Xi Jinping and the industry is now worth an estimated $130 billion. As recently as October 2019, state-run media China Daily reported Xi as saying that “traditional medicine is a treasure of Chinese civilization embodying the wisdom of the nation and its people.” Many species that are eaten as food in parts of China are also used in the country’s traditional medicine.
The new ban makes an exception made for wild animals used in traditional Chinese medicine. According to the ruling, the use of wildlife is not illegal for this, but now must be “strictly monitored.” The announcement doesn’t make it clear, however, how this monitoring will occur or what the penalties are for inadequate protection of wild animals, leaving the door open to abuse. A 2014 study by the Beijing Normal University and the China Wildlife Conservation Association found that while deer is eaten as a meat, the animal’s penis and blood are also used in medicine. Both bears and snakes are used for both food and medicine.
Wildlife campaigner Aron White said that under the new restrictions there was a risk of wildlife being sold or bred for medicine, but then trafficked for food. He said the Chinese government needed to avoid loopholes by extending the ban to all vulnerable wildlife, regardless of use. “(Currently), the law bans the eating of pangolins but doesn’t ban the use of their scales in traditional Chinese medicine,” he said. “The impact of that is that overall the consumers are receiving are mixed messages.” The line between which animals are used for meat and which are used for medicine is also already very fine, because often people eat animals for perceived health benefits.
In a study published in International Health in February, US and Chinese researchers surveyed attitudes among rural citizens in China’s southern provinces to eating wild animals. One 40-year-old peasant farmer in Guangdong says eating bats can prevent cancer. Another man says they can improve your vitality. “‘I hurt my waist very seriously, it was painful, and I could not bear the air conditioner. One day, one of my friends made some snake soup and I had three bowls of it, and my waist obviously became better. Otherwise, I could not sit here for such a long time with you,” a 67-year-old Guangdong farmer told interviewers in the study.
Changing the culture,
China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, will meet later this year to officially alter the Wildlife Protection Law. A spokesman for the body’s Standing Committee said the current ban is just a temporary measure until the new wording in the law can be drafted and approved. Hong Kong virologist Leo Poon said the government has a big decision to make on whether it officially ends the trade in wild animals in China or simply tries to find safer options. “If this is part of Chinese culture, they still want to consume a particular exotic animal, then the country can decide to keep this culture, that’s okay,” he said. “(But) then they have to come up with another policy — how can we provide clean meat from that exotic animal to the public? Should it be domesticated? Should we do more checking or inspection? Implement some biosecurity measures?” he said.
An outright ban could raise just as many questions and issues.
Ecohealth Alliance president Peter Daszak said if the trade was quickly made illegal, it would push it out of wet markets in the cities, creating black markets in rural communities where it is easier to hide the animals from the authorities. Driven underground, the illegal trade of wild animals for consumption and medicine could become even more dangerous. “Then we’ll see (virus) outbreaks begin not in markets this time, but in rural communities,” Daszak said. “(And) people won’t talk to authorities because it is actually illegal.” Poon said the final effectiveness of the ban may depend on the government’s willpower to enforce the law. “Culture cannot be changed overnight, it takes time,” he said.
How Easy is it to Catch Coronavirus?
All through the day, your mouth and nose is detecting and analyzing viruses, bacteria, pollen, food and toxins before they enter the rest of the body.
That means our mouths and nose are like war zones for good and bad bacteria. And if you have more bad (pathogenic) bacteria in your mouth than good, your immune system can be fatally compromised. Fortunately, we can strengthen, fortify and protect our immune systems by rebalancing the bacteria in our mouths. This in turn strengthens our entire microbiome, helping us defend against disease. And what’s the best way to do that?
The COVID-19 cornavirus appears to be much easier to transmit and catch than the SARS coronavirus that was identified in 2003: he deadly new coronavirus is up to 20 times more likely to bind to human cell receptors and cause infection than severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), a new study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin has found. SCMP Initial reports were that the coronavirus had an incubation period up to 14 days but most recently it is being reported the incubation may be up to 27 days. A recent paper examining 22 studies on coronavirus suggests the virus can remain infectious on smooth surfaces like tables, countertops and door handles for up to 9 days.
One reason the spread of coronavirus is difficult to control is that people can be asymptomatic during the long incubation period. This means a carrier could go around spreading the virus to others without showing any symptoms. Given how easily this virus is to transmit from person to person, world health authorities are keeping a very close eye on the global spread of this extremely serious illness.
{The information found here is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Always seek qualified medical assistance if you have or suspect you have a medical condition requiring treatment. Affiliate links included below. Read my disclosure here.}
How to Keep from Getting Coronavirus
The rules that apply to preventing viral transmission in general also apply to coronavirus.
Currently, most of the patients who have died from the infection have been older than 60 and have had preexisting conditions. It’s our immune system that fights off the foreign invaders entering our bodies every minute of the day. And our immune system is only as strong as our gut microbiome–your body’s home to 100 trillion bacteria.
But what lies at the beginning of the gut?
Thoroughly wash your hands prior to eating, keep your distance from known or suspected carriers, and encourage those who are infected to stay at home until the contagious phase has passed. If you are in the same home or building with an infected person, try to clean contaminated surfaces that potentially come into contact with the sick person. Disinfectant wipes like these that kill viruses can help. One of the most common but under looked sources of germ transmission is grocery store shopping carts. I always wipe off my cart with wipes like these or these disinfecting wipes to help kill nasty bugs.
Another common cause of spreading infection is the keypads on store checkout terminals or ATM machines. Use a travel-size hand sanitizer spray like this one after checking out.
It would be wise to keep on hand a supply of disposable puncture-resistant exam gloves to wear when touching potentially contaminated surfaces such as dishes and bedding.
You could try wearing an N95 or higher mask to help filter out viruses, but this is not foolproof. Masks have been flying off the shelves worldwide, and as of late all masks are sold out on Amazon. {Update: N95 masks are available on eBay but are selling rapidly.}
In addition, carriers can be asymptomatic before developing a full-blown case. The incubation period can be lengthy, so you could be infected by someone who doesn’t even look or act sick.
Reports indicate some people who get and recover from this virus may still carry it, and at least one person who recovered tested positive for it again.
As is so often the case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keeping your immune system strong is one of the best ways to prevent and fight viral infections.
Here are some easy but important steps to keep your immune system in top shape:
1. Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
Being chronically sleep deprived can wreak havoc on your immune system. Melatonin, the body’s “sleep hormone,” is a powerful immune booster that can help combat viral infection.
2. Keep stress levels under control.
3. Get moderate but regular physical exercise.
4. Eat nutritious food and keep sugar, refined flours, and processed food to a minimum.
5. About 70% of the cells that make up your immune system are found in your gut.
Eat fermented foods such as low-carb yogurt, raw sauerkraut, and kombucha.
6. Consider a quality probiotic and prebiotic supplement that contains the Myoviridae family of bacteriophages that can actually kill bad bugs in your gut.
7. In addition to quality sleep and eating a healthy diet, certain supplements can strengthen your immune system and may help fight off viral infections including coronavirus.
Here is a list READ MORE: