Face Masks, Gel etc

[reader]

 

PeterRS said:
But I certainly wouldnt be relying on any advice or quotes made here. Do your own research and make up your own mind. Its your life, after all. In fact, I think this thread can end up being misleading. I suggest it is closed.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

I believe it’s by reading differing points of view that we can better arrive at an informed opinion. Precluding opposing views limits our options.

From BBC Science Focus

How long can a virus live outside a body?

It's enough to make you sick! Viruses can be stubborn little blighters to get rid of.

Viruses can live for a surprisingly long time outside of a body, depending on conditions such as moisture and temperature. They tend to live longer on water-resistant surfaces, such as stainless steel and plastics.

A cold virus can sometimes survive on indoor surfaces for several days, although its ability to cause infection drops dramatically over time.

Flu viruses can survive in the air for several hours, especially at lower temperatures, and on hard surfaces they can survive and remain infectious for 24 hours.

Enteric viruses, such as norovirus (pictured) and hepatitis A, can survive for weeks on a surface if conditions are suitable. The norovirus is known for causing sickness outbreaks in schools, cruise ships and hospitals.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-long-can-a-virus-live-outside-a-body/

[vinapu]

16 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I think this thread can end up being misleading. I suggest it is closed.

quite opposite, let it run it's course

[reader]

From Bangkok Post 

Vendor nabbed for overpriced masks

A vendor was arrested on Friday for selling face masks at an inflated price during a check on shops in the Government Complex after authorities received complaints.

The vendor, identified only as Maneerat, was charged with violating price-control regulations. Face masks and hand-sanitising gel were categorised as specially controlled goods after demand skyrocketed amid fears of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Maneerat, who reportedly sold a pack of five masks at 100 baht, may face a jail term of seven years and/or a fine of up to 140,000 baht. The suspect admitted to selling packs at 100 baht each, but said the cost price was high and she could not sell them for any less.

Not far from her shop, people were queuing up outside a Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) shop, where packs of 10 masks were sold at 10 baht each. The sale is limited to one pack per person, and the stock is sold out in minutes.

Whichai Phochanakij, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said the department will soon sell face mask packs of four at 10 baht each via convenience stores nationwide.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1868049/vendor-nabbed-for-overpriced-masks

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, reader said:

From Bangkok Post 

Vendor nabbed for overpriced masks

 

Ms Maneerat, who reportedly sold a pack of five masks at 100 baht, may face a jail term of seven years and/or a fine of up to 140,000 baht.

it seems virus is attacking government officials brains already

[Guest]

1   The Thai government has introduced temporary price controls on face masks to stop profiteering, hence the fine.     I hope the price controls only apply to the basic masks, as their price limit would be too low for an FFP3 mask (I don't remember the exact price, but it was something like 2.5 baht per mask). 

The jail term is rather excessive, if we consider that Thailand has quite a relatively high percentage of it's population in jail already and there are much more significant offences which should carry much longer sentences (#1 on my list would be police and other officials taking bribes). 

 

2 There is no reason at all to close the thread.   If the board were ever to introduce a "fake news" policy, then one or two posts might have merited reporting under such a policy.  However, I'm not aware of such a policy.  Some posts that might mislead the reader have already met with a fairly robust challenge.   

Most people will carefully consider if a post has useful content or not.   Anyone who blindly follows bad advice without thought might eventually find themselves contributing to natural selection (low probability, I admit).  

 

3  When flying recently, I applied alcohol spray to the touch screen, food tray and arm rests.   I used it after going to the plane toilet every single time.    Obviously, it's not quite as easy to do anything about the seat fabric and any food served.   

 

[Jasper]

Siam Paragon today

At BTS, staff are spraying alcohol into the hands of passengers.

 

[reader]

From CNN

The surgeon general wants Americans to stop buying face masks

The United States' top doctor has one simple request: Stop buying face masks.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams' message, posted to Twitter on Saturday, was a response to face mask shortages as people stocked up due to coronavirus concerns. 

"Seriously people," he began, and though it's a tweet, you can almost hear the exasperation in his plea. "STOP BUYING MASKS!"
 

They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can't get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!" he continued.

Washing your hands, staying home when sick and other "everyday preventive actions" are the best protections, Adams said. He urged people to get a flu shot, as fewer flu patients means more resources to fight the coronavirus.

The tweet comes during what has become a mask boom. With coronavirus popping up in the United States, some have begun buying face masks as a form of protection, despite the likes of the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand Vice President Mike Pence saying they're unnecessary.

And, like Adams points out, if these masks run out, they won't be available to the medical professionals who are at the highest risk for disease transmission.

Dr. William Schaffner, a preventive medicine professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told CNN the rush to buy masks is a "psychological thing." 

"The coronavirus is coming, and we feel rather helpless," he said Saturday. "By getting masks and wearing them, we move the locus of control somewhat to ourselves."

Meanwhile, stores across the country have run out of masks. As for online shipments, many orders have been pushed back. 

The CDC recommends the following to prevent the spread of any respiratory disease:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Stay home from school or work when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
• If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/29/health/face-masks-coronavirus-surgeon-general-trnd/index.html

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Jasper said:

Siam Paragon today

At BTS, staff are spraying alcohol into the hands of passengers.

On the 27th and 28th, there were no signs of any such measures on the MRT around Silom, or in the Silom Complex.     Is this a new measure, or just limited to a few high profile locations ?

 

[10tazione]

On 2/27/2020 at 10:31 AM, PeterRS said:

Do your own research and make up your own mind.

How? The world is far too complex nowadays. I am not the owner of a genetics lab. The only thing we can do is to divide sources of information into "trustful", "not trustful" and "unkown". But even that seems impossible nowadays.

At least there seems to be consensus that washing hands is good, so I am doing that.

Interesting also how paranoid oneself can become: In the last 3 weeks I heard so many people coughing. You hear what you are listening for.

[Jasper]

4 hours ago, z909 said:

On the 27th and 28th, there were no signs of any such measures on the MRT around Silom, or in the Silom Complex.     Is this a new measure, or just limited to a few high profile locations ?

 

My experience was at BTS Saphan Taksin station evening rush hour

Body temperature scanner machines installed at Paragon,Empoli, Em-quartier and Iconsiam.

[Jasper]

I went to Freshboy this evening.

There was a waiter at the door spraying alcohol sanitary liquids into customers hands.

 

[Jasper]

Despite being Monday night, there were full of customers in Soi 4 Telephone & Balcony bars, especially farangs.

[gpfun69]

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30383275

I wonder how this will impact visitors from high risk countries.

[spoon]

Funny the image showns doesnt match the countries listed lol someone didnt pay attention in geography lesson!

[reader]

Risk is usually represented by incidence per 100,000 population 

Assessing risk by number of cases or number of deaths is an irregular measurement for purpose of relative comparison

In any case, why not make a list of top 9 instead of top 10?

[DivineMadman]

2 hours ago, spoon said:

Funny the image showns doesnt match the countries listed lol someone didnt pay attention in geography lesson!

Good catch!!  

 

[anddy]

7 hours ago, Jasper said:

Despite being Monday night, there were full of customers in Soi 4 Telephone & Balcony bars, especially farangs.

was just in Surawong/Patpong briefly, observed the opposite. Hardly any people around, or to be more precise: it was dead. Bought a mango shake and asked about it, vendor unsurprisingly confirmed "SUPER quiet"

[anddy]

the first advice for returnees from high-risk countries to self-quarantine actually implies that the entire populations of these countries ought to do the same. 

Thai PBS World still carries a story (https://www.thaipbsworld.com/new-anti-virus-measures-for-foreign-visitors-and-thais-returning-from-high-risk-areas/) that ALL visitors/returnees from such countries are "will be subject to 14-days home quarantine, even if they are cleared of the disease" and other measures (such as requirement of proof of lodging for self-quarantine purposes, or else denial  of entry). 

HOWEVER, the Bangkok Post (https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1870669/11-risk-zones-defined-to-facilitate-measures) reported the publication of the 9 country list and said:

Quote

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters earlier there was no law in effect now that could force anyone to isolate themselves.  

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul briefly showed the announcement signed by him on his Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon with a message that all visitors from these countries will be required to quarantine themselves for 14 days with no exceptions. However, the post was deleted minutes later without explanations.

 

In a similar vein, Khaosod English in a report about the impending return of thousands of illegal Thai workers from S.Korea (https://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2020/03/03/2-thai-workers-returning-from-korea-suspected-of-coronavirus-infection/) says 

Quote

Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan said the government has no legal power to order thousands of migrant workers returning from South Korea into a quarantine.

[...]

“They have to stay in their home, because their origin country [South Korea] didn’t shut down cities like in Wuhan,” Prawit said. “We have no laws that can control these people.”

When a reporter said how the government can ensure that the returnees would comply with the self-quarantine measure, Prawit said they can only hope so.

 

Who knows what's actually going to come of this.... Maybe there are no laws, but they might just invoke some "national emergency" to do it anyway. Even Italy, a much more democratic nation than Thailand, has locked down a virus stricken town.

Guess it's fair to say "the situation is fluid".

[Guest]

9 hours ago, spoon said:

Funny the image showns doesnt match the countries listed lol someone didnt pay attention in geography lesson!

They also have Taiwan as #2 on the list of high risk countries.    However, it ranks #17 in terms of the number of infections, so shouldn't even be in the top 10.   

How can Taiwan with 42 infections be more risky than South Korea with 5186 infections ? 

Seems like they didn't pay attention in the maths lesson either, but that's fairly common for journalists.

 

Meanwhile, after subtracting the 30 recovered people, Thailand is only reporting 12 active cases.   A safer place to be than many European countries ?

 

As another example of not paying attention in Geography, the map below is advertising student exchange programmes for some business in Silom Complex.   Now I can't claim to have paid much attention in history, but estimate that's a pre WW1 map, looking at central Europe and all the colonies in Africa & Asia. 

Not a great advert for the business.

[macaroni21]

That's a valuable antique map. It even has the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A map collector should buy it off the SIlom shop before it deteriorates.

[reader]

Comparative risk per 100,000 population: number of cases 

South Korea.              9.39

China.                          6.02

Italy.                             3.36

Singapore                    1.86

Taiwan                         1.74

Hong Kong.                 1.38

Iran                                1.18

Random others:

France                           0.29

Japan                            0.21

Germany                       0.18

Malaysia                       0.11

Thailand                        0.06

United States                0.02

Vietnam                         0.02

 

 

 

[Guest]

On that basis,   Switzerland and Kuwait would probably be in the top 10 @ 0.68 and 1.37, although I'm not going to trawl through all the other smaller countries.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, z909 said:

On that basis,   Switzerland and Kuwait would probably be in the top 10 @ 0.68 and 1.37, although I'm not going to trawl through all the other smaller countries.

since Andorra has her first case, statistically it's most dangerous country now 

[anddy]

7 minutes ago, vinapu said:

since Andorra has her first case, statistically it's most dangerous country now 

wrong, twice as dangerous are Monaco and Liechtenstein, both having one case each as well, but about half the population of Andorra. 

[anddy]

though that puts Monaco and Liechtenstein at only 3 per 100,000, not quite the most risky ones, but competing closely with Italy.