# Steps individuals can take to protect themselves and slow down the spread



## michaelm (3 Mar 2020)

Leo said:


> The Coronavirus can survive on surfaces up to 9 days, the most effective means of prevention is to frequently wash your hands.


While I had read something similar online last week, I recently heard a senior WHO doctor say 3 hours.  The latest letter (attached) from our Chief Medical Officer also suggests the virus may survive for hours rather than days on surfaces.


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## Leo (3 Mar 2020)

michaelm said:


> While I had read something similar online last week, I recently heard a senior WHO doctor say 3 hours.



I've yet to see a proper study on it. Also, COVID-19 is just one form of Coronavirus, this recent [broken link removed] has shown they can live up to 9 days on hard surfaces.


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## mathepac (7 Mar 2020)

Have we any resident microbiologists who could advise us?

I'm confused by all the nonsense we're being fed about the coronavirus, Covid-19. I see on the  telly streets and floors being sprayed with some form of detergent or disinfectant. My understanding of a virus, as distinct from a bacterium, is that a virus needs a host to live off and thus it must be passed directly from person to person or animal to animal. Therefore you can't be infected by picking up the virus from the road - or can you? If someone with the virus spits on the pavement and you step in it, can it run up your leg and infect you? The life of Covid-19 outside a host is a matter of debate with  *estimates* of the viability varying from minutes to hours to days. Does anyone have definitive information?

Wearing face masks is now like a fashion thing. At least it must be fashionable because they're in short supply and wearing a mask provides protection only in very limited circumstances. If I am infected with the virus, then wearing a mask can prevent me from spreading the virus to others by coughing or sneezing. But only for 15/20 minutes after which time the mask is rendered useless by the moisture which saturates it when I breathe out. Thus I'd need 4 masks per hour changed by me and hands washed afterward to keep others safe from infection. Other people wearing masks around an infected person are wasting their time as the masks won't stop them being infected if the virus lands elsewhere on their bodies. And just to mention that your regular DIYer's face mask from Woodies provides no protection from micro-organisms.

I see that hand-sanitisers are becoming scarce, which I suspect as probably a good thing. A recent study showed that while the generic sanitisers can kill-off some innocuous micro-organisms, they leave a cleaner, healthier breeding ground for more dangerous "germs". To be effective sanitisers must contain at least 65% alcohol. Ordinary proper hand-washing with decent soap and hot water is an effective virus killer.

This notion of binning tissues after a single use is likely to trigger panic buying and enrich supermarket owners and tissue manufacturers.  It is also likely to increase the risk of infection for others. The best course of action after using a tissue is to put it back in your pocket or handbag (not up your sleeve as it may slip out). Depending on the infective life of the virus outside a host, and waste disposal and handling procedures at the point of disposal, binning it can create infection risks for others. Take your tissues home with you and dispose of them there, preferably in the fire.

So, who to believe? I'm open to being convinced otherwise but I wonder if there is another agenda here. What are we not being told?

This post isn't meant to encourage you to ignore the well-intentioned advice of your local health-professionals, I just believe they are misguided, parroting the populist "party lines".


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## Thirsty (9 Mar 2020)

mathepac said:


> that a virus needs a host to live off


yes, but this one can survive on surfaces for some time; long enough to infect someone. Since we don't know how long that is, we have to err on the side of caution.





mathepac said:


> ...tissues...trigger panic buying and enrich supermarket owners


hardly, and for now I'll go with the official advice.


> hand washing with decent soap and hot water


any modern day soap will do, and the water doesn't need to be hot, it's just nicer. Most of us don't wash our hands properly or long enough. Maybe now we'll learn better.

I'm puzzled as to what agenda you think there might be?

The best we can do is slow the spread of this infection; prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed, and do our best to stay safe, and keep everyone around us safe.

1.9m infected people is a lot of seriously ill people, and a lot of dead people.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best.


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## Saavy99 (9 Mar 2020)

People really need to heed the HSE advice, thorough washing of hands, observing sneezing etiquette and social distancing where possible. Three simple techniques that would go a long way to saving many lives and prevent people catching this illness.


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## odyssey06 (9 Mar 2020)

Saavy99 said:


> People really need to heed the HSE advice, thorough washing of hands, observing sneezing etiquette and social distancing where possible. Three simple techniques that would go a long way to saving many lives and prevent people catching this illness.



That advice is good but will only get you so far - if you are someone who needs to commute to work on public transport social distancing is impossible.
Employers could also help with recommending those who take public transport to WFH.
But ultimately, it needs the government to give more clarity re: sick pay especially for those self-isolating.


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## NoRegretsCoyote (11 Mar 2020)

TBH personal hygiene measures are great but this needs co-ordinated central action.

As long as people are going to work, kids are still in school, trains are running and cinemas still open you will get transmission.

Once an outbreak is established you see 35% day-on-day growth.

Washing  your hands more often isn't going to slow this down by much.


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## odyssey06 (12 Mar 2020)

The French President Emmanuel Macron has described the coronavirus outbreak as “the most serious health crisis France had faced in a century”  ... 
Interestingly, he focused on the point: Macron *called on those aged over 70 and with underlying health conditions to limit their contact* with the outside world and remain at home as much as possible.


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## DeeKie (13 Mar 2020)

Reduce your contact with others to an absolute minimum wash hands and clean, clean.


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## WaterWater (20 Mar 2020)

It is recommended that grand children should not visit their grand parents. Should infants be allowed to visit their grand parents?


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## Leo (20 Mar 2020)

WaterWater said:


> Should infants be allowed to visit their grand parents?



Infants have been shown to be carriers while asymptomatic, can you guarantee your infant has not come into contact with any person or object carrying the virus? If not, for their grand parents' sake, contact should be restricted.


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## Firefly (20 Mar 2020)

If you are lucky enough to have parents alive & older than 70 perhaps do the supermarket shop for them & save them the risk of catching this yoke...


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