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So colleague in China's virus city


shootingstar

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Work colleague just returned to Wuhan last wk. to visit her parents.  She always does annually.  It is the city where China right now is freaking out because of the deadly virus which has same deadliness as SARS. 

4 wks. ago she told me, she and sis in same city, actually had booked a trip from China to Japan.  I dunno how this will play out now.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/death-toll-coronavirus-china-wuhan-1.5434256

Last wk. at a staff meeting near end, we all got into social talk. I made a semi-joke in front of our entire team:  "So are you going shopping there?"  She said to everyone, she wasn't going shopping during her visit. Her parents had retired as professors, and live in housing on university campus...a more elite area of city.  Well, when she retuns to work, we'll see how this plays out. Whenever she returns. (normally to be mid-Feb.)

Ok:  I took license to make the half-joke question....because it was easier that I said it.

She sits in a cubicle on other side of  mine.

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9 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Put her in quarantine when she gets back.

She is a lovely person. I honestly hope she stays at home or in hospital for a few days before returning to work.  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-hospitals-airports-preparing-for-possible-arrival-of-sars/

It is not SARs as in that link, which someone at newspaper didn't correctly name the link properly.

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3 hours ago, shootingstar said:

So colleague in China's virus city

Is there a China "city" that would get the general claim as a "virus city", or, and I think this is closer to the truth, are there are a dozen of so cities in China that are often the origin/flashpoint for virus epidemics? 

I really think China has a real problem with the shear size of their cities and the likelihood that a deadly flu or other type of virus will take root and become a large outbreak or epidemic and then spread all over the place.

Regarding your coworker, she should be offered the option of working from home for a week or so after returning.  International travel - regardless of whether it goes via China - is just a VERY easy way for folks to get sick and bring germs back to the office, so why risk bringing yuckiness to the rest of you if not necessary?

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6 hours ago, shootingstar said:

Work colleague just returned to Wuhan last wk. to visit her parents.  She always does annually.  It is the city where China right now is freaking out because of the deadly virus which has same deadliness as SARS. 

4 wks. ago she told me, she and sis in same city, actually had booked a trip from China to Japan.  I dunno how this will play out now.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/death-toll-coronavirus-china-wuhan-1.5434256

Last wk. at a staff meeting near end, we all got into social talk. I made a semi-joke in front of our entire team:  "So are you going shopping there?"  She said to everyone, she wasn't going shopping during her visit. Her parents had retired as professors, and live in housing on university campus...a more elite area of city.  Well, when she retuns to work, we'll see how this plays out. Whenever she returns. (normally to be mid-Feb.)

Ok:  I took license to make the half-joke question....because it was easier that I said it.

She sits in a cubicle on other side of  mine.

I may have passed by that same university when our tour group was in Wuhan which. after two days in Shanghai and a morning flight, is where we toured the city for a day then boarded the ship for our 5-day cruise through the Three Gorges and to Chonqing in 2001, the year before the dam raised the water level and covered some historic areas.

Your mention of the parents retiring as professors makes me wonder how much they had to go through as China changed. Our guide pointed out the university and said that when she went there, the Cultural Revolution said that everyone should have the opportunity for college, including many farm workers who had had 2 years of public education (even worse than Bush's No Child Left Behind putting Special Ed kids in Physics classes!).  She said some classes were ridiculous and they had to attend Cultural Revolution Meetings for hours most days.  She said today (2001) the college has returned to its high standings.

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20 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

I wonder what would happen if everyone who passed through China or any other nation with a reported case of the virus was placed in holding for 21 days.

The airlines would complain, certain organizations from all-over the political spectrum would threaten to withhold campaign contributions, and the holding bill would be overturned with a proclamation of, "The danger has passed!"

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5 hours ago, MickinMD said:

I may have passed by that same university when our tour group was in Wuhan which. after two days in Shanghai and a morning flight, is where we toured the city for a day then boarded the ship for our 5-day cruise through the Three Gorges and to Chonqing in 2001, the year before the dam raised the water level and covered some historic areas.

Your mention of the parents retiring as professors makes me wonder how much they had to go through as China changed. Our guide pointed out the university and said that when she went there, the Cultural Revolution said that everyone should have the opportunity for college, including many farm workers who had had 2 years of public education (even worse than Bush's No Child Left Behind putting Special Ed kids in Physics classes!).  She said some classes were ridiculous and they had to attend Cultural Revolution Meetings for hours most days.  She said today (2001) the college has returned to its high standings.

If you look at extensive the history books in English about the Cultural Revolution....I think your guide was slightly brainwashed/lying abit.  The Cultural Revolution punished professors, teachers  and researchers in their colleges and universities in China during that terrible time. Such folks were paraded out, even beaten and humiliated for being imperialist, bourgoise and traitor to the common values of all folks in China.  The point it to physically beat/attack or imprison many of these innocent folks because they were part of intellegensia. Many of the academics and students were sent to ...the farm communes, labour camps, etc. to work....by the military.  There are photos of the beating, making people wear insulting signs, dunce caps, etc.

It was a terrifying time for China.  Mob rule was the order of the day. What she didn't tell you that people reported on their teachers, classmates, parents, family members and sometimes it was lies.  There was not justice as we understand it in North America. China went through a serious brain drain/black period for over not just 1 decade, several decades.

We are talking about torture also.  And so to hear of the Chinese imprison some of their ethnic minorities in the north, ie. Muslims right now.

I know someone personally face to face, whos father committed suicide.  He was a journalist and was imprisoned.  AFter release he brought his family and they immigrated to Canada....He never fully recovered mentally and hence, his death.  I know of another person's family where parents were threatened.,..and they escaped.  

Enlightnment not subject people to this type of violent governing,..there were some leaders at the time who were in mainland China....and the best ones   were educated in universities in the West...free to think, learn 360 degrees about various subjects. Before they returned to China.

A first cousin...told me she was ordered to work in the rice paddies.  She only finished half way through high school during the Cultural Revolution.  Anyway, she was sponsored by my father and immigrated ...to Toronto. She feels her education and opportunities in life in China were cut by the Communists at that time.

We are VERY pampered in North America about our freedoms. 

 

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8 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Is there a China "city" that would get the general claim as a "virus city", or, and I think this is closer to the truth, are there are a dozen of so cities in China that are often the origin/flashpoint for virus epidemics? 

I really think China has a real problem with the shear size of their cities and the likelihood that a deadly flu or other type of virus will take root and become a large outbreak or epidemic and then spread all over the place.

Regarding your coworker, she should be offered the option of working from home for a week or so after returning.  International travel - regardless of whether it goes via China - is just a VERY easy way for folks to get sick and bring germs back to the office, so why risk bringing yuckiness to the rest of you if not necessary?

I have understood the virus as lst detected in Wuhan.

We'll see what happens.  Some of the Canadian hospitals are probably gearing up in health and safety protocal and severe quarantine procedures.  In Toronto, I think some of the hospitals did deal with some SARS cases.  I was living in Toronto at that time.

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So it looks like work colleague visiting her aging parents in Wuhan, is locked in the city.

The national govn't  has issued a lockdown to prevent people leaving or entering into the city....train, airport, bus:  https://www.cbc.ca/news/china-coronavirus-wuhan-public-health-1.5437217   And a 2nd city.  China has ordered the military to do the shutdown.  Transportation service lines suspended.

She was scheduled to return to work in Canada after Valentine's Day.  

No, her work is such that some of it she has to do in person, while some work can be done remotely. She also works in person with other people in our dept.

I'm not surprised China can do something like this (and maybe it will prevent infection spread than what it is now...?).

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The official numbers - 600+ cases, don't seem to jibe with a lockdown of a city the population of NYC.

I did see news reports this morning, I'm not doubting the lockdown/ closure of all public transportation.  But it would seem that the numbers of cases has to be much more than 600.

Time will tell.

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7 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

Read some interesting articles about this today. Most along the lines of 'The government of China is not telling what is really happening. It's much worse.'

Besides for @shootingstar, are we the only ones fascinated by this?

No, I too am interested and fully support the lockdown.  Until things are controlled, anyone who was recently in Wuhan should be quarantined for the incubation period.  Control an epidemic before it becomes one. 

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8 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

Read some interesting articles about this today. Most along the lines of 'The government of China is not telling what is really happening. It's much worse.'

Besides for @shootingstar, are we the only ones fascinated by this?

I watched a US health expert today say China is being a lot more open about these diseases.

 

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Just now, Wilbur said:

No, I too am interested and fully support the lockdown.  Until things are controlled, anyone who was recently in Wuhan should be quarantined for the incubation period.  Control an epidemic before it becomes one. 

Quarrantines are a lot tougher to pull off than people think.

Next time we get an airborne virus with a high mortality rate, we are screwed.

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13 minutes ago, late said:

Quarrantines are a lot tougher to pull off than people think.

Next time we get an airborne virus with a high mortality rate, we are screwed.

We don't have the population density that China has. That puts us in a better position.

Because of my lung issues, any infection hits me harder that the average person. So hoping it doesn't become a huge deal, like the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu.

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17 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

We don't have the population density that China has. That puts us in a better position.

Because of my lung issues, any infection hits me harder that the average person. So hoping it doesn't become a huge deal, like the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu.

I was talking about us. We made a weak stab at upgrading our defenses against epidemics during the Clinton years (that's when we got those FEMA fenced in areas the Right used to get all paranoid about). But our defenses were inadequate before, and that hasn't changed significantly.

So far it has a roughly 5% mortality rate. It doesn't seem to be spreading fast, so the weather could get better (open windows cut down on airborne transmission) before it gets near you.

I hope.

I am also more vulnerable to such things.

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I expect the quarantine to spread.  In fact it has already spread to to cities adjacent to Wuhan.  My oldest son will be arriving in Washington DC tomorrow and in CT by that evening.  I think he got out before they locked everything down.  He was in Japan on vacation but had to go home to Shenzhen to get his laptop and warm clothes.

We're chatting on facebook.  He's arriving at the airport in Shenzhen as I post.  It's in the wee hours of the morning there and he says he's in more danger of the cab driver falling asleep than from any bug.

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8 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I found it humorous.  

Don't you have some kids to go yell at?

People got completely freaked out. That nurse Chris Christie imprisoned in a tent (!) was from Maine. Kinda ruined what little sense of humor I had, in regard to ebola.

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1 minute ago, late said:

People got completely freaked out. That nurse Chris Christie imprisoned in a tent (!) was from Maine. Kinda ruined what little sense of humor I had, in regard to ebola.

You will get over both it and the politics of it in the next 5 or 6 or 8 years.  Or maybe you won't. 

 

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1 hour ago, Kzoo said:

You will get over both it and the politics of it in the next 5 or 6 or 8 years.  Or maybe you won't. 

 

 Dot is correct. Surprisingly.

A series of plagues killed about 1/3 of Europe, during the Dark Ages.

I had polio.

My grandfather caught the first flu, which you could call a plague or a pandemic. A home remedy at the time was to get roaring drunk. Which was a good idea for some people. You see, it was your own immune system that killed you. If you got bombed, that would weaken your immune system for a little while.

He woke up a week later, in a morgue.

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8 minutes ago, late said:

 Dot is correct. Surprisingly.

A series of plagues killed about 1/3 of Europe, during the Dark Ages.

I had polio.

My grandfather caught the first flu, which you could call a plague or a pandemic. A home remedy at the time was to get roaring drunk. Which was a good idea for some people. You see, it was your own immune system that killed you. If you got bombed, that would weaken your immune system for a little while.

He woke up a week later, in a morgue.

There's a point to this related to @Prophet Zacharia comment, I'm sure.  We aren't allowed to make a funny regarding sickness because of the plague in the Dark Ages.

You do need to find some kids to yell at.

 

 

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I feel sorry for my work colleague because right now she is trapped there with her parents.  She's probably super worried about her parents. Her husband is here at home, in Canada and her daughter is studying at University of Toronto. These are real people.

We may here some backroom info. stuff whenever she returns to Canada.  Her sister is a middle manager for the municipality of Wuhan.

In 2003, there were 40+ Canadians who died from SARS.  Here's summary of  hospital emergency medical services depts. in Greater Toronto Area.   https://www.cmaj.ca/content/171/11/1342

 

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On 1/24/2020 at 3:38 PM, Kzoo said:

There's a point to this related to @Prophet Zacharia comment, I'm sure.  We aren't allowed to make a funny regarding sickness because of the plague in the Dark Ages.

You do need to find some kids to yell at.

 

 

There were 11 cases of Ebola in the US over the three years of peak concern. 7 cases of known infected individuals brought to the US for medical treatment, 2 people who traveled to the country and were later diagnosed, and two health care workers who contracted the illness in the US. So 2 people in about 3 years were unknown vectors at the time of their arrival to the country.

In contrast to the last month:

U.S. health officials are currently monitoring 110 people across 26 states for the coronavirus, including the five patients who contracted the deadly infection in China and brought it back to America.

So yes, the Ebola concern was much less dangerous to the general US population.

 

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Shoot, the US is working on a plan to get Americans out of Wuhan.

Two people in NH are being tested for the virus in NH. Kinda changes the feeling if there's a chance it could be less than 100 miles away.

About time we revisisted the failed attempt to improve our defenses against fast moving infectious diseases.

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6 minutes ago, late said:

Shoot, the US is working on a plan to get Americans out of Wuhan.

Two people in NH are being tested for the virus in NH. Kinda changes the feeling if there's a chance it could be less than 100 miles away.

About time we revisisted the failed attempt to improve our defenses against fast moving infectious diseases.

So are you feeling more, or less, concerned than at any point during the Ebola outbreak?

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1 minute ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

So are you feeling more, or less, concerned than at any point during the Ebola outbreak?

Less, at the moment.

It looks like this new virus spreads better than ebola. As an elderly person with lung issues, it could kill me.

So this is less of a crisis for the country, but worrisome for me personally.

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On 1/24/2020 at 9:32 PM, shootingstar said:

I feel sorry for my work colleague because right now she is trapped there with her parents.  She's probably super worried about her parents. Her husband is here at home, in Canada and her daughter is studying at University of Toronto. These are real people.

We may here some backroom info. stuff whenever she returns to Canada.  Her sister is a middle manager for the municipality of Wuhan.

In 2003, there were 40+ Canadians who died from SARS.  Here's summary of  hospital emergency medical services depts. in Greater Toronto Area.   https://www.cmaj.ca/content/171/11/1342

 

Being stuck in Wuhan would be a nightmare. Pretty soon we’ll be seeing stories of the effects of shutdown of a major metro area. Food shortages, civil unrest, lack of other medical care - stuff like dialysis or treatment of heart attacks. We’ve never had this kind of up close eye on a situation to watch through social media even though China is highly censored. I feel bad for your coworker. 

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1 hour ago, BuffJim said:

My brother is an Infectious Disease doctor. Over the weekend he seemed to be saying this wasn’t going to be that big of a deal in the US. I disagree but time will tell. I had a hard time finding surgical masks yesterday in 2 pharmacies. Finally ordered some on Amazon. 

I do have siblings working in hospitals in Toronto area.  Toronto hospitals apparently is taking measures..whatever that means.

I sister finished her maternity leave when SARS was over...several people had died in Toronto.

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