MigL

A point is, by definition, dimensionless, and without extent. The early universe, even at Planck scale, might not have applicable spatial and a temporal dimension, but it would still have an extent. ( just an extensive, non-causal quantum foam )

Whether infinitely old or infinitely vast makes no difference whatsoever. Anything outside the observable universe, anything before the 'big bounce' or Planck era ( actually it should be inflationary era ), is causally disconnected from us. We can never observe it, and it can never affect us in any way.

Oh, I thought you were going in a different direction, JC. I thought you were going to mention the Democrats who are buying/selling stock, with arguably insider information, in an attempt to gain from the country's suffering. I guess they are, after all, politicians.

One must also keep in mind the general conditions of 1918-19. Hospitals ( and makeshift field hospitals ) are crowded with injured/wounded young soldiers from the Great War, who have compromised healing abilities. Into this mix, you start introducing those infected with Spanish Influenza. Couple that with the lack of anti-bacterial agents, and soon enough hospitals become places where you go to die, not to get well.

Aren't allergies an over-reaction of your immune system to everyday 'allergens' that don't bother most people ? So you'll be over-reacting to both, your allergens, and any exposure to Covid-19. Either way, you're in for a miserable time. ( I developed an allergy to ragweed pollen in my 30s, but it was almost gone by my 50s )

OK then... I'm off to disinfect myself by rolling around in my cats' litter box. ( that really 'reeks' of ammonia )

Could also be due to travel patterns. More affluent West Germans, especially from the southern regions, will go on skiing vacations in the Italian/Swiss/Austrian Alps, in January or February. That area seems to be the epicenter of the central European infection.

Had to sign in just to give you a +1 for that.

It is not 'cheap cider', Strange; It is 'scrumpy'. See the value of learning the meaning of words, Dim ?

Yeah, was busy trimming bushes and pruning my lemon tree this morning. Besides, we could all use a little humor right now.

The Provincial Government of Ontario, Canada, has passed a law that skips today's date, and goes directly to April 2. The fear was that too many people would engage in April Foolery, and run afoul of social distancing guidelines. The plan is to have two April 1sts next year.

As far as I know, Covid-19 is still spread through direct contact with mucus membranes by bodily fluid droplets. You could have it on your hands, and as long as you wash before touching mucus membranes, it will not result in an infection. I have read that a big worry is when these virus mutate to become 'air borne', as someone across the room could then infect you, without any transfer of fluids. But I have also read that 'air borne' virus are much less dangerous because they infect the upper respiratory tract only, as opposed to the really dangerous lower tract infections. I believe someone actually mutated the avian flu to be 'air borne', and a lot of people were upset by this development, but it turned out the 'air borne' strain was much less dangerous/infectious.

If in 15 years time we have another outbreak that originated in a South-east Asian wet market, I don't know if I'm a big enough person to be able to resist saying "I told you so." Assuming we're both still here .

That is ultimately true, charonY. But we practice social distancing to reduce the threat of infection. Would not interspecies distancing also reduce the threat of interspecies infection/mutation ? Especially when the differing species do not co-habitate in nature.

Gasoline has dropped to $0.65 Canadian per liter. You go in the convenience store at the Gas Station and a 0.5 l bottle of water costs $2 Canadian. Something's wrong with that picture.

Next thing you know, you Americans will want to drain the Great Lakes to irrigate the American Southwest. Just so they can have green lawns, and fountains in front of the Las Vegas casinos.

No Dim, we decided others' health isn't valuable. When its our own, we'll sell our own mother into slavery for a faint hope.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not necessarily picking on the Chinese, but any unhygienic form of animal farming and slaughter. These Oriental wet markets bring all the worst circumstances together. Different animals that are usually separated geographically, are kept in stressful/unsanitary conditions, in cages next to each other, and are then killed/skinned/cleaned in the same area, were bodily fluids of one specie may contaminate another. If this isn't a best case scenario for viral transmission, I don't know what is. I'm not saying this doesn't happen on pig farms, chicken farms, or in the water in India, and maybe we should be looking at the way pigs and chicken are farmed, as I'm sure most of the world's population is aware of not mixing drinking water with toilet water ( or at least, should be ). Another question which comes to mind... If you've had COVID-19, built up a supply of anti-bodies, and recovered so that you are now immune to re-infection, are these anti-bodies transferrable ? Would a blood transfusion give the receiver the anti-bodies developed by the donor ? and would these anti-bodies be effective ? IOW are anti-bodies tailored to the invading virus, or the host cells ? ( go easy on me, Last biology class I had was Gr.10 )

One factor which seems to be getting ignored during this outbreak, is the root cause. Possibly because investigating it has racist overtones, but I think it can be discussed in a civil manner. India is as overcrowded as China and probably even more insanitary in certain areas, yet no major diseases have originated there. China, on the other hand has given us SARS in 2004, and now COVID-19. Both are thought to have originated in Chinese 'wet markets", where exotic animals are caged in close proximity, under stress, and slaughtered on the spot for customers who believe their consumption provides health, sexual, and other benefits. Both virus are common to bats, and while SARS made the jump to civet cats, and then to humans, COVID-19 is thought to have jumped from bats to pangolins ( scaly anteaters ) and then to humans. Mutating with each jump. Turtles, snakes, cats, birds, bats, etc. in close proximity, and a great demand from wealthy Chinese for these exotic meats is the root cause ( what benefits does shark fin soup really bestow ? ). These markets are common in China, Thailand, Vietnam, etc., where poor farmers can make good money by raising exotic animals that were never meant to be in proximity. China did close down some of these markets after the SARS outbreak, but they've looked the other way, as wet markets made a comeback ( as in Wuhan ). Other diseases have also resulted from the overcrowded and unsanitary methods of raising pigs ( swine flu ) and chickens ( avian flu ). Is it time that the world demands the ending of these wet markets ( especially the exotic animals part ), and other unsanitary livestock activities ?

If he thinks CharonY is bad, wait till he gets a load of Swansont, the 'evil liar' ( so I keep telling him )

I believe it was only about a week or two ago that 60 000 Italians, from the affected northern region, travelled to Switzerland daily for work. Now even the Swiss, who follow the rules religiously, are heavily infected, and thein infection/death numbers ( per capita ) are getting lose to Italy. The population of southern Italy consists mostly of old people, as the young move North where work is. Even my home town ( of 4000 people ) had its first case last Thursday. If people don't take this seriously and follow procedures, most of the population of these small towns will die off.

Another custom is total disregard for rules. Lockdown ? What lockdown ? I'll do as I please.

Judging by the empty toilet paper shelves ( and canned goods, dried pastas, etc. ) in the supermarket, I would say herd mentality, along with fear and panic, are much more contagious than COVID-19. I wonder if this opens the door to universal health care in the US, as this pandemic will likely have greater effect than 9/11 did.

Best strategy is stay at home if you can. And if you find yourself weakening, watch old movies like The Andromeda Strain, The Satan Bug, Contagion, 28 Days Later, Outbreak, 12 Monkeys, I Am Legend, or even Rise of the Planet of the Apes, to motivate you.

Not everyone who is infected is hospitalized. Most people who are infected experience mild symptoms and need to self-isolate. The ones who do get hospitalized are the elderly ( over 70 ) and those with pre-existing medical conditions which have compromised their immune systems. Not all 60 million people need to be cycled through the hospital system. The problem is, Italy has one of the oldest populations ( more people over 65 yrs ) compared to other countries in Europe. But other countries are starting to catch up to Italy. Switzerland and Spain are very close; but for some reason Germany is an outlier of the data set, with much lower infection numbers. edit: corrected Spain, not France