How The Authorities Are Mismanaging The Coronavirus Outbreak
I have just got over my second bout of a respiratory virus very similar to what is now called Coronavirus. The first dose was delivered to me courtesy of a friend we had over for dinner two days before Halloween. Six weeks later, almost to the day, I had begun to breathe normally. I wasn’t gasping for air, didn’t need an inhaler and could sleep lying down. Good enough to fly to Spain. Alas, the fellow behind me on the airplane had the same virus (you reach the point where you recognize the cough) and sure enough I spent another four weeks almost to the day trying to get over that. I went through three administrations of antibiotics and steroids, plus 10 weeks on the inhaler. Here’s what I learned.
The virus is transmitted primarily by cough. Almost all cases I have read about occur as did mine: one person coughing on another in a confined place. In my case it was my dining room and then an airplane. In the end, instead of closing windows and quarantining myself, I did the opposite. I opened windows and went for walks when the weather was mild. In my view the quarantine on the Diamond Princess is not only not helping, it is aiding the spread of the virus. Open the windows or portholes and get people on deck. I think the same is true of the hospitals in China. The conditions are perfect: poorly circulated air, temperature and nearby hosts. If I were the Chinese government, I would start opening windows and getting people outside. The Diamond Princess, the hospitals, the quarantine facilities are little more than large petri dishes.
Exercise helps. I find that when I take regular exercise the circulating blood helps fight the virus. One caveat: walk in mild weather. The virus seems to get aggressive as the temperature reaches 0 degrees c.
Keep your distance from everybody. A few feet can make all the difference. I explained when I met someone that I was trying to walk off a terrible virus and therefore would stay at a distance. Everybody understood. If I were in charge of the hospitals in China, I would insist on getting people outdoors in wide spaces. Distance matters, so lots of room is needed. To quarantine the entire city or, indeed, Hubei province surely is having the opposite effect. In my view it would be better to quarantine (at home) those that are ill, then open the cities and towns again. Air. People need to get out of the petri dishes.
I checked the temperatue in Hubei province and Tokyo. It has been almost identical to the temperature here (Ireland). This virus seems to do well in colder, high humidity environments. Nothing new there, I suppose, but add the enclosed spaces in which we now live with our central heating and the result is trouble.
