Community Chat

[Porcelain]

This is a great resource for COVID-19 data. It's just a data map that shows the current confirmed case amounts and plots them on a map. It's from Johns Hopkins University. This way we (meaning me) can search on "Johns Hopkins Data" and find it if we feel we need it and can't remember where we put the link.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Mobile version: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/85320e2ea5424dfaaa75ae62e5c06e61

Source link: https://systems.jhu.edu/

(Commentary and quotes from infectious disease experts = welcome. State data is helpful too. Commentary and quotes from political figures or talking heads = not welcome. If any of the usual suspects (I'll do my best to be good too!) try to stir the pot and shut down the thread, please don't reply. Just report and ignore them.)

Edited to add:

Here is a link to the great thread @Nightowlz created on this same topic. More discussion there. And I'm pretty sure she posted about it way before I did. She may have been the person who first mentioned Johns Hopkins as a resource.

https://community.qvc.com/t5/Wellness/John-Hopkins-Coronavirus/m-p/6073452#M184362

[Nightowlz]

Already posted the information in Wellness. Thank you.

[ROMARY]

Can I mention here something I just thought of?

If not, please ignore and move on.

Should we be careful with receiving our daily mail (letters, etc.)?

Maybe use gloves when handling our envelopes? And then wash our hands after reading them.

I'm recalling something from years ago, when some sort of powder? was thought to be circulating in our mail system, and folks were suggested to wear gloves when opening their mail.  

Well, it's a thought, even though I haven't yet taken this precaution.

I guess my thoughts are wandering toward wondering if anyone in the mail system is ill and still at work.  Even the mail delivery people.  

Thank you, and please ignore if necessary.

Wishing us all well and safe.  

[Lipstickdiva]

@ROMARY, go to the WHO or CDC website and see what they have to say about this.  

There is a lot of misinformation swirling around.  People are misquoting what these organizations are saying so it's best to look at the sites yourself.

[ROMARY]

Thank you.  I'll go there.  

'Just in case', it's not mentioned, good idea to wash our hands after reading our mail.

Also, don't read our mail and eat at the same time, as I often do.  

[shoesnbags]

@ROMARY 

I always wash my hands after handling the daily mail. Just think of all the hands that mail has passed through (and the people who may have coughed on sneezed on it). Maybe that makes me a germaphobe, but I’ve long considered our mail a source of germs and acted accordingly. Mr. Shoes, not so much, ha ha. 

[SilleeMee]

Handling mail...that's not how the virus is transmitted.

[ROMARY]

Oh, I'm sorry.........I thought I heard (in the beginning) that this virus lives on surfaces for some amount of time.  ?

If so, washing hands after reading our mail might be handy.

Also, I always wash fruit and veg., mainly because folks (customers, including myself), pick through them, finding ripe or not-so-ripe, etc., items.  

As I've noticed before, there are always folks (customers)  who have colds and coughs handling produce.  

Oh, well wishing us all well.

Took me a long time to access the CDC; I briefly skimmed through and didn't see anything re: mail and/or produce. 

Not the exact link (above), but the CDC  C virus update site.  

They have a newsletter option.

[Porcelain]

---

@ROMARY wrote:

Can I mention here something I just thought of?

If not, please ignore and move on.

Should we be careful with receiving our daily mail (letters, etc.)?

Maybe use gloves when handling our envelopes? And then wash our hands after reading them.

I'm recalling something from years ago, when some sort of powder? was thought to be circulating in our mail system, and folks were suggested to wear gloves when opening their mail.  

Well, it's a thought, even though I haven't yet taken this precaution.

I guess my thoughts are wandering toward wondering if anyone in the mail system is ill and still at work.  Even the mail delivery people.  

Thank you, and please ignore if necessary.

Wishing us all well and safe.  

---

I haven't heard of any experts who have said anyone caught this thing through the mail. And I haven't seen any of them advise anyone to do anything special with mail. Just be prudent and continue with good hygiene.

The main thing to avoid is wet droplets coughed by a person who has the COVID-19.

(The powder hoo ha a while back was about a poison mailed out by a unabomber type disaffected individual: anthrax. COVID-19 is not a poison and it isn't a powder. So the response needs to be completely different.)

[golding76]

COVID-19 and How Long It Can Survive on Surfaces -- from the World Health Organization online site:

How long does the virus survive on surfaces?

It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems to behave like other coronaviruses. Studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).

If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.

Is it safe to receive a package from any area where COVID-19 has been reported?

Yes. The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low. 

(It doesn't hurt, I believe, to include washing one's hands after handling our mail to our personal care protocol.  I never thought of it, ROMARY, but will do it now.)