[speedmiester]

So much has been said and heard on this. Any idea how it really originated? There are theories on bio warfare and animal market !! Well the buck has to stop somewhere...

Yes, there are many theories on this. It will be really hard to pin point on the exact cause and there will definitely be cover up by the powers, if the reason is man made.
One of the theory which makes more sense given the scale and virility of the Virus is about improper disposal of animal carcasses which were used for testing in Wuhan's BSL 4 Lab. This is China's only BSL 4 lab which test a lot of diseases and viruses, the animals on which the tests are conducted are to be disposed off by burning them. In this case, the bats were sold off in the wet markets of Wuhan instead of burning them.
The distance from the Lab in question to the wet market is 400 Meters.

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Read somewhere and I am not sure which side I should be on. We humans have exploited this planet like no other species would. The amount of carbon footprint that would be reduced by this one virus is something that we would never be able to achieve even if we wanted to. In a way, viruses like these are needed to prolong the survival of this planet.

Agree with you.
A positive upside to the whole virus situation is the reduction of green house gases especially from China.
Please see the below image from NASA showing the cleaner skies due to reduction in Industrial activity in many parts of China.

[Engine_Roars]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

Well these are natural checks and balances however if it is man made then it could practically wipe out humanity as we know today, this is scary

True, it is scary. Off topic, I have been wondering if I should be saving money or spending it on all those unfulfilled dreams which have been put on hold to ensure a better future for the family. I suppose, I will never have an answer to this.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Agree with you.
A positive upside to the whole virus situation is the reduction of green house gases especially from China.
Please see the below image from NASA showing the cleaner skies due to reduction in Industrial activity in many parts of China.

Yes, it makes absolute sense. Travelling has reduced, manufacturing plants have been shut off, import & export form China has reduced and what not.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

The distance from the Lab in question to the wet market is 400 Meters.

Not really, more like 13km.

So if the source article was wrong about that fact, it may not have really verified the rest of the information either.

Location of lab: http://lssf.cas.cn/en/facilities-vie...4ff59e677e003d

Name of market: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huanan...olesale_Market

And just check the distance on Google maps.

[V.Narayan]

What is the coronavirus situation in Sri Lanka. Any inputs would be welcomed. We have a family wedding there planned a while ago. I am okay going. But I also have three 80+ year olds with me and hence the question.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Well, a few scientists do believe that viruses are earth's white blood cells which help it reduce infections (humans). That said, a mutated strain of Ebola might be enough to rid the earth of 70% humanity.

Probably a theatrical version could be Thanos snapping his fingers !!

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

What is the coronavirus situation in Sri Lanka. Any inputs would be welcomed. We have a family wedding there planned a while ago. I am okay going. But I also have three 80+ year olds with me and hence the question.

I am going to Colombo tomorrow night. Was there last week as well. There is a LOT of chinese construction going in Colombo, but it was all shut down. I could not see a single chinese guy there. All mall and office entrances were being scanned with thermal cameras to detect fever cases.

I think it's as insulated as it can be. But this is only Colombo. Cannot say for the rest of the country.

[Latheesh]

2 new confirmed cases - 1 in Delhi and 1 in Telangana

[civic-sense]

This outbreak could end up wiping out 10% of the world's population. Humanity will survive.

It needs to be seen how many people these two new patients infected before the virus was detected. Given the state of health infrastructure we have in India, if this gets out of hand, there would be absolute mayhem.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

This outbreak could end up wiping out 10% of the world's population.

Source?

Asking because the highest estimates for people killed by the Black Death in the 14th century, the Spanish Flu in 1918, and World War 2 have been 200 million, 100 million, and 85-100 million. Whereas 10% of the World's population would be more than 700 million.

So quite an assumption.

[sushantr5]

Sometime I doubt how India successfully limited spread on Coronavirus? Many European countries are finding it hard to limit the spread of virus even with top class healthcare, emergency facility, protocol adherence and more careful/hygienic population.

This raises doubt in suspicion mind that are we really equipped to fight the outbreak? not even fight, are we equipped to find the virus cases? May be we are hit by virus really hard but we are failing to recognize, it is spread, people are recovered, some are died but we are failing to recognize this. This reminds me of my relative who died because of swine flu in the rural part of Maharashtra. Swine flu was not recognized until he was admitted in Hospital in Pune on his last day on Earth.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by am1m

Source?

Asking because the highest estimates for people killed by the Black Death in the 14th century, the Spanish Flu in 1918, and World War 2 have been 200 million, 100 million, and 85 million. Whereas 10% of the World's population would be more than 700 million.

So quite an assumption.

As of today, the mortality rate remains at 6-7%. Mortality rate is higher outside China (>20%), so I guess China has fudged the numbers. Countries like India would see a much higher rate. Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus and looking at the rate at which it is spreading it could end up infecting at least 80% of the population, if not all.

Unless somebody develops a vaccine.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

As of today, the mortality rate remains at 6-7%.

Mortality rate for Covid-19 is ~2%.
It can affect 10% of the population, not eliminate it. We humans are a tough bunch. Even the deadliest flu ever in history, the Spanish flu, took ~50-100million ppl with it.
Unless this is a genetically modified strain (for which there is no proof), in which case, we are all damned.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Mortality rate for Covid-19 is ~2%.

No it is 6% as of today. Please check this watch page.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

Sometime I doubt how India successfully limited spread on Coronavirus? Many European countries are finding it hard to limit the spread of virus even with top class healthcare, emergency facility, protocol adherence and more careful/hygienic population.

This raises doubt in suspicion mind that are we really equipped to fight the outbreak? not even fight, are we equipped to find the virus cases? May be we are hit by virus really hard but we are failing to recognize, it is spread, people are recovered, some are died but we are failing to recognize this. This reminds me of my relative who died because of swine flu in the rural part of Maharashtra. Swine flu was not recognized until he was admitted in Hospital in Pune on his last day on Earth.

This is very much a possibility. Likelihood of lot more people in India having Coronavirus is very high. The cases that were reported today have source as Italy and Dubai. Italy got added to the travel advisory only last week.

So, as we have more countries reporting new cases, after certain point, one may still get infected without any actual travel history.

Originally Posted by civic-sense

As of today, the mortality rate remains at 6-7%. Mortality rate is higher outside China (>20%), so I guess China has fudged the numbers. Countries like India would see a much higher rate. Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus and looking at the rate at which it is spreading it could end up infecting at least 80% of the population, if not all.



Unless somebody develops a vaccine.

I am not sure how much we can actually believe for data on Mortality rate. It may be high or low depending on what numbers one is willing to believe. Outside of China, it's far more likely that actual sample set of those considered for calculation is still small and excluded infected people without any symptoms and that would automatically mean reporting a higher mortality rate than actual. Eventually I believe the global mortality rate will come down because more cases would be reported and hopefully many will recover.

[DCEite]

1. Does Coronavirus spread through air droplets (coughing/sneezing by infected person) ?

2. Does having animal meat (Chicken/Fish/Mutton etc.) contribute to spread of Corona virus ?