[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by msdivy

The reason lockdown is lifted is Govt needs money. It is estimated KA needs 6,500 Cr per month for running the state machinery. With no economic activity, reduced tax the Govt can't maintain same lifestyle

Lockdown was meant to ramp up medical supplies. Govt setup wedding halls, designated hotels, railway carriages for quarantine & treatment. But why still there is shortage os PPEs, beds? Many doctors have closed down their clinics due to lack of PPE for safe practice. This is affecting non-covid patients.

Lockdown is the ultimate Brahmastra weapon, which was used in 1st round and got wasted. Now when the real battle is begun, that weapon can't be used again.

well said!. But the small problem was they thought just unleashing Brahmastra will smash the virus to pieces. We all know what got smashed.

And still some states have not stopped releasing small arrows (mini lockdowns) of their own.

Anyway, to be fair to them I think they have done a reasonably good job with whatever resources we have as this is a once in lifetime crisis.

[balenoed_]

Probably a question to doctors:

Are there some precaution that one could practice daily to get rid of this virus getting into you. (Apart from social distancing and stuff like that)

Like strictly a daily gargle with hot/salt water, steam inhaling etc. If it primarily through the mouth that this things gets in, then won't these simple practices would have a probability to shoot the virus down right there before it enters into the system.

If so, why this advice not being be widely circulated/mandated to the people so as to reduce the spread to whatever extend it is possible.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Probably a question to doctors:


If so, why this advice not being be widely circulated/mandated to the people so as to reduce the spread to whatever extend it is possible.

Not a doctor, so this is not a medical opinion. But here is what I feel.

I think the reason this advice is not being circulated/mandated is because it might not work like that.

Inhaling steam, Salt water gargle etc provides Symptomatic relief, ie. soothes the throat, or opens up blocked airways etc. It does not really do anything to the virus itself.

You can practise it, but dont expect it to kill the Virus or prevent it from spreading. It may however provide some relief from the symptoms if you happen to get infected.

[Gansan]

^^ Steam and warm water will not kill the virus unless they are scalding hot. But I read an advise by a Japanese/Korean doctor sometime back about drinking small quantities of warm liquids frequently, and especially after returning from outdoors. The idea is to push whatever virus is there in the throat in to the stomach, where the acid will take care of it.

I too am not a Doctor!

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Probably a question to doctors: Are there some precaution that one could practice daily to get rid of this virus getting into you. (Apart from social distancing and stuff like that)

Disclaimer: I am not a healthcare professional, so if you want to follow the advice given below, do it at your own discretion after consulting your doctor.

I started doing Jal Neti after reading this article about using it as a way to prevent (not cure) / reduce probability of contracting Covid-19. Don't know if it's a perpetual guarantee against getting infected with Covid-19 or not, but it has definitely reduced my snoring!

How to do it and related Q & A can be seen in these 2 videos (there are a lot of other Jal Neti videos on Youtube too):

How to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YysmD7IDuEg

Q & A:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Z58FPMKc4

The gentleman in the videos is Dr. Dhananjay Kelkar, medical director of Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, which is one of the biggest hospitals in Pune and a leading Covid care centre since April.

Mods: Please delete this post if it's OT/not appropriate in some way.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Inhaling steam, Salt water gargle etc provides Symptomatic relief, ie. soothes the throat, or opens up blocked airways etc. It does not really do anything to the virus itself.

You can practise it, but dont expect it to kill the Virus or prevent it from spreading. It may however provide some relief from the symptoms if you happen to get infected.

Perfect. It does nothing to kill the virus but certainly provides huge symptomatic relief. Apart from N95 mask that acts as a good barrier to some extent, there is nothing else really that can realistically prevent the virus from getting inside the body.

Also, don't use valved masks. I am sure everyone by now might have come across the advisory on the same. Valved respirators defeat the entire purpose of cutting down transmission between humans. Being a Doctor, I never used such a mask even once since last 10 years when N95 had become popular with H1N1 pandemic.

[AZT]

A good way to bust this myth
Source : https://www.newsweek.com/masks-covid...oxygen-1520060

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Apart from N95 mask that acts as a good barrier to some extent, there is nothing else really that can realistically prevent the virus from getting inside the body. .

Thank you so much sir for taking the time to provide invaluable inputs.

I have one additional question: why is ventilation not taken seriously? People are obsessed with hand and object sanitisation but largely ignore ventilation. I personally lean towards the view that this is not largely a contact based disease and chances of contracting it via touch are slim.
Still, it is easy to wash and sanitise hands and I do it as well as there is no harm in it. However I am not paranoid about say getting in my car or handling an object.

Coming to ventilation, I believe that the majority of cases are from spending an extended period of time in an enclosed space with an infected person. To mitigate this there are several possibilities which seem unexplored. In large establishments, hopefully there is additional mixing of outside air in the ventilation systems. If I were a doctor working in a clinic or a shopkeeper or any small to mid sized establishment, I would try to keep some windows ajar if possible.Then I would place one or two fans behind me, say on either side of my desk but behind me to blow air and virus particles away from me.

People might argue that I am being selfish but the visitors remain in that room for a brief period and thus are less at risk than the person spending all day there. For a small showroom, I would, in addition to keeping the doors and windows ajar, place one exhaust fan to pull air in from outside and another to push it out on another side. This would cost little and would likely help in decreasing the chances of indoor infection while still enabling airconditioned comfort. This can be done into a corridor as well. In addition, the personnel working in an enclosed space should try to spend as much time outside as possible. For instance if there is no customer, the owner and the staff could step outside for a few minutes. No one seems to have implemented these simple steps.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

...

In large establishments, hopefully there is additional mixing of outside air in the ventilation systems. If I were a doctor working in a clinic or a shopkeeper or any small to mid sized establishment, I would try to keep some windows ajar if possible.Then I would place one or two fans behind me, say on either side of my desk but behind me to blow air and virus particles away from me. People might argue that I am being selfish but the visitors remain in that room for a brief period and thus are less at risk than the person spending all day there. For a small showroom, I would, in addition to keeping the doors and windows ajar, place one exhaust fan to pull air in from outside and another to push it out on another side. This would cost little and would likely help in decreasing the chances of indoor infection while still enabling airconditioned comfort. This can be done into a corridor as well. In addition, the personnel working in an enclosed space should try to spend as much time outside as possible. For instance if there is no customer, the owner and the staff could step outside for a few minutes. No one seems to have implemented these simple steps.

Excellent suggestions! From my observations, these days, it is only the employees who are stuck inside establishments with hardly any space. They have no choice but to stay within their allowed boundaries. The owners are safely working from home most of the time. Employees like clerks and helpers have no means of implementing even the smallest improvements you have suggested.

This is the reality of our poverty stricken nation. Next time we should salute not only our doctors and medical staff, but those working to provide us with goods and services at great risk to themselves and without any means to voice their grievances. (possibly why they believe in a higher power to save them, rather than their own abilities)

[am1m]

https://theprint.in/health/lift-lock...saster/466786/

[DCEite]

Has anyone noticed that the spread of infection Initially was rapid in metro cities like- Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai etc.

Now the spread in metros is either flattening or falling, but the direction of spread is changed towards Tier 2 cities - for example - Lucknow/Kanpur/Pune etc etc

The next phase of spread will be the rural areas. This is where the healthcare system will have its true test.

Hoping for the best.

Originally Posted by am1m

https://theprint.in/health/lift-lock...saster/466786/

Spot on !

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by am1m

https://theprint.in/health/lift-lock...saster/466786/

Originally Posted by DCEite

Spot on !

My vote: the article is rubbish! It's biggest fault is that it considers there to be two effects of covid19: not-much or death. And it isn't either of these extremes that have been filling up and straining the world's health resources.

On the whole, I suspect that it started with a premise: lockdown is wrong and then threw a hot-potch of stuff together to try to substantiate that. Maybe that was the brief: "thousand words on why lockdown is bad please."

The next phase of spread will be the rural areas. This is where the healthcare system will have its true test.

We've known and feared this ever since the mismanagement of migrant labour.

In this metro, at least, lockdown/containment/quarantine/etc is being applied much more surgically. Apparently we now have very few barricaded streets.

[Punatic]

Mario Palazzetti's "Biostopper" creates an aerodynamic field that redirects all breath emitted by person back to him/her, thus stopping tiny virus-carrying droplets from reaching anybody else.

(Source: World Economic Forum)

Not too many details, because it's still being patented, but fascinating to read about the idea, and its source!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

On the whole, I suspect that it started with a premise: lockdown is wrong and then threw a hot-potch of stuff together to try to substantiate that.

Quite possible. Anyway i think we're past the lockdown debate. I don't agree with a lot of points in that article either, but there was a lot of it that made sense too and which seem to align with what we can see around us and through later news reports. While a lot of us will certainly disagree with the main premise of the article, i don't think the entire thing is 'rubbish'.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by am1m

Quite possible. Anyway i think we're past the lockdown debate. I don't agree with a lot of points...

don't think the entire thing is 'rubbish'.

Like Thad said, "started with a premise". Yes, there's a confirmation bias. I was hoping to find scientific facts in an article written by people with a background in science (one of the authors is a "doctor", I'm not sure whether he is a medical doctor or a PhD). Somehow, nothing reassuring from the article, though I am against the lockdown.

After reading this, I am even more skeptical, I feel like I can only trust a scientifically peer reviewed study of the findings. I am also not sure if the study itself was done properly.