. . .
J “The greatest danger: the Virus is aerosolized. Three feet or six feet or nine feet or a dozen feet is not enough. ‘Social Distancing’ should be defined as a person staying in his or her own isolated breathing bubble. ‘Give me my space’ is the only way. If one person in a room is infected even if asymptomatic, the entire room is and all those in it are tainted.”
K “Most calamities require villagers to gather together to save heat and share food and trade resources and provide each other with aid and succor. This menace requires villagers to disband and disperse and distance and hide from each other.”
. . .
J “That said, I am drowning the Virus with warm fluids before it drowns me. I drink warm liquids at every opportunity and create opportunities to drink warm liquids. Coffee in the morning. Tea – black or green – throughout the day. And green tea when taking zinc. Chicken noodle soup or other hot soups for lunch and at night. Even merely microwaving water and honey and sipping it throughout the day may save or salvage the respiratory system. Limit cold drinks but cold is better than not. And wash hands regularly and thoroughly.”
K “I now skip my nightly ration of one (1) cold beer and instead make one (1) glass of Glühwein substituting diluted elderberry juice. I add raisins and cinnamon that are touted as ‘best if used before the outbreak of World War II’ discovered lounging in the back of the pantry.”
. . .
J “They are so right. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Completely and thoroughly for a good 20 to 30 seconds. And moisturize the skin to keep it moisturized.”
. . .
J “The entire outside world is presumptively tainted. Everyone needs to wear a set of outside clothes that can be removed at the door to the inner sanctum, placed in a bag and then laundered with soap and dried at the warmest setting for 30 minutes. For the first time in two generations, our family is not hanging things on a clothes line.”
K “And we are all counting on the gas and the water and the electricity to be flowing.”
. . .
J “If possible, a couple should put up plastic and divide the house into two units. Each can keep a watchful eye on the other. Who knows, a little distance may bring a couple closer together.”
K “Living alone limits the threat. And the number of suspects failing to picking up socks is finite.”
. . .
J “Stop smoking. Full stop. So easy to dictate and so very difficult to follow. This is the time when twelve small steps must be collapsed and completed in one giant leap. So easy to say.”
K “Start sleeping. Mindfully, if possible in these times. I am on a regular schedule after a day filled with regularly scheduled activities. At least that is the plan so far.”
. . .
J “Wipe every surface. The life of the Virus seems to set new longevity records with every new study. Then wipe the surface again.”
. . .
J “Read, talk and form your own opinion about the efficacy of gargling.”
. . .
K “When this is all or largely over, all of the single folks and ascetics and couples and successful social distancers who survive can get together and have a big kegger . . . with very cold beer.”
J “And set up a committee to try to figure out how not to @#$% it up this go round.”
. . .
[The most valuable sources of information and commentary include Roger Seheult, MD at MedCram; Dr. John Campbell’s avuncular daily update; the many timely, insightful and informative articles and commentary by Chris Martenson and Adam Taggart at “Peak Prosperity”; the award-winning investigative reporting of Caitlin Johnstone at “Caitlin Johnstone”; the daily aggregation of articles cum commentary by Raul Ilargi Meijer at “The Automatic Earth”; and Charles Smith at “Of Two Minds”.]
[“The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.” in “Not wearing masks to protect against coronavirus is a ‘big mistake,’ top Chinese scientist says” in “Science” dated March 27, 2020 by Jon Cohen.]
[See “For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power” in “The New York Times” dated March 30, 2020 by Selam Gebrekidan.]
[See the e-commentary at “Venturing A Few Unfounded And Unwarranted Predictions (July 13, 2015)”; on the need to build railroads in the new world order at “Amtrak – The (Rail) Road to National Security (January 23, 2006)”; the concern with the power failing and nuclear reactors heating up at “Lights Out: Renegade Nuclear Plants (September 21, 2015)” and the paradox and curse of growth in “Stealing Resources . . . Through Time . . . and Across Space (February 20, 2017)”.]
Bumper stickers of the week:
Wash N Wear N Hide
Wash your hands; wear your mask
Love means not being in the same room
Wash your hands; wear your mask
Drown the Virus with warm fluids before it drowns you
Wash your hands; wear your mask
Give me my space
Wash your hands; wear your mask
“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.” Professor Albert Allen Bartlett
Wash your hands; wear your mask
One person is currently presiding over the greatest crime against humanity in the history of humankind. Do the math. Think about it.
Seen in the personals: single man with toilet paper wishes to meet single woman with hand sanitizer for some good clean fun.
What’s the difference between Covid 19 and Romeo and Juliet? Covid 19 is a corona virus – Romeo and Juliet were a Verona crisis.
The ‘Great Disconnect’ between the ‘spot price’ for ‘paper precious metals’ and the ‘real price’ for ‘physical precious metals’ as assessed by SD Bullion is also true for Au (Gold). The ‘real price’ has increased almost weekly from $130 to $140 to $155 an ounce over the ‘spot price’ for ‘paper precious metals’. A real market is emerging in a country with no real free markets.
Toilet Paper Consumption Study (TPCS): A new roll installed on Sunday
[Big bumper:]
Motion And Memorandum To Continue Trial And For Shortened Time
COMES NOW . . . and files this Motion And Memorandum To Continue Trial And For Shortened Time.
The Coronavirus and the resulting disease, COVID-19, are far more virulent and potentially much more fatal than is generally acknowledged.
Both clients/citizens and both attorneys and the one likely witness are over 60 years of age. They are all more vulnerable.
When the hospital system becomes overwhelmed in a few weeks, the Triage Protocol will allocate scarce resources including ventilators to those under 65 or perhaps to those under 60 years of age.
Regular handwashing is critical but not adequate by itself.
Social distancing of three to six feet is not adequate. The aerosolized particles float in an entire room and remain for a period of hours. Conducting a trial wearing a 3M N95 valved mask and latex gloves is awkward.
Marc G. Wathelet, a distinguished virologist who led a team studying the SARS virus COVID-19 and aerosol transmission, describes the transmission mechanism:
The isolation measures to fight transmission of COVID-19 proposed today in Belgium recommend a distance of at least one meter between individuals. This recommendation is based on transmission of the virus by contact with contaminated material, or, when two people interact face to face, by the very small droplets generated during speaking, coughing and sneezing. Under the influence of gravity, these droplets quickly fall to the ground, within one meter.
However, there is a list of evidence that converges to indicate that COVID-19 is also transmitted by aerosol and when aerosol transmission occurs, it is imperative to have much stricter isolation measures.
An aerosol, literally a solution in air, consists of micro-droplets, which are so small that they stay suspended in the air or fall much slower than small droplets. They are produced during normal breathing and this production is accelerated by speaking or even more by singing, shouting.
The danger of aerosols is that they can spread the virus over greater distances and between people who do not interact face to face. Even more stringent control measures are therefore needed for viruses transmitted by aerosol.
While the conventional view is that the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease is not transmitted by aerosol, it seems clear to me that this view does not take into account the following observations.
1) It should be noted first that most respiratory viruses are transmitted by aerosol.
2) SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV are uncommon among respiratory viruses, as there was very little evidence that they could be transmitted by aerosol, except during the few super-spreading events. For example, on one flight from Hong Kong to Beijing, 22 people were infected with SARS-CoV from one index patient in 2003, and the distribution of the cases represented on the seat plan for the plane favored the aerosol transmission interpretation.
3) More than 3,000 medical personnel were infected by the new coronavirus in the Hubei province this year. All the images from Wuhan show the personnel with simple isolation masks, not type N95 or FFP2 “duck” masks. The difference between the two types? Isolation masks only protect against expectorated small droplets, not aerosols. 3,000 cases of infection for medical personnel aware of working with an epidemic respiratory virus is very strong evidence of aerosol transmission.
4) In the age of ubiquitous videos, the Chinese government has documented two incidents of transmission in open markets, where an individual was responsible for several infections. In one of the markets, the shortest interaction leading to transmission lasted only 15 seconds and the two individuals were separated by a fruit and vegetable display, at a distance of more than two meters. In the other market, the shortest interaction only lasted 50 seconds. The Belgian government’s position heard on the radio that it takes 4 hours of close proximity in the classroom setting to consider a possible transmission certainly does not take into account the evidence.
5) A group of Japanese epidemiologists calculates that one transmission in two is asymptomatic. Asymptomatic transmission, where the individual does not cough by definition, in such proportion is a clear indicator of aerosol transmission.
6) The difference in the clinical presentation of cases during the SARS and MERS epidemics, and that of COVID-19 cases. There are more cases where the first symptoms are pulmonary with the new coronavirus. Respiratory infections that are caused by small droplets or by contaminated surface begin in the upper respiratory mucosa because they cannot reach the lungs, first hitting another surface in the nose, mouth or throat, and this first infection can then descend into the lungs. The presence of more cases where the first symptoms are pulmonary for COVID-19 is a clear indication that transmission also occurs by aerosol.
7) Super-spreading events: when a single person in Daegu in South Korea can infect at least 37 others in a single episode, it is clear from the description of the event that aerosol transmission was involved.
8) Finally, the high base reproduction number of COVID-19 (~ 7) determined by three distinct groups of epidemiologists, in other words the fact that the virus diffuses with great ease, strongly suggests a transmission that also includes the aerosol mode.
When we consider these eight points as a whole, we come to the idea that aerosol transmission is an important vector for the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, isolation measures that do not take into account aerosol transmission are doomed to failure.
We should not meet in the court room. We should if at all possible stay in our respective rooms and not endanger any other person.
There is no urgent need to resolve this divorce case in the next few weeks.
Last night, the undersigned delivered a gift of one of the few remaining pulse oximeters in . . . to [Wife] who took her oxygen and pulse levels and then (hopefully after properly sanitizing it) went over to take [Husband’s] levels. They need each other. In a few weeks, they may call 9-11 and be told that they will not even be transported to the hospital.
The entire political, economic and legal system is two weeks behind this pandemic. The solution is to get two weeks ahead of it. The court system needs to marshal its resources to deal with emergency cases and matters.
. . . In regular daily calls since late January, they emphasize: self-quarantine, self-quarantine, self-quarantine, self-quarantine, self-quarantine, self-quarantine. (Try to) save yourself and your community. (Try to) save your community and yourself.
This pandemic is not totally outside an individual’s control. When presented with an opportunity, the individual simply must make the right decision.
Let’s make the right decision. Continue this trial to a later date. Our lives will be much different then. We can decide the proper course of action at that time.
[And, of course, because an American-trained lawyer was involved, the only reasonable course of action was stridently opposed.]
e-commentary 