COVID-19: Community Spread Requires Social Distancing. Who Has Managed it Best?
Deborah L. Birx, M.D., the coronavirus response coordinator in the White House at yesterday’s White House press conference noted that results of people tested for the coronavirus in the US look very similar to South Korea where 96% of people with symptoms were negative despite presenting with respiratory symptoms. However, a small study in Germany shows that the COVID-19 may present as common cold-like illness and is shed for a prolonged time after symptoms end. These findings support the push for massive testing in areas with community spread (no known contacts with a known infected person). South Korea tests nearly 20,000 people a day, the most per capita of any country and has a fatality rate of less than 1% from the coronavirus. That daily test rate is to date more than the total number of people tested in the richest country in the world, the United States. Italy is the second most affected country and has seen its hospitals overwhelmed forcing an emergency lock down of the whole country. With community spread cases popping up around the US, and our airports getting jammed by fellow citizens rushing home from abroad following the ban on inbound flights from Europe, it is important to practice social distancing by avoid crowded areas, not touching others and maintaining a 3ft (1m) distance. 20 seconds hand scrub with soap and avoid touching your eyes, nose, mouth will keep you safe. Whether you use the Hindu namaste with clapped hands, a Japanese ojigi or bow, or a hand wave, remember to keep a distance.
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