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Does anyone know why there are concerns that antibody immunity to coronavirus will only be short-lived? Some have suggested the immunity might only last for a few months after a coronavirus infection. Or might only last for one or two years. I've never heard of a viral infection which exhibits...

I am eager to hear the update from the WHO on their advice about the general populace wearing masks. The WHO are reviewing some new unpublished evidence from Hong Kong on the efficacy of masks for the general public. This article (2 April) says: I hope the WHO don't dilly dally. They reviewed...

That 70% reduction in transmission may be enough to halt the pandemic: The basic reproduction number (BRN) of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is thought to be around 2 to 3 (meaning each infected person goes on to infect 2 or 3 others on average). A 70% reduction in transmission means a reduction...

I wrote to the Guardian yesterday, detailing much I what was included in the first post of this thread, and today (3 April) there are two new articles in the Guardian examining the effectiveness of face masks: The first article points out that wearing a mask may produce a fivefold reduction in...

Yes, a lot of the time we don't like to follow precautions because we are afraid to look silly. A few weeks ago, I tried to get my elderly parents to wear surgical masks when going to the supermarket, but they did not feel comfortable with it, because at that stage, very few people were wearing...

Good article by Business Insider: Countries, cities, and health authorities all over the world are reconsidering their coronavirus advice that most people don't need to wear masks Meanwhile, back in behind the curve Britain, an expert on the BBC still says today that:

You are referring to surgical masks (which normal cost a penny a piece) versus respirator masks (normally about 50 pence each), such as the FFP2-grade respirator (or US equivalent N95-grade respirator). It's been widely said in the media that surgical masks only protect other people, as they...

Another advantage maybe, but that is not what the press and medical reports are saying: they are saying the lives of frontline hospital workers are put at risk because of a dire shortage of masks and other equipment which protects them. For example, see this article: 'I'm full of dread'...

Here is the self-contradictory statement by the US Surgeon General, tweeted 29 Feb 2020: Source: here So somehow when medical staff wear masks, it protects them from coronavirus; but when the general public wear them, it does not work. For the general public, according to dubious advice in...

I would challenge that official statement by the WHO and various medical authorities in the West. Masks certainly do protect others, but I would guess likely protect the wearer too during a pandemic. I believe it clouds our thinking to accept the official statement that implies masks offer no...

Western medical authorities and the WHO have repeatedly stated that the populace do not need to wear masks or respirators, and that for the general public these offer no protection from coronavirus. The WHO say: Source: here It's rather annoying when scientists hide behind deceptive...

There is a petition that people may like to sign to restart research into DRACO, the universal antiviral drug designed to work for nearly all viruses (it's mechanism should work for all except negative ssRNA viruses). This man's potentially huge medical breakthrough can't get funding, so he's...

I found this study interesting. They demonstrated a safe low concentration of 0.03 ppm chlorine dioxide gas in the air was effective at inactivating floating influenzavirus aerosols, thus preventing airborne transmission, or greatly reducing viral loads in the lungs (I am not too clear on...

It does seem to have slowed a little in the last few days. There's a good historical graph of UK death numbers on this page (see the graph "Total Coronavirus Deaths in the United Kingdom" half way down the page). If you run your mouse along the graph curve, it gives the day by day number of...

I am now wondering if this rapidly doubling of the UK death count really reflects the increases in the number of infected. It occurred to me that the UK death count might be accelerating not just because of increasing numbers of infected people, but perhaps also because of a shortage of...

Yes, tue that is a possibility; but in any case the exact death rate does not change the result of the calculation by a great deal. Changing the death rate from 1% to 0.5% for example only doubles the calculated figure for the number infected. For a rough calculation like this, I think you can...

Actually if we look at the historical UK coronavirus death numbers shown in the graph on this page, we can see that over the last two weeks, deaths have been doubling approximately every 2 days! So assuming again a 1% death rate, Tomas Pueyo's formula predicts that there are 8.4 million people...

That's true, but you can easily determine the degree of exponential growth by looking at the increase in deaths over the previous two weeks say. If for example the deaths were to double every 6 days, then you put that into your exponential calculation. If mitigations are put in place that slow...

While researching hand sanitizers and disinfectants, I came across something interesting about hand washing which may be relevant to avoiding skin dryness: Source: The WHO guidelines on hand hygiene in health care. Chapter 13

Because coincidently I already happened to have a bottle of 10% povidone-iodine solution that I bought a few years ago, I was able to make up a 2% solution and test it: There is almost no noticeable change in the appearance of your hands when you apply a 1% or 2% solution. Even if you use a...