Coronavirus - worldwide spread and control

The value of ethanol in the practice of medicine has long been appreciated, as in this scene in which Lee Marvin has just been shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW-UQst-pBI

 

I reckon that as long as the cloth smells heavily of ethanol and feels very cold (because ethanol evaporates and cools quicker than water) it is still good enough. So I am adding a bit more meths every other day or so at present. In a sealed pot it should not lose effectiveness.

Isopropyl would be the same. It isn't quite so volatile though so it can be more difficult to judge if it is still active.

After a while the water component of both is likely to hang around, making the cloth feel wet but not so cold. I guess it is probably sensible to wash out the cloth about once a week, dry it and start again. I cannot guarantee this routine will be effective but in the absence of available gel it seems to me a reasonable alternative.

 

First confirmed case of coronavirus in my small town. An older woman just up the street.

 

http://i-s-d-e.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/11-BCB-FireDragon-Fuel-Military-Handout-2015.pdf

Might Fire Dragon fuel gel make a suitable emergency hand sanitizer? Online camping/bushcraft/army surplus shops seem to have it in stock.

 

I think the isopropyl alcohol needs to be 91% for hand sanitiser- got this link from either this thread or another thread on S4ME https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavi...ntion-how-to-make-hand-sanitizer-at-home.html

So far I haven’t found any isopropyl alcohol at 91% . Is there a tested recipe for hand sanitiser which uses only 70% alcohol?

But on its own, for wiping down surfaces, I’m not sure if 70% isopropyl alcohol is ok but think it should be (edit just saw Jonathan Edwards post above, should be ok). I’m a bit confused at the moment what is good or surfaces or not. We are using dettol at home.

 

My mom spoke with our neighbor and he said that for the last weeks they all had some persistent flu. No fever (just like in my family) but some cough (we don't have that) and they feel weak and presumably crappy (like us).

It seems to be a low grade fairly slow burning flu. If other people didn't have it I would just ascribe it to ME/CFS.

Is this a coincidence or is covid-19 already widespread but only in certain cases presenting with fever, a few of whcih will then have lung problems?

 

The trouble is this probably means their will likely be other undiagnosed cases, with less severe symptoms, or maybe even no symptoms at all yet. I imagine it will inevitably be the more severely affected who get diagnosed earlier.

 

If doing this then will have to extremely careful, given meths is highly inflammable and a cloth soaked in it effectively becomes a wick. A sort of Molokov cocktail.

 

I use warm soapy water with a soupçon of bleach on my kitchen surfaces and cloth.

I shall carry on doing this until someone tells me this doesn't work or gives me a really good reason not too.

Also for those of you with pets.... a reminder to be careful. My pooch is far too big to climb on counters and the like even if he was allowed to, but cats tend to do that kind of thing. If wiping surfaces down with any new products then remember to consider if coming into contact with it in the concentration you're using might be toxic to them. Not just direct contact, but if they lick their paws afterwards.

 

Another alternative to methylated spirits, I found this earlier is Clinell alcohol wipes Large - they are 70% alcohol and used to disinfect surfaces and medical equipment. Just got some on eBay for surfaces and phones.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/392717344392

This is the cheapest I found for 720 wipes. Still hugely inflated but nowadays every sterilising wipe/gel seems to be.

 

Thanks Jonathan

I'm not using the alcohol for hands, I never touch my face while out, haven't done for years since I became 'germ aware' when Mum was doing chemo. & I only go out a couple of times a month anyway & only very rarely to shops/where there are crowds. So i'm not concerned about that, it's what happens when I get home...

I sometimes touch my phone while out so everything that I've touched while out, that I also want to touch once home needs disinfecting. Plus once my carers have washed their hands they're oblivious... they go into their handbags to get things - eg their phones, diary etc. So I want a cloth I can give them to wipe down their phones, handbag handles etc & something I can do the same for my own after being out too - & to wipe purchased objects that have been through the hands of a checkout person etc. So I think those wipes you mentioned are perfect & a bottle of alcohol just in case.

@Trish thanks for the fire hazard tip.
I'm just washing things down within the house with regular soap & water, unless I know they've been touched by something potentially contaminated, & washing anything that can be submerged under the tap like with hands - but you cant do that with your phone

 

Why are people stockpiling tissue paper and water? Last I heard COV19 doesn't cause diarrhea

 

It's prob a leftover from the Brexit preppers. I have to say we keep a large store of toilet paper as the medicine I take for diverticulosis means that I use a ridiculous amount of toilet paper (plus am sensitive to a lot of them too!) so we try to stay one step ahead!

I gather it's really bad in Australia!
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ra-pages-to-help-out-in-toilet-paper-shortage

 

Not quite as simple as it might seem though. We have bought a couple of extra packs of loo rolls. If we had to say indoors for two weeks and not go shopping, the very last thing we would want to run out of would be loo rolls. Just order them online instead? ... hmm, like I believe that is necessarily going to work when the number of people doing so would be many times more than the supermarkets could cope with. If you could not get supplies during such a time then you would have no choice but to break your self isolation, which would be completely self defeating.

 

Yes, I understand this as I have also bought extra. But what I'm seeing on t.v is that people are hoarding tons, and I mean loads in 2-3 carts at the check out. It's become a bit of a panic.

 

Ah, that's different. People preparing for a nuclear holocaust level catastrophe!