Coronavirus - those in China, and general discussion

[abcdefg]

2 hours ago, mungouk said:

I knew that anatomically they could do that, but actually experiencing it was rather odd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is likely to become a new fad. The next big thing in personal services. 

 

The roving ear cleaning techs who have made such places as People's Park in Chengdu famous for decades will add this procedure to their repertory.

 

"NOW OFFERING: Shoulder massage, ear cleaning, plus a deep nasopharyngeal rub, all for only 25 Yuan."

[mungouk]

eep!

 

"Ears cleaned... from the INSIDE!"

 

[roddy]

Hong Kong set to ban flights and / or extend quarantines from UK, according to SCMP. Can’t see anything about China, but surely not far behind. 

[Flickserve]

Not allowed to board to HK starting from 0001h 22nd December. 
 

London virus is scaring the s**t out of all countries.

[Jan Finster]

On 12/20/2020 at 2:51 AM, mungouk said:

Ah but that was the UK one. Amateur in comparison to Pudong Airport, which went through the nostril right to the back of the throat.

 

 

I knew that anatomically they could do that, but actually experiencing it was rather odd.

 

If you want to freak yourself out search for "transnasal hypophysectomy" on Youtube (so whenever some stranger takes a sample through your nose you get some extra chills ? ? (Edit: viewer discretion advised for non-medical people)

[Dawei3]

On 12/2/2020 at 8:37 AM, pan.kasper said:

Pfizer and Moderna have above 90% efficacy in preventing the virus.

Since many people read this section, I'll note.  These vaccines were >90% effective in preventing severe disease, not preventing the virus.  

 

While it might be hard to conceive how a vaccine protects you from disease, but doesn't stop you from transmitting it;  this is how the injected inactivated polio vaccine works.  It protects you from getting sick, but you can still be infected by and transmit the virus.  The oral live polio vaccine stops transmission, but it also presents a very low risk of causing polio, so most countries have moved to the inactivated ones.  However, countries like Israel now use both, first the inactivated to protect people and then the live one to stop transmission.  

 

As to whether Pfizer's, Moderna's, or AstraZeneca's vaccines stop transmission, time will tell.  Pfizer's & Moderna's are the 1st ever clinically approved mRNA vaccines.... As others have noted, we don't know yet....

 

Both the Pfizer & Moderna FDA discussions are available to watch via youtube and other platforms.  They are full day meetings.  It is quite impressive the lengths FDA goes to get expert and public input on safety & efficacy.  Both meetings also had significant discussions on ethics.  Neither meeting discusses disease transmission by those vaccinated because this wasn't studied as part of the safety & efficacy trials.  

 

Another unknown is whether getting a vaccine will cause you to test positive for Covid (because you'll have the antibodies....)

 

[pan.kasper]

On 12/22/2020 at 5:00 AM, Dawei3 said:

Since many people read this section, I'll note.  These vaccines were >90% effective in preventing severe disease, not preventing the virus.  

 

Sure, you're right. That's something I didn't actually know before and I only learnt it here on this thread. 

Guess all we got now is to remain hopeful that the vaccines will reduce the spread as well. There are already talks that vaccinated people would be allowed to travel between certain countries and I believe that there is a solid chance that, combined with other measures, getting a jab would allow life to return to a semi-normal by the middle of 2021. 

[Lu]

On 12/21/2020 at 12:59 PM, Flickserve said:

London virus is scaring the s**t out of all countries.

I wish my country was a bit more scared. All travel to and from the UK was banned for a short while (a few days I think?), causing lots of 麻烦 for lots of people. But now it's allowed again, if the passengers show a negative test at most 72 hours old. So, after being tested people have about two more days to get infected, or if they already were infected, to develop enough disease that they would test positive after arrival. No further quarantaine measures are taken. How reassuring, with a virus mutation that is apparently extremely contagious.

 

On the other hand, the whole country is already in a fairly strict lockdown again until Jan 19 (shops closed, schools closed), so hopefully it won't be as bad as it could have been.

 

Meanwhile Taiwan has had its first in-country transmission in a long time, by a New Zealand pilot who picked up the virus in LA and transmitted it to at least one Taiwanese woman. Hopefully it can be contained there again soon, Taiwan was doing so well.

[Demonic_Duck]

4 hours ago, Lu said:

But now it's allowed again, if the passengers show a negative test at most 72 hours old. So, after being tested people have about two more days to get infected, or if they already were infected, to develop enough disease that they would test positive after arrival. No further quarantaine measures are taken. How reassuring, with a virus mutation that is apparently extremely contagious.

 

It seems to me test-before-flying measures are at best marginally useful for that exact reason. Maybe a bit better if you do it alongside test-after-flying. But the most effective measure must surely be quarantining all incoming travelers, in a coordinated way, in dedicated areas. Not a self-imposed "quarantine-lite" at your eventual destination that people will inevitably flout. This is one thing China has undeniably got right, and I can't fathom why more countries haven't followed suit. It's not like there's a shortage of vacant hotel rooms right now.

[Lu]

2 hours ago, Demonic_Duck said:

I can't fathom why more countries haven't followed suit. It's not like there's a shortage of vacant hotel rooms right now.

I guess one factor is that it's difficult for democracies to lock people up like this. Not impossible (see Taiwan), but difficult. And many countries are used to ruling by half-measure, doing something that for most people looks like pretty much in the direction of solving the problem (whatever the problem is: healthcare, low/high wages, housing, immigration...), so governments are not used to taking very harsh and decisive measures to actually really solve the problem at the root.

[Flickserve]

7 hours ago, Lu said:

so governments are not used to taking very harsh and decisive measures to actually really solve the problem at the root.

 

Some can't even make wearing masks mandatory

[Lu]

4 hours ago, Flickserve said:

Some can't even make wearing masks mandatory

Well, the Dutch government has finally managed that, at least, from 1 December. Not that it's universally followed, but there is a lot more mask-wearing than a few months ago. Better late than never, I guess.

[mungouk]

flights between China and UK are now suspended 

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1210883.shtml

[Jim]

Some new cases in Shunyi, including someone living in Gaoliying about ten kms off, and someone in our village is a traced contact so full lockdown until we all get given a nucleic test!

[mungouk]

I've not seen official confirmation yet but we've just been advised here that CDC have mandated a new "14+7+7 policy" for arrivals into China:

• 14 days designated quarantine by CDC. If the 1st test for Covid-19 is negative, the health code will change from red to yellow; 
• 7 days home quarantine. If the 2nd test for Covid-19 is negative, health code will change from yellow to green;
• 7 days of daily base self-check report and the 3rd test for Covid-19 is required before you are properly free (however this works)

[Jim]

Just had the test, they sealed off the village and brought in a team fo medics and they've just rattled through the whole village in an hour or two. I had a bit of shenanigans as turns out foreigner Health Kit doesn't produce the QR code to book a test plus my passport is in with the police getting my residence permit renewed, had to wait until near end and they produced a code by hand. Not sure if we're looking at lockdown.

[ChTTay]

3 hours ago, Jim said:

Just had the test, they sealed off the village and brought in a team fo medics and they've just rattled through the whole village in an hour or two.

Yeah I went through a similar process in Shunyi. 1.2 million tests as of 3pm Monday with 900,000 results... all negative. 
 

I don’t think we’ve got a lockdown coming. Just a bit more caution going forward. 

[Insectosaurus]

On 12/23/2020 at 10:14 PM, Lu said:

I guess one factor is that it's difficult for democracies to lock people up like this. Not impossible (see Taiwan), but difficult.

 

I think you make an important point. I'm actually suprised by how many European countries could perform lockdowns. Thankfully I live in one where such a thing is illegal. Whether or not quarantine for arrivals is legal or not I'm not sure, but there has been a big discussion about the legality in Norway about the way their quarantine hotels have been structured.

[chinadude2006]

On 12/28/2020 at 7:32 PM, mungouk said:

I've not seen official confirmation yet but we've just been advised here that CDC have mandated a new "14+7+7 policy" for arrivals into China:

• 14 days designated quarantine by CDC. If the 1st test for Covid-19 is negative, the health code will change from red to yellow; 
• 7 days home quarantine. If the 2nd test for Covid-19 is negative, health code will change from yellow to green;
• 7 days of daily base self-check report and the 3rd test for Covid-19 is required before you are properly free (however this works)

If this is true, it will affect people who are going back to China on any type of visa which needs to be converted into a residence permit within 30 days. Maybe they will waive the 30 day requirement or more likely it is something they haven't thought about yet.

[mungouk]

26 minutes ago, chinadude2006 said:

Maybe they will waive the 30 day requirement or more likely it is something they haven't thought about yet.

 

21 days of quarantine still gives you 7 days (effectively 5) to report to the PSB and start the process. But yes, it's a nuisance.

I think they're being flexible about this already. I arrived into QT in Shanghai on 26 October, and finally got my passport back with my residence permit on 23 December.