Should I cancel my ticket? (fear of corona)

Miri1

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 1:35 pm

amother [ Jetblack ] wrote:

I think people should wear gloves... so many things are touched... doors, doorknobs, chair handles, windows...
I’m not sure that purel can actually kill the coronavirus.

If you're wearing gloves all the time, it just takes over from your bare hands- you'll still end up touching your face and the doorknob etc.

I don't see how wearing gloves really makes any difference unless you put them on for specific tasks, and remove them afterward (eg preparing food, changing diapers, caring for a sick person).
It's not the same as a face mask which actually blocks particles from entering and exiting the body (whatever those particles may be - it's possible that viruses can get past certain masks - that's a different question)

I think it really just comes down to the same old advice - don't touch your face, wash hands well with soap before eating and after using the bathroom. Or use purell (which hopefully will take care of viruses pretty well).

eta - I'm sorry OP, I'm not sure what I would do .... I think I'd be nervous to get caught up in quarantines though.

Last edited by Miri1 on Wed, Feb 26 2020, 1:40 pm; edited 1 time in total

Miri1

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 1:38 pm

southernbubby wrote:

Maternal immunity seems to last awhile for this. People my age are the most severely affected.

My understanding is that a mother would have to have immunity to be able to pass it on to a baby.

There are other illnesses like that though- for eg hepatitis it is often more severe in an adult - kids can get a very light form of it.
Same with Fifth disease - kids just get a rash while adults can have days to weeks of arthritis.

chanchy123

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 2:32 pm

Corona-wise Israel is probably the safest place to be. However, at the rate we’re going pretty soon many flights into Israel will be canceled. The health ministry is calling on Israelis not to leave the country and to cancel international conferences here. There is talk of restricting enterence to foreigners. We’re thinking of going on a family trip to the US in the spring. Haven’t bought tickets yet and now I don’t know if we should.

etky

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 2:47 pm

chanchy123 wrote:

Chanchy, this is true now, today, because b"h no one has been officially diagnosed with the virus ,aside from the two from the cruise ship who are in isolation.
If however the virus does come here - and it is expected to - I think that Israel is an ideal place for it to spread. We are a close knit society living in a tiny, crowded country. We get together for religious observances - many of us weekly if not daily. We have an army where people live and work in close quarters and soldiers who go home every weekend to their families and get together with friends. We have large smachot, we have an election coming up with people will be going en masse to vote, and then there is Purim with all the contact between people that that entails (including food from MM). People are constantly traveling and tourists are constantly visiting. We also have a problem in that Palestinians and Jews mingle all the time in numerous places and we have no control over what goes on in the PA in terms of self-quarantine and detecting the virus. It's no secret that things there might be much laxer than they are in the Israeli sector.
And let me add that our health system is already collapsing so even if the virus is not that dangerous in and of itself, proper medical care - especially in hospitals - will not be available to everybody if there is widespread disease. I think that is really at the root of the concern of health administrators.

chanchy123

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 2:55 pm

etky wrote:

I agree with most of what you wrote, Israel is doing all it can to keep it this way. Except that from what I gather Israeli health system is not in such a bad place.

etky

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 3:01 pm

chanchy123 wrote:

I agree with most of what you wrote, Israel is doing all it can to keep it this way. Except that from what I gather Israeli health system is not in such a bad place.

I think that the hospitals are the weak link in an otherwise pretty good system.
They are already - as in every winter- operating way over full capacity and are woefully understaffed as anyone who has recently visited an emergency room can attest.
There is tremendous concern among health officials over how they will manage to function if g-d forbid there is an epidemic here.

amother

Jetblack

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 3:06 pm

Miri1 wrote:

I mean to take gloves off for eating so hopefully hands are much more sanitary.

amother

Magenta

Wed, Feb 26 2020, 7:49 pm

Plan to travel there next week iyh, and just spoke with my dr about it today. Im 7 months pregnant. I’m staying by relatives and not touring, so she said I won’t be mingling in crowds with unknown people, all should be ok. Also told me to bring antibacterial wipes onto the plane to wipe down seats, tray table, remote, etc. Anything I touch. Also purell not enough must wash with soap and water, and not touch face.

amother

Amber

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 12:43 am

Flip Flops wrote:

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Some people wearing masks were also wearing gloves.
It was mainly the Chinese people who were all covered.

A friend of mine used to work for the CDC, and worked for them during the SARS outbreak. She said that facemasks do very little to protect the healthy, but they are great to keep the sick from spreading the disease. So you're not wearing it to protect yourself--you're wearing it to protect others around you, similar to getting a vaccine to provide herd immunity. Culturally, if you see Asian people wearing facemasks during an outbreak, it's because it's become culturally acceptable to try to protect the rest of the population. Especially with a virus like COVID-19, which apparently it's not uncommon to have but show no symptoms, you might not even know if you have it, and could be spreading it! So wearing a facemask is a considerate thing to do.

That said, COVID-19 is spreading fast, but it's far less deadly than the flu, so if you'd fly with the flu, you can fly now. Just wash your hands very well, don't shake hands, etc.

Rappel

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 1:04 am

If I were going to travel to any country right now, it would be Israel. They've been extremely proactive in combating this virus from the get-go.

Children, btw, are by and large not catching this disease.

My biggest concern right now would be the airplane, but again - Israel is barring anyone who has recently been to China from flying here. Which makes planes to Israel seem rather safer than others.

So that leaves the question of whether you're willing to walk through the airport/taxi/bus/train on your way to the plane. Your call.

Newmami

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 4:02 am

hi all, thanks so much for the advice and comments. I went to see my pediatrician yesterday. He said that the virus is a bit blown out of proportion. also being here in Europe is not safer or more dangerous than IL. he said what most of you said already, use hand-sanitizer, when sneezing only use paper tissue and throw away.
The basic rules of hygiëne.
Ijh all will be good.

etky

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 4:08 am

Newmami wrote:

Good luck.

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 5:50 am

etky wrote:

I think that's why they are reacting so strongly. All you need is one infected person to walk into any of the huge yeshivas or colleges and thats it- huge pandemic.
Imagine how quickly it would spread in yerushalyim if one person on Mir Yeshiva got infected

etky

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 5:59 am

amother [ Amethyst ] wrote:

Well, the first case of Corona (aside from the two cruise ship people who have been in isolations since arrival in Israel)) has just been reported. An Israeli who returned from Italy 4 days ago and who has not been even in home isolation since his return.
Everyone is holding their breath now until they publicize what city he is from and his whereabouts over the past 4 days since his return.

amother

Seashell

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 6:54 am

amother [ Amethyst ] wrote:

Chas veshalom!! We should take hashem into the equitation and daven he should make this virus go away.