What you need to know.
It appears one can be infectious before being symptomatic. We don’t know how infectious one is before symptomatic, but we do know that the highest level of virus prevalence coincides with symptoms. We currently think folks are infectious 2 days before through 14 days after onset of symptoms (T-2 to T+14 onset).
How long does the virus last?
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On surfaces, best guess is 4–20 hours depending on surface type (maybe a few days) but there is still no consensus on this.
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The virus is very susceptible to common antibacterial cleaning agents: bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol-based.
What you can do now
If you have hoarded masks (which will not help you), please give them to your local hospital. Please help ensure that healthcare workers are safe. We are the ones who are going to be taking care of you or your loved ones.
Basic hygiene . Hand washing, don’t touch your face. If you have some Purell or hand sanitizer, use it wisely. I know a bunch of people who have overused it and are out.
Open your windows . Keep air circulating.
Take your temperature . It's useful to understand baseline body temperatures of everyone in your home. Wash thermometer thoroughly after each use or use disposable tips.
Drinks lots of water. The proof of this will be how many more times you’re going to the bathroom each day.
Put olive oil on everything. It’s been shown over and over again to be cardioprotectant. Nod to my olive oil expert Giuseppe Taibi.
Eat super healthy. Avoid processed sugars and junk food. No soda. Eat as plant-based as you can. (Note: This is more common sense than scientific.)
I’ve never been much of a vitamin guy. That is, if you eat healthy, your body will absorb what you need and excrete what you don’t. I am changing my stance on Vitamin C (with no empirical evidence). I am starting to take high dose 3g per day of Vitamin C but realize I may just get expensive urine. The point is, I do not see any downside.
Have enough of your prescription medicine. I’ve said this before. If you have a mail order pharmacy, get a 90 day supply.
If you live in an elevator building, don’t touch elevator buttons with your fingers….use your knuckle and then immediately wash your hands.
Cancel all non-essential medical procedures. I told a friend yesterday to have her 80-year-old father postpone his cancer radiation treatment. The risk of getting sick from this outweighs the benefit of one round of radiation treatment. Very difficult choices will have to be made. This is more personal than scientific.
Turn off your alarm clock. Wake up naturally. It’s quite amazing that humans are the only living species that interrupts a critical biological process that helps our immune system.
