Covid 19

Here is a letter sent to me by a good friend and though others would appreciate it.

AS A RESIDENT OF CAMEO WOODS I WANT TO HELP YOU
UNDERSTAND THE SUCCESS OF COVID-19 AND WHY YOU SHOULD
TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY
I’m appealing to all the residents of Cameo Woods because I care about each and
every one of you. I want to share with you what I’ve learned about COVID-19 to date.
What first began as an outbreak in China, appeared to be something that could be
contained and with that said, many countries developed less than adequate
measures with their containment efforts, and didn’t take this Coronavirus seriously
enough. The time for containment ended very quickly as countries now struggle to
implement strict measures of quarantine in a desperate effort to save lives and the
economy.
In the United States, that time has most definitely come, according to every expert.
Scientists have only known about this strain of Coronavirus for just over 3 months,
and have already learned a lot. It is NOT SARs. It is NOT MERs. It is NOT like Ebola.
No, I’m not a Doctor, although I hope it shocks you to the core to know how many
doctors it is killing. It should shock everyone to know that 51 Doctors have already
died in Italy treating patients. No, I’m not a Scientist. But, I am Science Teacher,
Biology was my major and I also have a Masters in Education and Biology. I am
studying COVID-19 as one that is obsessed to learn all that I can about this disease.
SARS-C0V-2 is not the flu. It has different symptoms, spreads and kills readily and is
a member of only 6 other known Coronaviruses. Four of them, OC43, HKU1, NL63
and 229E cause many of the common colds we have all suffered from. The other 2,
MERS and SARS cause far more serious disease.
I want everyone to understand why COVID-19 is so deadly. Why it spreads so easily
and why the stringent measures of quarantine and the closing of all but essential
public places is so necessary. The structure of this virus is unique. It is shaped like a
round ball with spikes. The spikes recognize and stick to the protein in our cells
called ACE2.
The shape of these spikes causes the virus to bond strongly to our cells. Unlike SARS
or MERS. It therefore takes very little contagion to start the infection.
So here’s the really interesting feature and likely the single most notable facet of this
virus that has now been discovered by scientists, whom are working around the
clock to understand COVID-19 and it should scare you enough to take it seriously.
This amazing feature, are the spikes which consist of two halves. The spike only
activates when the two halves are separated. They must separate in order to enter ​
the human host cell. In other Viruses like SARS, this doesn’t happen easily. For some
unknown reason the separation of the two halves of these spikes takes place very
easily as it is separated by Furin, an enzyme which is found across a wide range of
tissues in the human body.
This helps explain why infection is so easily transmitted to your cells. To make things
worse, and COVID-19 is much worse, it infects both the upper and lower airways.
Most viruses affect the upper respiratory system and create mild symptoms. Lower
respiratory infection is more difficult to spread but is much more severe. Some
scientists are speculating that it is this ability to exploit the enzyme Furin in your
cells that make infection so easy. It can transmit while in the upper airway without
symptoms, before it reaches deep into the lower airway. This virus was only
discovered in January, and although they know a lot more now, a lot of the biology
has yet to be unraveled, and therefore lots they don’t know.
Researchers offer an explanation of what this virus does to you. Once in your body, it
attacks the cells in your airway with the ACE2 protein. As it kills cells, the dead cells
slide down your airway toward the lungs. Once deep into your respiratory system it
clogs your lungs until you can’t breath. When your body fights back, you get a fever
and inflammation. If your immune system can’t handle the invasion, you become a
victim. Some immune systems become “cytokine storms” which means that the
immune system goes crazy and can do more harm than good. These cytokine storms
were factors in killing thousands in the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic.
My last comment on the workings of the virus itself is how amazed I am that the
virus has not mutated into any drastically different forms. Researchers say it has
mutated 100 times but none of these mutations are dominant and the only
reasonable explanation is that it has no evolutionary pressure to do so. It appears to
be infecting with ease all over the world and in all different climates. This would
make one less confident that changes in weather patterns will knock it down or that
a forced mutation will change the COVID-19 virus into a less harmful variation. This
is just my opinion.
No one is immune. I repeat, there is no previous immunity. I’m a little surprised at
some of the community letters I have read that were sent to the board. It was one of
my motivations to write this letter and I plead with homeowners not write to the
Community Board members bragging of your intelligence and your actions being
that of a responsible adult. This is no time to pretend you know what you’re talking
about. Social distancing is only one safe practice. This virus is hearty and stays on
surfaces for days. You could transmit it to the pool chairs, the gate door knob,
bicycles, toys, games, or acquire it in one of those areas yourself. You may have
brought it home from the store or from a package. Everyone needs to stay home!
The incubation period is long and you have no way of knowing if you are infected.
The elderly are more susceptible and are dying for sure, but adults and children are
dying as well. Don’t make the mistake of assuming you or your child has the correct
immunity or genealogy to fight this virus should they become infected. Remember ​