Coronavirus
Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance is the best coronavirus article I’ve read. I urge everyone to read it immediately. It nails the facts and policy recommendations, and does a great job of explaining them.
I read a textbook on viruses and shared my notes. It’s Essential Human Virology by Jennifer Louten:
I read a variety of other books and papers. You can find various notes and comments in my coronavirus info thread, e.g. Notes for Molecular Biology of the SARS-Coronavirus.
Coronavirus Fake News
Many news outlets are saying not to wear masks. This is fake news. Masks aren’t perfect but they are beneficial, including homemade masks from pillowcases, towels or t-shirts. That’s why masks are being widely worn in the Asian countries that are dealing with the pandemic the best.
There’s a myth that coronavirus can live on hard surfaces, like plastic, ceramic or steel, for up to three days, live on cardboard for up to one day, and live in the air for up to three hours. These claims all blatantly contradict the scientific studies they’re reporting on. The actual studies (more studies: one, two) say viruses were still present at those times. The times should all be labelled with “at least” instead of “at most”. E.g. the virus can live in the air for at least three hours; that’s a minimum, not a maximum. The reason for that three hour number is that they stopped the experiment at that point even though the air still contained lots of virus.
Figuring out when it’s safe to touch things, based on the half-life of the virus on that material and infectious quantity, is tricky and temperature-dependent. (Viruses live longer in the cold, so you should probably sanitize anything going into a fridge or freezer). I don’t have all the right answers. Most journalists know less than I do, don’t read the studies they report on (or don’t understand what they read), and spread fake news, so watch out and err on the side of caution.
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