by Fernando Caracena ©Fernando Caracena 2020
Corona viruses are quite common. They are involved in about one third of the common colds. The virus was named corona virus because when viewed under an electron microscope it looks somewhat like a crown as seen from above. June Almeida a cancer researcher at the Cancer Research Institute of Ontario, Canada was the first person to see the virus under an electron microscope. Too small to be seen under an optical microscope, you need and electron microscope to be able to see viruses. Viruses The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2) is small having a diameter of about 0.1 μm ( one micron, 1μm =1x10-6 m). The problem with this kind of virus is that it mutates rapidly and it is quite infectious. That is why the common cold is hard to get rid of, and of course, to eradicate. Do we have a vaccine for the common cold? Of course not. That would be a Quixotic move, or perhaps a long term means of support for some type of viral research. COVID-19 as other coronaviruses do, is mutating, some say, slowly, but others dispute that: "The ability of the novel coronavirus to mutate has been previously vastly underestimated, a team from China’s Zhejiang University, led by Professor Li Lanjuan, says in a new study. The group found as many as 33 virus mutations in just 11 coronavirus patients they examined in the city of Hangzhou."
The various characteristics of the COVID-19 are important in designing strategies to mitigate the effects of this virus on humanity. For example, is the mask that you are wearing effective at keeping out the virus particles particles? For an answer see here.
If you are interested in seeing statistics on the new coronavirus from other sources, see the European source of COVID-19 statistics
Countries with more complete testing will appear more heavily infected than those with less effective counting. This statistical problem is discussed on RT comments on statistics. The problem in testing results from the sudden onset of the COVID-19 epidemic/pandemic and the lack of information about the disease. Tests have either had too many false positives or too many false negatives. Having this kind of track record, alcohol-level blood testing would be useless in determining who was driving under the influence (DUI).
A major problem in fighting the outbreak of COVID-19 is that it is being fought top-down by decrees from central authorities rather than bottom up, from experienced medical teams actually dealing with the disease. It is as if generals waging a major war refused to hear reports from combat teams at the battle front and made decisions and issued commands that ignored and would override any new information. The best way for central, medical authorities to be helpful in this pandemic would be for them to act as a service for disseminating and exchanging information gathered by medical teams that treat patients with the disease. If they carried on dialogues with medical staffs, both groups would develop better strategies for dealing with the disease. Instead, these central authorities get in the way of progress by censuring and criticizing what medical teams have found successful in treating patients. This pandemic is revealing the various weaknesses of the global system of control designed by self-styled elitist of the past, whose ideas are being shown to be misguided and in need of correction.
As with a common cold, our immune system is best prepared to fight off the virus if we have healthy habits. In the summer, we have the opportunity to get plenty of exercise, fresh air, and sunlight. Slim down if you are overweight. Also, eat more freshly prepared whole foods, cooked from scratch to get the best nutrition and take your vitamins. Summer is our friend. Summer colds are rare. Corona viruses do not survive long in the bright sun because it is a source of ultraviolet (UV) light. Other times of the year, you can go high-tech by using a portable UV light to sterilize your environment of viruses.