Corona Virus UPDATE 6-July IMPORTANT new info to help keep you safe

 

The Kinman strategy for avoiding the Corona Virus.    Updates 12-Mar  24-Mar  27-March  16-April  Updated 6-July-2020

Mis-information, fake news, inaccurate news and conspiracy theories abound on the Internet.  Life is complicated and in this article you will find solid information that might make you fearful, remember a healthy fear can keep you alive so act responsibly and appropriately on your fear and stay safe.  Please read the entire article since more new information has been added below the photograph.

In my work I have trained myself to think beyond boundaries and it hit me like a ton of brick just the other day.  All the advice I've seen about avoiding the Corona Virus talks about washing hands and wearing masks but it struck me there is a HUGE gap in that information that the world should know about.

Frequent hand washing and wearing masks seem to me like inadequate ways to protect oneself because there are several other ways a virus can enter your body.

As you know, Virus are spread from a person to another person who breathes in tiny droplets of water when an infected person coughs or sneezes into the air around us.  Once the virus enters the lungs they find an easy entry point into the blood system because the lungs are designed to exchange oxygen and CO2 with the air we breathe.

Well, when someone who is infected coughs or sneezes into the air millions of tiny droplets of water carrying the virus are scattered all over the place, in time many fall to the ground, some fall on the surface of other objects .... including our heads where it can survive for 3 days.  What's on our heads?  Hair.  Hair is a very efficient virus catcher and a good retainer of them too. 

Now what happens when we preen or ruffle our hair by hands, brush, comb or blow dryer?  And what happens during sleep time?  Some virus will be dislodged and float around the room and get inhaled, particularly in sleep mode when long hair falls onto our faces and noses.  Yes, our hair is heavily implicated in transmission of virus and yet I have not seen any such talk and I searched google and found nothing.  Update Saturday 28-Mar-2020: Recent News article about hair salons. Quote from the article >>>When you blow-dry someone's hair, you are going to be blowing particles of skin around and so on, and they could carry the virus as well.

 
 

Much the same happens with clothes, imagine what happens when you take your T shirt off by pulling it over your head ... have you ever noticed the myraid of fluff floating in the air afterwards that can be seen under strong light?  It's better not to breathe in at the same time and avoid inhaling virus that, like fluff particles, have been dislodged.

One more thing, two actually.  The virus has recently been shown to survive for up to 14 hours on Shiny hard surfaces.  After handing Coins and touching ATM keypads or touch screens it's a good idea to wash or sanitize your hands.  We carry a small bottle of 70% Alcohol for this purpose.  Money is filthy so we also sanitize our wallets, coins, keys, the steering wheel and door handles by washing and rubbing alcohol on them.  The more you sanitize the lower the risk.  I even sanitize the grab handle on the shopping cart at the supermarket and ATM tap pads and touch screens every time.  The best kind is 70% Ethyl Alcohol mixed with 70% water ... not 100% Alcohol.
 
Knowing these things may help in avoiding this contagion.  Best strategy is to use a scarf or some other means of covering one's hair while in public places.  And when visiting public places, and after, try to avoid or minimize ruffling your hair, and if you do don't breathe in while you are doing it.  And then leave that space immediately, better still go to a suitable private area to tend your hair.

Wash or rinse hair every night before bedtime or after being in public places or on public transport.  Beards are particularly troublesome being so close to air venting orifices. 

UPDATE: Friday 27-March-2020  About a week ago it struck me that this Virus might possibly be an Air Borne contagion because of the rapid rate of transmission which, to my mind, has not been satisfactorily explained by surface contact transmission or by coughing and sneezing.  Every day since, watching the news, my hunch got firmer and firmer because people were becoming infected that apparently had no close contact with anyone who is infected.  The standard advice has been to avoid people coughing and sneezing and wear a mask.  My hunch may have been confirmed by an article in todays Australian ABC NEWS online which reports the New South Wales Health Minister (Gladys Berejiklian) stating "the Virus appears to be spreading in new ways, an un-known source".  She went on to say "it is not safe to be outside walking around, stay home".  Sounds to me like she could be referring to an Air Borne Virus.  This has not been confirmed by health authorities but they seem to be behind the 8 Ball world wide and it's up to individuals to take matter into their own hands and exercise extreme caution, don't wait for official news.

Today, 3 weeks later on 16-March this NEWS item appeared on (Australian) ABC News.  It's only now coming to light the possibility of the virus being airborne.  Get ahead of so called "authorities" and stop trusting them to keep you fully informed, think and act for yourself.  This is one time it's better to assume the worst than wait for confirmation.

How does a virus become airborne?  Most of us are familiar with what happens on a cold day when we go outside, when we exhale our breath it forms mist.  It's the same when you breathe onto cold glass and a visible mist forms.  That my friends is moisture from our lungs condensing into microscopic water droplets.  It's not that much different to coughing or sneezing .... it's still water molecules originating inside our bodies and  Virus are small enough to be carried inside them.  In warmer climates we don't see this exhaled fog, but it still exists.  Knowing this gives heightened credence to my previous advice about hair, clothes and shoes.

4 months later in 5-July-2020 it was reported in Australia's ABC NEWS Online that 260 scientists worldwide have written to the WHO urging an urgent revision to infection containment advice.  They raised the alarm that it is now apparent covid19 is launched into the air by the simple act of breathing and is now understood to be an airborne virus.  Since people have been alerted to avoid others who are coughing or sneezing they become complacent thereby exposing themselves to risk.  I warned about this possibility way way back on 27-March (look 3 paragraphs above this and read what I wrote between then and now).  I am just a guitar pickup maker but I am way ahead of the so called experts.  What does this say about the authorities who are supposed to be protecting us?  Meanwhile the pandemic rages on.

The thing with Masks:  The ones I have been using don't seal effectively because there are small gaps around my upper cheek / nose area which I can feel air passing through and fogs my glasses.  Do NOT trust a mask to prevent inhalation of contagion.

It is everyones responsibility to help mitigate the spread of this contagion by religiously trying to understand transmission and practice anti-transmission etiquette.  This means YOU and everyone you know. 

Dwell on this article and mull it over, more minds thinking about this topic the better and better solutions and strategies will come as a result.   Help spread this knowledge worldwide.  Click the Tweet or Facebook button top of the page and send the advice to anyone you can think of, they should thank you for it.

I wish you all good health and hope this helps you in some meaningful way.

All the best, Chris Kinman