The Virus Outbreak Thread

@CaptainXtra  
I’m no biologist, but (hopefully) not likely that the common cold will mutate to be more lethal than it is. Evolution tends to reward parasites that do not kill too many of their hosts. Otherwise the bat population near Wuhan, China would’ve likely died out.

@CaptainXtra  
If their genetics are compatible to each other then probably yes.
 
There has already been a mutated COVID-19 strand being the fusion of B.1.1.7 (from Kent, UK) and B.1.429 (from CA, USA), discoveted by Dr. Bette Korber in Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA.

@Goku Black  
correction. The reason it’s called “bat coronavirus” is because it coexists with bat instead of infecting it.

@Background Pony #B962  
lack of common sense  
The 75% ethanol used for disinfection is corrosive to skin. That’s why hand sanitizer doesn’t usually contain alcohol.

@Zincy
 
Well, in here people seem to totally ignore washing their hands, to the point I’ve seen alcohol dispensers on bathrooms, yes, the room where you can wash your hands.
 
On a side note, boy, you seem rather experienced qith those science stuff, are you a scientist or similar?

@Background Pony #B962  
He’s a psychologist.

just another guy with common sense

@RD4590  
I see a lot of sanitiser with alcohol in it, there’s just usually mild amounts of it. Actually, some time ago there was some school kid who got drunk from drinking (sounds weird to say that) sanitiser.

@Background Pony #39BC  
I noticed that if I used hand sanitizer more than once, I start to develop headaches.

For those of you who are interested, I’m doing a poll on when the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially end. Voting closes at the end of the month, so if you’d like to vote, make sure to do it by then. The poll can be found here

Y’all ready for the ~russian flu~?
 
Russia reports world’s first case of human infection with H5N8 bird flu

@Background Pony #7E4D  
*Saudian flu

https://m.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/pathogenic-virus-outbreak-reported-in-saudi-arabia-  
On 4 February 2020, Saudi Arabian government reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 virus on a poultry farm. The outbreak, which occurred in the central Sudair region, killed more than 22,000 birds in a few weeks.

@Background Pony #7E4D
 
@RD4590
 
Should we be concerned?

@CaptainXtra  
As far as I searched this seems to be the first time when H5N8 flu virus has infected human. It is possible that it can trigger another pandemic if the current flu vaccines and cures doesn’t work.

@Background Pony #7E4D  
@RD4590  
NOW do you see why I wish for a world with no viruses?

@DragonBoi471  

 
No viruses means no bacteriophages and that would be Bad.

Facemask website is down, fancy one.
 
This is aggravating 🔥

@ᏰᎯᎠᎻᎬᎯᏒᎿ  
What?

@Flutter_Lover
 
I wanted to buy this

@ᏰᎯᎠᎻᎬᎯᏒᎿ  
Shit, that looks rad.

So in the UK Boris Johnson has announced that schools are starting again  
And that both Primary and Secondary schools will have masks as mandatory for students.
 
And now a bunch of people on Twitter are going on about this is apparently “child abuse” and “harming their mental health”.

@icey wicey 1517
 
Are they leftists who worry a lot about the viral infections, or anti-maskers who rage at the mandatory masks?

@HorsesandMuchMOAR  
Anti-maskers

@icey wicey 1517
 
To be fair, as much as I strongly hate anti-maskers for not giving a damn about all the people who were killed by the pandemic (they either deny it or care more about jobs and entertainment: for example, Trumpists accuse Biden of “killing 100,000” while 500,000 died due to poor policies by the Trump administration and the state govs), I think I am sometimes guilty of the same attitudes as them.
 
I can get very frustrated with the continued lockdown and infections in my country, and I sometimes worry that it will take months or years to end before I get to enjoy some of my past entertainments (like shopping malls). What advice would you suggest regarding such frustrations? I don’t want to be an anti-masker like those reckless Americans.