So far, I have been very apprehensive about weighing in on the present pandemic. The medical sciences are generally not in my knowledge base. But there are a few items that I am not sure that our experts or the media are getting across to the public:

First off, I have been following the Life Care nursing facility situation out in Washington State. For any young people who might not be taking things seriously: As of 3/20/20, 35 people have died in connection with Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington. The best information I have attained is that 34 of these were residents. LC had 108 residents at the start of the outbreak. 34/108 = 31%. That is nearly one out of three residents.

Note: Despite the fact that all residents and staff at Life Care were reportedly tested for the virus as of 3/13/20, King County still has not published the results as to the total number infected.

And, of course, the more people who contract the virus in the general population, the higher the odds of the virus infiltrating such facilities (or being transferred to a susceptible person directly). That leads to the inevitable conclusion that anyone taking no precautions at all against the virus could potentially be guilty of genocide (you have no idea the chain of events that might result from your negligence--your actions may seem insignificant, but might lead to the death of hundreds or thousands). 

Also, if anyone out there still prefers cash these days--when shopping in the real world--over those stupid time-wasting plastic cards, like me, don’t stick anything in your wallet or pocket; Assume any cash received is dirty money, put it in an envelope, then take it home and hit the paper bills and envelope with a hot clothes iron; dip the coins in some 91% alcohol (or Lysol). Don’t use anything that might react with metal, though, like bleach, vinegar, or bowl cleaner.

Note: Per crosschecking with multiple sources, 60 degrees centigrade (140 F) reportedly kills the coronvirus. A modern clothes iron on setting 3 (Rayon) reaches approximately 270 degrees F. added 4/05/20

I have ironed a number of bills (always both sides), leaving the iron in place for no more than about 5 seconds, and it has caused no damage. Although some bills might have “invisible” security features that may not survive the heat, I have to say “Oh well,” more bills can always be printed.

Third item: There is a bit of advice which the authorities have been very sluggish about, and that is, anyone with the sudden onset of a cough—put on some sort of mask immediately before you contaminate your entire surroundings, even if it is your own residence. And I would point out that a makeshift disposable mask to block outgoing coughs can be made out of a quality paper towel sheet: just wrap a string (or long elastic band, if avalable) around the back of your neck; run it below the ears and over the bridge of your nose, and then tie it off snug (not easy to do the first time). Fold the paper towel in half and tuck about an inch of the paper towel under the string, then fold it over the string. Grasp the bottom part of the towel and press it snug against the face whenever a cough is imminent.

Srcs:
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) King County

cleaning - How can I sanitize paper money? - Lifehacks Stack Exchange

How hot does a clothes iron get - Answers

Coronavirus outbreak: Washington State nursing homes at risk?

The paper towel idea is mine, based on past improvisation.

I relinquish all copyrights to this particular page: Feel free to cut and paste, link to, or pass on the information anyway you can –DC

3/23/20: The latest number of resident deaths associated with Life Care is now 36, or a firm 33%.

3/27/20: It has been 14 days since the King County Public Health Dept. announced that all of the Life Care residents, and all but 35 staff, had been tested. Yet, not only has King County failed to publish any further test results regarding Life Care (our earliest and most valuable indicator of what can happen if and when the virus gets into such a facility), King County has--for whatever reason--stopped publishing any further information specific to Life Care.

3/30/20: Per CBS news, 39 people associated with Life Care have reportedly died. Assuming that number includes at least one staff fatality, 38/108 = 35%.

4/13/20: I did an Internet search, using both Bing and Google, regarding Life Care Center in Kirkland WA, and after April 2nd, the information really dries up. I found many articles posted April 2nd (the date a possible government fine was announced) and the number of fatalities associated with the facility is just all over the place: CNN – 35, NY Times – 37, Washington Post – 40, Fox 6, Milwaukee WI – 40. A Wikipedia page for Life Care reports 34 residents had died by March 18th, which corresponds to the count in my original entry; but the article lists Life Care as having 120 residents at the start of the outbreak (2/19/20) as opposed to the 108 reported by USA Today on March 3rd. The NY times article actually mentioned the number of residents who tested positive as being 2/3. The Washington Post article claims the number 40 includes resident, staff and visitor deaths. rev 4/15/20

At any rate, as far as mortality rates are concerned, it looks as though one has to take an educated guess based on one-off assertions (I have contacted King County myself a couple times, to no avail) but it looks as though the mortality rate for the residents at Life Care ended up around 30% from mid-February to present, and the mortality rate for those infected with COVID-19: 45%.

I am not going to bother posting all references for the above. Just do a search using the date of April 2nd, and you will find them.

Apparently it is still an unknown, but it is possible that the corona virus could act like the flu virus and cause worse symptoms the more virus particles that are ingested—a very good reason for anyone living near other people to do their best to avoid contaminating their surroundings. In other words, if you live with another person or persons, they might eventually contract the illness, but the less you contaminate your surroundings, the less severe their symptoms might be.

Coronavirus: does the amount of virus you are exposed to determine how sick you'll get?

4/01/22, Coronavirus vaccine safety:
Vaccine safety: I’m sure I am not the only one finding it difficult to determine the actual safety of the vaccines, and just how much better off the vaccinated are compared to the unvaccinated, especially with the young. And lately you have certain websites, such as dailyexpose.uk, spouting all sorts of gloom and doom, taking a page—it seems—from the “X-files.” After trying to make sense of it all, I came to the conclusion that none of the information I was finding on the Internet was particularly useful, which led me to the next conclusion: that the only thing that fundamentally matters is the safety of the vaccine compared to the virus itself. That thought led me to imagine an interactive diagram that compares only two groups: those that contracted the virus but remain unvaccinated, and those that are fully vaccinated but have never contracted the virus. Now, a chart like that might tell me something. So here it is. I dare someone (an institution with a lot more resources than I) to make a real one.

Explanation: The chart is meant to track the number of deaths and illnesses from the start of the pandemic extending well into the future, comparing the results of a particular month to the same month from an earlier year—before the pandemic materialized. I chose a monthly comparison so the chart could hopefully be updated on a monthly basis, and also because the incidence of many illnesses change with the seasons. I chose 2018 as the control year, as the vaping deaths in 2019 would have slightly tainted the statistics for that particular year. The percentage increase or decrease is to reflect the rate of increase or decrease (based on the population of that particular age group at the time). Frankly, I do not know with any certainty that sufficient VAERS data currently exists to create such a chart, but that is beside the point. | There is one item the chart cannot account for, of course, and that is exactly when the subjects caught the virus or were fully vaccinated, but the longer the chart is maintained, the less relevant the “when” would probably become.

Appendix 7/31/22: I made some changes to my chart: I added another category (vaccinated and infected) and made each category optional. I also added the idea of a pop up that would appear when a mouse pointer is placed over a certain point along the chart’s lines giving additional information specific to that point in time.