Coronavirus Update: A Doctor Answers 10 Critical Questions

A doctor discusses the latest updates about Coronavirus, citing the newest available studies to answer what the virus is, where it came from, what to expect in the coming days, and how individuals can protect themselves against infection. References from primary literature:

[Jamaicafunk]

Trust me. People ARE watching from China. I'm one of them. Thanks for the information.

[StrongMed]

These comments are moderated. Questions and respectful dialogue are absolutely welcome. Spam, conspiracy theories, and insults are not.

UPDATE #2 (2/23): For viewers just discovering this video, please keep in mind that info on the coronavirus (now COVID-19) epidemic/pandemic is changing daily, and this was recorded 3 weeks ago. While the info video remains accurate (aside from the case cluster in Germany discussed in update #1), the general sense from the international medical community, including the WHO and CDC, is that containment of the virus within China has likely failed. It is looking increasingly probable that COVID-19 will become a global pandemic with community-based transmission in Western nations. How significant this will become for us in the United States remains completely unknown - some pandemics have no overt impact on the day-to-day life of most people - but COVID-19 looks to be the most notable international public health threat in decades.


Also, I misspeak @17:30. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa that marked the beginning of a concerted effort at creating an Ebola vaccine was in 2014, not 2004.

[vmcv]

I live in China (Guangzhou) and all pharmacies are out of masks and gloves...if you want to buy online they are really expensive and you cannot make sure if they are real. Supermarkets run out of food and other supplies in just 2 to 3 hours and they have to close them so they can refill them for the next time. Transportation such subway, bus and even taxis are not running. To enter the city from other outside districts are guarded by the police controls, the misinformation here is huge with lots of online debates oof what to do, including "specialists" in the field, news from different channels differ from each other. It's chaos.... however, it seems it is not all lost. More and more people (young people especially ) are much more aware of this situation and they are very active online spreading information about taking precautions but still not enough.

[alexxx]

The problem with any disease starting in China is that their government is notorious for downplaying situations like this. So the numbers we have could differ greatly from reality.. especially the deaths part. China reports the final cause of death. So if someone dies from coronavirus, but the test wasn't confirm, it isn't counted. There is a debate whether they are listing pneumonia or coronavirus for people making the death count look much lower.. we really cannot know for sure until we have larger numbers outside of China. Either way, upping your immune system and taking precautions can't hurt! Better to be safe than sorry.

[gwnbw]

Risk is low you say? Some other doc said that droplet infection can be caused from a guy sneezing 2/3 meters behind you, the airborne droplet ending up in your eyes/mouth and you're infected.
Its also necessary to wear masks to not accidently touch your face with your infected hands. Or to infect other people with your sneezes.

[Koushi]

Confirmation by cdc asymptomatic transmission....

Also can be transmitted through eyes. As well

[FanFunnyShow]

Thank you so much for sharing! Hope the 2 newly build hospitals could help. My parents are still lockdown. Hope all goes well soon.

[TaxEvasin]

The scariness of this spreading is the fact that incubation period is so long in comparison to other viruses. People are outbreak monkeys and don’t even know. I think this is a lot more serious then what’s being portrayed.

[nairegui]

Information is the enemy of sensationalism and that is why this ideo is so important.

[BrandyTexas]

The first cases didn’t have anything to do with the market.. so where did it come from? 🤔

[GoldenMarky]

Why do i have to put sound on maximum to hear anything in this video? Talk louder mr. Doctor

[nicolelemire]

Thank you for this report!
However, the “RO” was reported at over 4..?

[tintim]

Well done finally someone that's giving real facts and not scare mongering like 99% of others on YouTube.

[davidhunter]

I'm having a hard time understanding two parts of your presentation that seem contradictory. At about 17:50 you state that this new coronavirus is already as bad as the SARS virus was in 2002. You go on to say your gut tells you it will be "significantly worse than SARS". But your chart at 8:13 clearly shows SARS to be both more deadly and more infectious than 2019-nCoV. Does the little pink box need to be moved significantly upwards and to the right because the early estimates are obviously very, very wrong? Or, is there a tertiary axis (or even more) needed to factor in more than just R-naught and death rate? I'm trying to understand this thing where the data on the one hand and the official reassuring claims seem very contradictory. SARS is over. In its six month lifespan it infected 8097 and killed 774. 2019-nCoV has already infected 17, 489 (more than twice that of SARS already) and, at 362 deaths, is already almost half way to the SARS final death toll. And we have only just begun. The first reported case was 12/31/2019 (although there were already infected people before this). Given that as a starting point we are only 34 days into this. Last Monday the death toll stood at 81. In the six days since the numbers (starting on Tuesday morning and going to this morning are as follows): 106, 132, 170, 213, 255, 309 and 362. The death toll has risen every day at a 17-30% rate. In three days, from Monday to Thursday, the death toll more than doubled (81 to 170). Four days later it more than doubled again (170-362). At this rate, with no vaccines and an exponential mortality dynamic, this will be catastrophic in days, not to mention weeks...no matter how prepared the WHO and others supposedly were.

[stevenliu]

Strong Medicine  one point of view is to isolate the numbers of hubei Provence from the rest of China and the world. Hubei including Wuhan is currently much more chaotic due to the ill preparation and initial phase over up. The fatality rate is much higher mainly due to lack of icu support. If you only look at cases outside of hubei over the last few days you can see the number is already flatting out. Hope it is the case that in well prepared areas the virus is somewhat under control now. Let's be patient for another few days.

[NicoLas-jsil]

17k confirmed cases today, 11 in the US now

[DavidIstre]

Thank you! This is by far the best video I've found on the coronavirus up to this point. Thank you so much! I'm sharing on all my social media.

[williamknifeman]

Maybe after this is over, China will see that their view on eating anything that breaths is dangerous and the way in which they do it is of a very low standard.

[davebellamy]

14:06 Great quick explanation of how easy it is to over or underestimate the fatality rate. Is there early data from the SARS and MERS epidemics that indicates how the initial figures miss the final numbers?

[igorbogdanoff]

99.98% Isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle - regularly spray door handles at home and at work - your friends and collegues will laugh at first but will thank you soon enough.