May 29, 2020
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Vidcast: https://youtu.be/_IKYvN_pznk
Eighty-one percent of CoVid-positive passengers on an Antarctic cruise felt perfectly well yet were silently spreading virus to fellow passengers. Australian researchers now report this finding in the BMJ-Thorax online journal.
The cruise embarked from Argentina in mid-March carrying all healthy passengers and crew with no one from the then-known CoVid endemic areas in Southeast Asia or Iran. All 128 passengers and 95 crew were screened for symptoms and fevers before boarding. The first passenger spiked a fever on day 8 prompting universal cabin confinement and surgical masks for all. PPE including N95 masks were given to those in contact with febrile persons.
With this CoVid outbreak, the ship executed an emergency turnaround and returned to dock in Uruguay. There, all passengers and crew began an on-board quarantine. On cruise day 20, quarantine day 6, all onboard were virus tested and 59% were positive. Of those virus positive, all but 19% were perfectly well, 6.2% were sick enough to require hospitalization, and 3.1% required ventilators.
The bottom line: Anyone, ANYONE you meet could well be infected and could infect you. To prevent that DMW: Distance, MASk, Wash.
https://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2020/05/27/thoraxjnl-2020-215091
#covid #pandemic #cruises #masks #distancing