Don't know how many saw it, but the top science guy at Homeland Security announced the results of tests on the Wuhan virus today, and they are DYNAMITE for those of us who love fishing & the outdoors!

Turns out sunlight is the kryptonite to the superbug. Heat and humidity also fight it, but sunlight is the most potent. One test showed that just adding sunlight shortened the half-life of the virus THIRTY TIMES.

So get out there & do work on your pond. Go fishing, especially on sunny days. Don't be foolish, I'm not advocating coughing & sneezing six inches from each other, or even handshakes, but know that outdoors is much safer than indoors. Added vitamin D is another bonus, as it tunes up the immune system.

Yeah! That guy was really cool...a scientist engineer looking for obviously important data. Winter in an old folks home, they all catch it and many die. Maybe we should carry bright ultraviolet flashlights that can sterilize air and surfaces, and possibly each other (put on light blocking glasses).

Sounds good anthropic....think I'll take your advice tomorrow with some projects in the sun.

BTW: I am hopeful one silver lining of the corona-panic will be the end to the handshake.....maybe we can adopt the Asian custom of a bow? If I never shake another germy hand it will be too soon....lol.

I think you are wrong on handshakes. By handshakes we share our biome and assure a rather homogenous bunch of bugs, and maybe just a bit of the current flu or head cold virus gets moved about to give immunity. Of course, at this time, I'd rather not shake hands with anybody, especially in-laws. Ha ha!

DannyMac....it's a 2EachHisOwn.....I attend concerts, sporting events, go thru airports...and see the "animals" that come out of toilets and just walk out the door...."wash my hands? whatz dat boss?"..and then they march out and shake people's hands.....oh and the old "sneeze into a hand" and then stick their hand out a couple of minutes later to shake some unknowing soul's hand at church....no thanks.

“When you extend your hand, you’re extending a bioweapon,” says Gregory Poland, infectious disease expert at the Mayo Clinic, one of the largest medical research institutions in the US.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200413-coronavirus-will-covid-19-end-the-handshake

I'm wondering if the lack of vitamin D might be a factor in the well known disparate impact of the virus on African Americans. They typically need more sunlight to generate D due to the additional melanin in their skin.

Heard from very early on that infections from outdoor activities are rare. Anyway, I fish and do stuff outdoors as I can, though no high fives or handshakes allowed. And I recall reading that outdoor hospitals had a much better survival rate during the last great viral epidemic, the Spanish flu of 1918.

anthropic....that's interesting. I wonder how much Vitamin D is absorbed into our body via supplement? I take a vitamin A/D every other day...but not sure how much good it really does. Of course the best way to get Vitamin D is to be outdoors. A lot of the best things in life are FREE!

An excellent long article in Scientific American several years ago on studies of vitamin D effects. I just subscribed so I will try to search the archive. I recall low D opened one up to all sorts of possible health disasters. I also seem to recall an excess of D was good and that large dose supplement (much larger than FDA recommended daily) was thought to be protective.

Of course, most dermatologists would say to never go outside without a slathering of sunblock...we didn't have that growing up and got burnt...Still, I use sunblock only on the water.

Last time I took a test for Vit. D it showed me to be low. Low Vit. D can cause leg pain. But at that time like most of the time I spent outdoors in the sun. Maybe you have to be naked in order to get enough sunlight to affect ones vit. D level. It struck me funny that my D level was low. And I have been putting my mask out in the sunlight for weeks now, knowing that sunlight most likely sterilized it. Sunlight sterilize a lot of things.

I take D and C and Zink but I am not so sure vitamins even work at all much less to protect u against this virus.

Zinc sulfate has been recommended against viruses that cause colds, maybe it helps against Wuhan strain. Tracy, sounds like you are smart to take vitamin D if your body doesn't make enough on its own.

Danny, dermatologists see the damage that sunlight can cause to the skin, but not so much the damage that comes with not enough vitamin D. I'm reading that, depending on skin color and time of year, it is good to get 15 to 20 minutes of sunlight on your unprotected skin daily. Not enough to burn, but enough to make plenty of D for most folks. Dark skins take longer exposure.

I assume the Zicam zinc pills are still out there. I remember the spray caused folk to lose their smell...that also goes for the covid supposedly. But a FB friend with ties to medical recommended zinc. Anything that can relieve symptoms should also help you breathe, especially when it's breathe or intubate. I want to find those tiny clear green capsules of some steroid...best prescription I ever got for a head cold.

My wife said that if the Zicam spray causes a loss of smell, she wants some. Just because I went a few days without showering!!!

My daughter had a light case of it. Then I called my21 yoa Grandson yesterday. He was at the doc office. Not flu but probably virus. Takes 3 days for test results.

More evidence that sunshine and vitamin D are helpful against the Wuhan virus, from an Indonesian study of 780 severe cases:

“Just under half (49.7%) of cases had normal vitamin D status, and only 4% of them died. Just over a quarter (27%) had insufficient vitamin D status, and most of them (88%) died. Just under a quarter (23%) had deficient vitamin D status, and almost all of them (99%) died.”

Yep, Grandson has the virus.