there's a lot of confusion around coronavirus, on one hand we have the
media wall-to-wall 24-hour coverage feels like the end of the world. on the
other hand we have some voices trying to downplay all of this saying it's all
hysteria or even a hoax. obviously this is serious, there's no question about
that. all the experts are clear. the World Health Organization, the CDC, leading
epidemiologists and virologists. it's true that right now the odds of
infection are low, there's a small percentage of people that are infected
and we want to keep it that way, that's the point. we want to prevent the spread
or at least delay it as much as possible. you've seen the meme that's going around,
flatten the curve, the more you delay things, the better we can deal with it.
the health care system, the hospitals, all of society. hence the recommendations to
avoid crowded areas, especially poorly ventilated, closed spaces with a lot of
people. so unnecessary air travel, large events, etc. several institutions have
taken the initiative, conferences have been cancelled, universities are moving
their classes online, I know USC and UCLA, where I worked for
years, they did it just this week and Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, many others
have moved all their activity online as well and I agree with that of course
it's drastic, it's disruptive, but it'll probably be incredibly effective at
containing the spread because if there's a couple of things we know about this
virus it's number one: it's not like the flu, it's much more lethal. the mortality
of this is multiple times what seasonal flu is. there are more
deaths currently from flu because flu is more widespread and Corona is not and we
want to keep it that way, that's the point
and number two: measures to contain it seem to work. big silver lining. in China,
the epicenter, they were actually able to contain it a lot. of course, in the
beginning when the whole thing started they tried to put the lid on it and
silenced whistleblowers and all that but when stuff really hit the fan they did
clamp down hard on it and the containment has been incredible. from
2000 new cases a day a while back to now less than 100, that's a big drop. wuhan is
a huge place, I was there like 10 years ago, massive city, 11 million, it's more
than twice the population of Los Angeles. imagine putting that many people on
lockdown, it's almost unthinkable, but they did it and it worked. now, it
required what some journalists are calling draconian measures and which may
not be possible in societies where there's more freedom.
that's okay, there's more silver lining, more good news. South Korea: they've done
an amazing job. the number of new cases has dropped a lot, and they did it using
technology, public education and healthcare initiatives. they informed
their population early on, like weeks ago, to work from home and avoid crowded
areas, all that stuff, they set up drive-through testing stations, look at
that, you drive through, you get swabbed and they send you the results a couple
hours later, all 100% free of charge. in the u.s. we're a little behind the ball
we'll get there eventually I am confident. we have to. this can be turned
around. here's the head of the World Health Organization: "we cannot say this
loudly or clearly or often enough. all countries can still change the course of
this pandemic". so the voices downplaying this, saying it's no biggy,
it's all hysteria, we got this, whether it's Elon Musk or some of the Washington
people. "we have contained this, we have contained this, I won't say air tight but
pretty close to air tight". it's usually somebody with no training in virology or
epidemiology, which tells us everything we need to know. when in doubt listen to
the CDC, listen to the World Health Organization, listen to Anthony Fauci.
those are the people with the first-hand information and the expertise. crisis
always brings out the best and the worst in us. on one hand we have brilliant
minds working together to figure this out and we'll overcome it, I'm sure of it.
on the other hand there's always somebody trying to use the opportunity
to attract attention or profiteer. all kinds of people pushing herbs and
supplements that are going to protect you from Corona. there's not a shred of
evidence that any of these supplements and magic pills are gonna help you
prevent infection from coronavirus. being in good general health, that's what
always helps against any threat, virus or not. healthy diet, exercise, sleeping well,
not being stressed all the time, that's it right there. nobody's gonna get rich
off of that advice but that's where you're gonna get the most bang for your
buck. you don't need the shady pill from the online store with zero studies to
back it up. another silver lining: not only is our risk of getting infected
currently pretty low, and we want to keep it that way, hence the precautions, but
even in the unlikely event that we do get infected, the risk of getting serious
disease and death is relatively low. much higher than the flu, but still relatively
low. now, it's not the same for everybody, you've heard that children seem to be
pretty immune to it. zero deaths recorded under 10 years old
they can be carriers but they don't seem to be affected by it much. really, under
fifty years old, very low death rate, and then it starts to slowly creep up. 60 and
above is when it starts to get significant, especially with comorbid
conditions, other diseases. heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes, obesity. again,
general health is the key. so that's the main population we're trying to protect
with these measures, we're trying to contain the spread so they don't get hit
too hard and the healthcare system in general as a consequence. now, the mask
thing, several sources are consistent, the mask is not necessary. if you have
symptoms, wear it to prevent spreading it. if you're gonna be around six people,
sure, otherwise, going about your daily normal business, they don't seem to do
much. now, I don't think they hurt either, so if you feel more comfortable wearing
a mask, why not. but I don't think we need to be panicking to buy them or to stock
them or to steal them from hospitals like we're seeing in certain places. the
irony is the thieves probably exposed themselves to more risk by going to the
hospital to steal the masks then they prevented by wearing them. washing your
hands really well, disinfecting them, yes. here's Anthony Fauci
explaining it really well: "washing your hands as frequently as you can. one of
the problems with respiratory borne diseases is that they are spread either
by droplets, gross droplets, someone coughs or sneezes on you, or even a bit
of aerosolized where you can be sitting next to someone very closely and you
don't cough and sneeze but the virus can aerosolize and that will get in through a
mucosal surface that could either be your nose, your mouth or even your eye
the reason for washing your hands is that people often do the wrong thing
that's why you hear us say cough into the crook of your elbow, because people
sometimes go like this or blow their nose, they'll shake hands with you, touch
a doorknob, fifteen minutes later you come by and do that then you touch your
face and that's how you get it". so bottom line my view is: yes to
precautions, no to panic, let's be smart and avoid unnecessary risks and control
the controllables so that we can contain this and flatten the curve. the last
important message I have is regarding the media coverage. it's disproportionate.
this is important, absolutely. no question about it. but it's not the only threat
we face, it's not even the main one. even in the worst case scenario where
everybody gets infected, hypothetically speaking, the experts estimate ballpark
one to three percent mortality rate, somewhere in there, 2% 3% 4%, okay, for
coronavirus. very significant. but heart disease is killing 20 to 30% of the
total population right now, no hypotheticals, and we know it's largely
preventable. so it's not even in the same league. you're not going to hear this
from the media because virus talk gets eyeballs and clicks so it's going to
continue to be 24/7 but the truth is the threat from the usual suspects, heart
disease, cancer, etc. is much greater. it doesn't mean we pretend the coronavirus
doesn't exist. we don't ignore it, we are aware of it, we
fight it, we prevent the spread. but as we do it, just be aware that the exclusive
focus on this is not proportional to the threat it represents for us, it's
proportional to novelty and shock value. to keep things in perspective is to
address the virus, to stop the spread, to do everything we can while at the same
time continuing to pay attention to prevention of heart disease, cancer,
strokes, the main causes of death six months ago when Corona just meant a
Mexican beer, the main causes of death right now and in all likelihood the main
causes of death for a long time to come. if you thought that video was useful
consider sharing with others who might be interested and hit that like button
and subscribe for more nutrition made simple. also feel free to link up with me
on my Facebook page and on Twitter for more in depth nutrition science. thanks
for watching and I'll see you on the next one