Month: February 2020

Wuhan Coronavirus/2019-nCoV Update: February 7th, 2020

I took yesterday off from blogging about the 2019-nCoV virus (soon to receive an official name), and I do plan to take more breaks as necessary in the coming days and weeks, as a self-care measure.

Like many of you, I find myself worrying a lot about the current situation, and every so often I need to step away from all the news feeds and focus on other tasks on my “to-do” list for February.

So, don’t expect daily coronavirus updates from here on out.

Spread of the Wuhan coronavirus in mainland China (source: BBC)

Yesterday, The New York Times reported (archived copy) that the Chinese government was taking even more draconian measures to stem the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus at the outbreak’s epicenter in the city of Wuhan:

The Chinese authorities resorted to increasingly extreme measures in Wuhan on Thursday to try to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, ordering house-to-house searches, rounding up the sick and warehousing them in enormous quarantine centers.

The urgent, seemingly improvised steps come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Wuhan, one exacerbated by tactics that have left this city of 11 million with a death rate from the coronavirus of 4.1 percent as of Thursday — staggeringly higher than the rest of the country’s rate of 0.17 percent.

With the sick being herded into makeshift quarantine camps, with minimal medical care, a growing sense of abandonment and fear has taken hold in Wuhan, fueling the sense that the city and surrounding province of Hubei are being sacrificed for the greater good of China.

The harsh new moves in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, clearly signaled the ruling Communist Party’s alarm that it had failed to gain control of the coronavirus epidemic, which has overwhelmed the country’s health care system and threatened to paralyze China, the world’s most populous country and second-largest economy.

The steps were announced by the top official leading the country’s response to the virus, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, as she visited Wuhan on Thursday. They evoked images of the emergency measures taken to combat the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic that killed tens of millions people worldwide. Despite the severity of the new measures, however, they offered no guarantee of success.

Meanwhile, the number of cases on a cruise ship docked at Yokohama, Japan has reached 61, a testament to how easily the 2019-nCoV virus can be transmitted in close quarters. Among those infected are several Canadian tourists. All passengers on the cruise ship have been confined to their cabins in an attempt to stop further spread of the virus.

CBC interviewed some Canadian passengers in quarantine on the cruise ship:

Passengers from Toronto aboard a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan after a coronavirus outbreak are questioning how they’ll cope for two weeks restricted to cramped cabins.

“We have no window. We have no daylight. They haven’t let us out yet for fresh air,” said Lana Chan.

“We’ve been cooped up in this little room for two and a half days now.”

Chan is travelling with three friends on the Diamond Princess, along with some 3,700 other people. She’s rooming with one of them in a 180-square-foot room in the ship’s interior.

Even worse, the World Health Organization has confirmed that the 14-day quarantine period resets every time a new infected person is found on the cruise ship. Those poor people may be cooped up in their tiny cabins for a long time!

Good Sources of Information on 2019-nCoV

Here is my list of good, credible, authoritative resources to learn more about the Wuhan coronoavirus (more formally known as 2019-nCoV):

If you want a quick, up-to-date overview of the current situation, here are three good places to check:

Sources of Fast-Breaking News on 2019-nCoV (WARNING: News You Read Here May Not Be 100% Credible!)

PLEASE READ: In addition to the sources listed in the previous section, there are other places you can check, which might have reports (including translated links to local social media in China) that have not yet made the mainstream news media. Please keep in mind that the situation in China is chaotic, and that some of the information you find in the sources I list below might be gossip, rumours, hoaxes, conspiracy theories, misinformation, or disinformation! 

Please review the information and videos I posted in my blogpost about How to Spot Fake News, BEFORE using any of these links.

Stay healthy!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Gifts from the Valentine’s Shop and Hop Event

(“We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming…”  If you are looking for my blogposts about the Wuhan coronavirus/2019-nCoV, please click here. I am taking a one-day mental-health break from covering the situation, but I expect to be back at it tomorrow.)

This evening I wandered through the four-sim shopping mall set up for the Second Life Valentine’s Day Shop and Hop event, which runs from today, February 6th, through to February 23rd. Every one of the 80 stores participating has a free gift for visitors, of which I will show you some of my favourites.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee gives you these heart-patterned leggings, plus a L$300 credit for their store if you join their store group for free.

Trompe L’Oeil

Trompe L’Oeil offers you this stylish suede chair, with a variety of sitting animations.

Supernatural

The gift from Supernatural is this lovely Kyary necklace, which comes in gold or silver with a HUD to change the colour of the heart to six different colours: red, purple, pink, blue, black and white.

Son!a Edge

There are two delightful gifts from Son!a Edge, this gorgeous full-length pink Cannes ballgown and the Fairytale braclets, which come with a HUD with many options to change the metals, the gemstones, etc. The gown comes with a matching pink fur stole to complete the look.

Lapointe & Bastchild Swear

The gift from L&B Swear is this unisex charm bracelet.

G&D

G&D’s gift is this pair of Tisha shoes in red with gold or silver accents.

Gabrielle Hamelin

This pretty Spring Bliss dress is the present from Gabrielle Hamelin.

Lassitude & Ennui

The sexy Date Night Dress by Lassitude & Ennui comes in pink and red.

Addams

Addams has two versions of this crochet top as presents: the bright pink one is a free gift, and the light pink one is a group gift (you can join the Addams group for free).

Baiastice

Baiastice offers up this Valentine’s headpiece with a six-option HUD.

Pixicat

Pixicat’s gift is this cute tied top and matching shorts.

spectacledchic

This Hailey top and matching skirt has a 1970s feel to it!

Silvan Moon

The gift from Silvan Moon is this Ain’t Misbehavin’ pink 1920s flapper-style dress with optional beads. This dress also comes with a headband.

Altair

Altair offers a much-needed anti-Valentine’s-Day sentiment with this black sweatshirt.

Neve

This is the soft pink knit Love dress, the beautifully designed gift from Neve.

Miss Chelsea

The Mira top from Miss Chelsea comes in a trio of shades.

Ingenue

Ingenue offers the Tavi leggings in two shades of pink.

Faida

Faida offers a second dose of anti-Valentine’s sentiment with this “It’s not me, it’s you” crop top!

Aluetia

The gift from Aleutia is this pretty Eileen dress.

UC (United Colors)

UC offers this daring red Cupid dress with a semi-transparent lace skirt!

HolliPocket

HolliPocket offers up the daring Spring Fling minidress in mint green.

Valentina E

Valentina E’s gift is the Andi bodysuit in two different patterns.

Candy Kitten

Finally, we have the Valentine Badass Babygirl boots by Candy Kitten, in three different colours.

The 2020 Educators in VR International Summit Needs Volunteers (and Donations)

(“We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming…”  If you are looking for my blogposts about the Wuhan coronavirus/2019-nCoV, please click here. I am taking a one-day mental-health break from covering the situation, but I expect to be back at it tomorrow.)

The 2020 Educators in VR International Summit runs from Feb. 17-22, 2020

As you might already know, the largest immersive, all-virtual conference ever is taking place very soon!

The 2020 Educators in VR International Summit, running February 17th-22nd, 2020, features over 160 speakers from around the world presenting across over 200 hours of virtual events, with many live streamed and recorded for future airing on our Educators in VR YouTube channel. Instead of in a physical, real-world location, the Summit will be held across many different social VR platforms: AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, rumii, Mozilla Hubs, and Somnium Space.

Lorelle VanFossen of the Educators in VR International Summit team has put out a call for more volunteers:

We need volunteers of all skills. Even helping to moderate for an hour or two during the six-day event is helpful. Or an hour or two a day. Or longer. Join this historical event by filling out our Volunteer Form.

The form states:

We are seeking volunteers to assist with the free, open-to-the-public Educators in VR International Summit February 17-22, 2020. This application takes approximately 5 minutes to complete thoroughly.

We are seeking volunteers familiar with moderation, hosting, and filming/live streaming in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, and other social and educational platforms. Your participation will help ensure this 6-day event will be a success.

Educators in VR is an open, global, cross-platform community of educators, learners, researchers, teachers, and trainers exploring and collaborating with and in virtual and augmented reality.

The Educators in VR International Summit is a free and open to the public virtual conference featuring tracks on basic VR training and experiences, virtual language arts, corporate use, computer science and math, computer programming, medicine and science, coaching and personal development, and research into spatial technologies in education.

You may request to volunteer with a specific track, but such a request may not work out, so we appreciate your flexibility.

Experience in event moderation, hosting, or filming and live streaming in VR is highly recommended. Presentation “hosts” may be asked to introduce the presenters, facilitate Q&A, and run slides. Educators in VR will offer training rehearsals for moderation and hosting in the month prior to the event, and you would be required to attend at least one of these events.

Events will be hosted in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, and other social and educational virtual reality platforms. Access to these requires registration for each platform, sharing your username for presentation and moderation privileges, and installation of the software and apps if you are selected to volunteer.

All virtual platforms permit desktop/2D Windows access and most HMDs including Oculus Go, Quest, and Rift, Vive, Windows Mixed Reality, Value, and most devices with access to Steam or the Oculus Store. Volunteering maybe in 2D with quality headphone and microphone or 3D HMD. As a volunteer, you will be responsible for ensuring your device is fully charged, you have backup device access, and you will be able to stay for the full length of the assigned event, unless other arrangements are made.

An active Discord account will be required as all event coordination, discussion, and some event moderation will be managed in our Discord channels for text and voice communications.

I hope that you will be able to volunteer. Here is the volunteer form.

Here is the invitation link to the Educators in VR Discord server.

Here is a link to the final conference schedule, if you want to volunteer to moderate, host, or film a particular session.

My presentation on social VR in libraries will be on Saturday, February 22nd, 2020 from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time, on the ENGAGE platform. You are all welcome to attend! It will be livestreamed from ENGAGE to AltspaceVR, where most of the events are taking place.

My speaker’s badge

If you can’t help out in person, but want to help out financially, the organizers have set up a GoFundMe 2020 Educators in VR International Summit Campaign to help offset the costs of this free and open-to-the-public all-virtual conference. Please consider making a donation.

Wuhan Coronavirus/2019-nCoV Update: February 5th, 2020

Yesterday, both the U.K. and French governments warned their citizens against travel to China, and advised their citizens already in the country to leave. Canada is now also officially advising Canadian citizens against travel to the whole of China, not just Hubei province (at the 2:18 point of the press conference below), as well as asking those Canadians within the country to leave China as soon as possible:

We can expect to see more such declarations by other nations about travel to and from China, but it remains to be seen whether or not such serious measures will have any significant impact on the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus. Most experts are saying it’s too late to contain the virus.

Today Bloomberg News reports:

Just a couple of weeks ago, scientists held out hope the new coronavirus could be largely contained within China. Now they know its spread can be minimized at best, and governments are planning for the worst.

“It is not a matter of if—it is a matter of when,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “There is not a doubt this is going to end up in most countries eventually.”

…

Total containment isn’t in the cards, said Nancy Messonnier, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “Given the nature of this virus and how it’s spreading, that would be impossible. Our goal is to slow this thing down.”

Measures taken in the U.S. have been criticized in China, where officials said the Americans are stoking fear and overreacting. The CDC responded that it has no choice. The infection is spreading rapidly and humans have no protection against it, Messonnier said. While most cases appear to be mild, the worry is that it will spread to a large number of people and turn deadly in those most vulnerable.

“This is an unprecedented situation and we are taking aggressive measures,” she said. “We are preparing as if this were the next pandemic.”

The Los Angeles Times has issued a similar news report today:

Despite all the colossal efforts to contain the virus, scientists are quietly preparing for a grim — and increasingly likely — outcome: A full-blown global pandemic.

Since the novel virus was isolated in December in the Chinese megacity of Wuhan, the pathogen has reached four continents and infected more than 24,000 people. At least 493 of them have died as a result. With the outbreak continuing to expand, authorities acknowledge that efforts will soon shift from trying to squelch the coronavirus to learning to live with it.

“We’re proceeding as if things go really sour on us in the coming weeks and months,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. “We’re working for the worst-case scenario.”

At this point all the experts are now saying the same thing: that the Wuhan coronavirus will continue to spread worldwide. It cannot be contained, either within the city of Wuhan, the country of China, or the region of south-east Asia. The best that countries outside China can do at this point is to use case isolation and contact tracing to slow down the spread of the virus within their countries, and buy more time in order to prepare. As Dr. Amesh Adalja says above, “It is not a matter of if—it is a matter of when”.

Remember, there is no vaccine against the Wuhan coronavirus, and there is unlikely to be one for at least a year. Also, no one has any natural immunity to the 2019-nCoV virus. Scientists still don’t know what percentage of the people who catch this virus will develop only mild symptoms, and what percentage of infected people will land up in hospital. It has already been reported by Dr. Anthony Fauci of NIAID that approximately one in four people who are hospitalized so far have severe cases, requiring intensive care. No hospital system, anywhere in the world, has enough intensive care beds to deal with a surge of tens of thousands of serious 2019-nCoV cases, as we have already seen in Wuhan, China.

As I have said before, what this means for you, reading this now, is that you need to prepare yourself and your family for the possibility that you will need to stay in your homes for a period of several weeks, avoiding contact with as many other people as possible, as a wave of illness caused by the Wuhan coronavirus sweeps through your community, forcing schools, businesses, and public transportation and public gathering places like movie theatres and shopping malls to close (as we already seen in Wuhan and many other cities in China). The time to prepare for this is NOW.

That means that you need to prepare by stocking up on food and other supplies to last you at least two or three weeks. Start by reviewing the Personal Health Preparedness lists provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here.

You will need to have on hand:

  • At least two weeks of food and other supplies (toilet paper, first aid supplies, soap and hand sanitizer, garbage bags, etc.).
  • Refills of all your presecription medications, plus a stock of over-the-counter medicines (talk to your doctor and pharmacist about creating an emergency supply of your prescription medication).
  • Power sources (flashlights, extra batteries, car chargers and adapters for your mobile devices, etc.).

Other things that you should do:

  • Sign up for any local alerts from your city, state/province, or federal government (or know where to find the information on the Internet). Find out what plans your employer is making.
  • If you haven’t yet, get your seasonal flu shot. It can’t hurt, and it will help to figure out whether or not you do have 2019-nCoV if/when you do become sick. Many areas now give out the flu shot for free.
  • Watch the following video from the World Health Organization on how wash your hands! (Yes, I know I have posted it before. Watch if anyways, you might learn something you didn’t know before. Proper hand hygiene will also help you avoid catching regular seasonal colds and influenza, so there’s a net benefit to society.)

Good Sources of Information on 2019-nCoV

Here is my list of good, credible, authoritative resources to learn more about the Wuhan coronoavirus (more formally known as 2019-nCoV):

If you want a quick, up-to-date overview of the current situation, here are three good places to check:

Sources of Fast-Breaking News on 2019-nCoV (WARNING: News You Read Here May Not Be 100% Credible!)

PLEASE READ: In addition to the sources listed in the previous section, there are other places you can check, which might have reports (including translated links to local social media in China) that have not yet made the mainstream news media. Please keep in mind that the situation in China is chaotic, and that some of the information you find in the sources I list below might be gossip, rumours, hoaxes, conspiracy theories, misinformation, or disinformation! 

Please review the information and videos I posted in my blogpost about How to Spot Fake News, BEFORE using any of these links.

Stay healthy!