The spread of the Coronavirus! The facts according to Dannomanno!

Following are my thoughts pertaining to what was and is going on with the SARS-CoVid-2 virus that causes the CoVid-19 illness.

First off, it is my belief that the rising infections began earlier than many think. Perhaps as early as mid December when people were going back and forth to the developing hot spots in mainland China. I think that, initially, a relatively small number of young adults contracted the disease, brought it to America and other countries but stayed under the health net's radar as few were showing overt signs. Those who did get mildly sick and who went to a doctor were likely given a test for only the common flu. A test which often proved negative and so the individual was then sent home with a wrong diagnosis of having the common cold. Thus, a brush fire of sorts was spreading across the US and other countries as citizens between the ages of 15 and 40 attended places that they often liked to frequent, namely; sporting events, schools, restaurants and bars.

By the time late January rolled around, the CDC and Washington suspected that something was going on. Hot spots, in China, were becoming news even as the World Heath Organization and the Chinese government desperately sought to downplay to problem. It was only Trump who I think was consulting with the NIH and other services, that decided early on to close our borders. Other countries such as England and Italy were slower on the uptake...And, they paid a very high price!

By mid February, America had her first recorded death from the Coronavirus, even as the numbers that were testing positive remained rather small. And there was a good reason for that as the only tests that were performed for CoVid-19 were for those who showed up with obvious symptoms, i.e. - high temperatures, shallow breathing and a persistent cough. By mid March the United States numbers read something like this:

The number of those infected in the US, though still pretty small, were rising rapidly with a seemingly very high rate of those dying [69/3774 equaled a seeming death rate of over 1.8%]. This was much higher than the .1% rate of death for the flu! I feel that President Trump, in conjunction with many doctors advice, acted very swiftly by gearing up, the then low stockpiles of medical supplies. Items such as respirators, gowns and masks were in very short supply! But, here's the real deal. Officials, I believe, suspected that there were many more sick than what the posted numbers were showing. Perhaps a tens of thousands of young people were catching the bug, but not showing any real symptoms! And those that did make it to a doctor were likely only for the common flu. A test that often proved negative! So, actions were then taken by people who knew the facts. Facts that were not shared to the public even as some in the main stream media began using the situation to bash the president and to further divide the Nation!

Dr. Danomanno Dingo

In my mind, the true numbers of those infected, here in the US in mid March, could have been more like 100,000 and some in the government likely knew that! That is why they started closing down... you guessed it, any gathering place that the young frequented. That is also why they began, early on, with the idea of social distancing, washing of hands and sitting in place. And one other important caveat. That was that this disease was being spread most often by surface to face contact. This was due to the young not coughing so much as spewing droplets that landed on surfaces, with this virus able to live as long as 4 days before dying.

Today, at the end of March, I can now understand why the US and Italy have been hit so hard. Both have relatively high populations of people over the age of 60, many with other complicating conditions. And, it also explained why our country had essentially shut everything down for another 30 days. We needed to stop the spread of a virus that was firmly in place in... I'm guessing here, maybe as many 300,000 young people!

Now for the good news. The government and the American people has responded very appropriately; they have both taken corrective measures too insure that this a problem like this will never catch us off guard again. Random testing in the future will likely reveal the true scope of the problem. The rapid development of a vaccine and other treatments will contain the problem and Americans everywhere will be practicing better hygiene as a result. Once we get through this, the coronavirus will take a seat right next to the flu in the consciousness of the world with the rates of both likely to be low.

A note: Yes. I am aware this was a bit disjointed, but that's how my thinking process works. You see, I once played a crazed doctor on TV.