COVID-19

• Personally, I feel like I haven’t been affected much by everything that’s been happening.
  • The online period has been the most productive time of my life, I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress.
  • It’s also been easier to participate in things through Zoom.
  • However, it’s hard to say if there were any missed opportunities since I can’t really know what I didn’t realize.
• There have been some minor losses though.
  • It’s a bit of a shame that I didn’t get to go to Tokyo, but it’s not a big deal since I didn’t go there frequently anyway.
  • It feels like a significant loss that there won’t be a dinner after the progress report for the Untrodden project.

Do people have the correct Concept Model about the Coronavirus?

• Do they have an idea of how prevalent it is and how easily it spreads?

• Do they have an image of it being like dust?

  • That it sticks to your hands when you touch it and falls off when you wash them.

• However, regular people don’t really know the accurate behavior.

  • By spreading a simplified and accurate concept model, can we prevent infections?

• University of Tokyo Coronavirus e-learning materials

  • https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/general/COVID-19-elearning.html
  • There are DNA viruses and RNA viruses.
    • Actually, what is a virus? (blu3mo)
    • I can only think of it as a Bacteriophage.
      • Is it classified based on whether it injects DNA or RNA?
      • I don’t know.
  • There are currently seven types of Coronaviruses, with four of them causing regular colds.
    • The remaining three are SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus).
      • COVID-19 refers to the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.
  • How does the novel coronavirus work?
    • It binds to cells in the lungs and replicates inside them.
    • It replicates in the throat and lungs.
      • Is this what makes it troublesome? (blu3mo)
      • If it replicated in an irrelevant place, it wouldn’t be a problem, but since it’s in the lungs, it’s troublesome, right?
    • However, it seems that the symptoms are not limited to the lungs.
      • Really? (blu3mo)
      • There are abnormalities in taste, blood, and skin, among others.
  • How does it spread?
    • I want to know. (blu3mo)
    • Through droplet transmission and contact transmission.
      • Contact transmission is as I imagined.
      • Droplet transmission is when larger particles (5-10μm) are expelled through sneezing, for example, and you inhale them.
        • They can travel about 1-2 meters.
          • So, in other words, if someone sneezes 5 meters away, it’s not a big problem, right?
          • Is the basis for social distancing the distance these droplets can reach?
            • Good to know. (blu3mo)
      • In the case of smaller particles (aerosols), they can travel further (float in the air), but it seems that infections through this route are less common.
  • Preventive measures
    • Handwashing/Alcohol
      • Be careful not to forget to wash your thumbs.
        • That’s true. (blu3mo)