Can touching a barbell in the gym get you sick with the coronavirus?

This was forwarded to me via social media. I would love to credit the author but I do not know who it is. It encapsulates the current understanding of Covid-19 so well that I thought everyone would enjoy reading it…
For those of you who are still confused, these are the rules for covid 19:
1. Basically, you can't leave the house for any reason, but if you have to, then you can.
2. Masks are useless, but maybe you have to wear one, it can save you, it is useless, but maybe it is mandatory as well.
3. Stores are closed, except those that are open.
4. You should not go to hospitals unless you have to go there. Same applies to doctors, you should only go there in case of emergency, provided you are not too sick.
5. This virus is deadly but still not too scary, except that sometimes it actually leads to a global disaster.
6. Gloves won't help, but they can still help.
7. Everyone needs to stay HOME, but it's important to GO OUT.
8. There is no shortage of groceries in the supermarket, but there are many things missing when you go there in the evening, but not in the morning. Sometimes.
9. The virus has no effect on children except those it affects.
10. Animals are not affected, but there is still a cat that tested positive in Belgium in February when no one had been tested, plus a few tigers here and there…
11. You will have many symptoms when you are sick, but you can also get sick without symptoms, have symptoms without being sick, or be contagious without having symptoms. Oh, my God.
12. In order not to get sick, you have to eat well and exercise, but eat whatever you have on hand because it's better not to go out, well, but no…
13. It's better to get some fresh air, but you get looked at very wrong when you get some fresh air, and most importantly, you don't go to parks or walk. But don’t sit down, except that you can do that now if you are old, but not for too long or if you are pregnant (but not too old).
14. You can't go to retirement homes, but you have to take care of the elderly and bring them food and medication.
15. If you are sick, you can't go out, but you can go to the pharmacy.
16. You can get restaurant food delivered to the house, which may have been prepared by people who didn't wear masks or gloves. But you have to have your groceries decontaminated outside for 3 hours. Pizza too?
17. Every disturbing article or disturbing interview starts with " I don't want to trigger panic, but…"
18. You can't see your older mother or grandmother, but you can take a taxi and meet an older taxi driver.
19. You can walk around with a friend but not with your family if they don't live under the same roof.
20. You are safe if you maintain the appropriate social distance, but you can’t go out with friends or strangers at the safe social distance.
21. The virus remains active on different surfaces for two hours, no, four, no, six, no, we didn't say hours, maybe days? But it takes a damp environment. Oh no, not necessarily.
22. The virus stays in the air - well no, or yes, maybe, especially in a closed room, in one hour a sick person can infect ten, so if it falls, all our children were already infected at school before it was closed. But remember, if you stay at the recommended social distance, however in certain circumstances you should maintain a greater distance, which, studies show, the virus can travel further, maybe.
23. We count the number of deaths but we don't know how many people are infected as we have only tested so far those who were "almost dead" to find out if that's what they will die of…
24. We have no treatment, except that there may be one that apparently is not dangerous unless you take too much (which is the case with all medications). Orange man bad.
25. We should stay locked up until the virus disappears, but it will only disappear if we achieve collective immunity, so when it circulates… but wait...we must no longer be locked up for that?
 
[OA] COVID-19 Mortality in Lombardy: The Vulnerability of The Oldest Old and The Resilience of Male Centenarians

Italy was the first European nation to be affected by COVID-19. The biggest cluster of cases occurred in Lombardy, the most populous Italian region, and elderly men were the population hit in the hardest way.

Besides its high infectivity, COVID-19 causes a severe cytokine storm and old people, especially those with comorbidities, appear to be the most vulnerable, presumably in connection to inflammaging.

In centenarians inflammaging is much lower than predicted by their chronological age and females, presenting survival advantage in almost all centenarian populations, outnumber males, a phenomenon particularly evident in Northern Italy.

Within this scenario, we wondered if:

a) the COVID-19 mortality in centenarians was lower than that in people aged between 50 and 80 and

b) the mortality from COVID-19 in nonagenarians and centenarians highlighted gender differences.

We checked COVID-19-related vulnerability/mortality at the peak of infection (March 2020), using data on total deaths (i.e. not only confirmed COVID-19 cases). Our conclusion is that excess mortality increases steadily up to very old ages and at the same time men older than 90 years become relatively more resilient than age-matched females.

Marcon G, Tettamanti M, Capacci G, et al. COVID-19 mortality in Lombardy: the vulnerability of the oldest old and the resilience of male centenarians [published online ahead of print, 2020 Aug 12]. Aging (Albany NY). 2020;12:10.18632/aging.103872. doi:10.18632/aging.103872 https://www.aging-us.com/article/103872
 


My friend Evelyn is an immigration lawyer, and she recently had a meeting at a foreign consulate in downtown San Francisco. (Her work makes it hard for her to talk to reporters, so we're not using her last name). As she walked toward the building's metal detectors, the security guards told her she couldn't bring her backpack in, so she had to leave.

She worried this would make her late, so she frantically began searching for a safe place to stash it. She walked down the street, and her eyes caught a gym storefront with one of those garage-style, roll-down metal doors. It was slightly open.

Evelyn ducked in under the door and noticed a guy in workout clothes conducting a training and a small group of other guys in the back using exercise machines. They looked "more lean, fancy fit than roidy, bro fit," she says. Evelyn was dressed in a work suit — you know, like the Feds — and startled everyone as she came in.

She sheepishly explained she just needed a place to store her backpack, which put them at ease. But, with California outlawing indoor fitness centers during the pandemic, she also remarked she was surprised to see they were open.

"Oh, we're not open," said one of the trainers.

What Evelyn uncovered can only be described as a speakeasy gym. You know, illegal, hush hush, like the underground bars during the Prohibition era. These underground gyms appear to be popping up everywhere, from LA to New Jersey.

One fitness freak in Ann Arbor, Michigan, turned to Reddit to get their fix. "Anybody want a home gym partner or know of a speakeasy gym?" they asked — assuring readers in a follow-up post, "not a cop." "That is exactly what a cop would say," responded someone in the thread.

Welcome to the COVID-19 Prohibition era, when gym rats have gone underground.
 
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[OA] Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Partner Relationships and Sexual and Reproductive Health

Background: In the past few months, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused extensive economic and social damage.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19-related measures on partner relationships and sexual and reproductive health in China.

Methods: From May 1 to 5, 2020, 3500 young Chinese individuals were recruited through WeChat or Weibo to participate in a survey to obtain information on sexual and reproductive health (eg, sexual desire, frequency of sexual intercourse, sexual satisfaction, etc). The questionnaire also collected demographic data (eg, age, race, education, current financial status, sexual orientation, relationship status, etc).

Results: In total, 967 participants were included in the sexual health analysis. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures, 22% of participants (n=212) reported a decrease in sexual desire; 41% (n=396) experienced a decrease in the sexual intercourse frequency; 30% (n=291) reported an increase in the frequency of masturbation; 20% (n=192) reported a decrease in alcohol consumption before or during sexual activities, and 31% (n=298) reported a deterioration in partner relationships during the pandemic.

The logistic regression analysis indicated that the following influenced partner relationships: accommodations during the pandemic (P=.046; odds ratio [OR] 0.59; 95% CI 0.30-0.86); exclusive relationship status (yes or no) (P<.001; OR 0.44; 95 % CI 0.27-0.73); sexual desire (P=.02; OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.38-2.97); and sexual satisfaction (P<.001; OR 1.92; 95% CI 1.54-2.50). COVID-19 also caused disruptions in reproductive health services such as prenatal and postnatal care, childbirth and abortion services, contraception availability, and the management of sexually transmitted infections.

Conclusions: Our results show that many young people have wide-ranging issues affecting their sexual and reproductive health due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures. Strategies and guidelines are needed to safeguard the sexual and reproductive health of young people during this pandemic.

Li G, Tang D, Song B, et al. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Partner Relationships and Sexual and Reproductive Health: Cross-Sectional, Online Survey Study. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(8):e20961. Published 2020 Aug 6. doi:10.2196/20961 Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Partner Relationships and Sexual and Reproductive Health: Cross-Sectional, Online Survey Study
 
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