by Mac Slavo, SHTF Plan:

In our current world of a mass surveillance police state, if you spread the coronavirus (knowingly or even unknowingly) it’s very likely you’ll be tracked down by the government and its health officials.

Virologists are scrutinizing strains of the new coronavirus in order to trace where it came from. This modern genetic sleuthing, combined with more traditional methods of interviewing infected people, is invaluable for tracking how and where the virus is progressing. Scientists can often accurately trace a virus’s journey. “We can identify who the Typhoid Mary is,” said Siobain Duffy, who researches the evolution of viruses at Rutgers University.

(Typhoid Mary references Mary Mallon, who infected many New Yorkers as an unwitting, “healthy carrier” of the typhoid virus in the early 20th century).

Even before genetic testing is employed, epidemiologists, who track patterns of disease, can get a pretty good grip on where the virus came from.  It’s called “contract tracing,” and it boils down to (safely) talking with infected people.

“It’s done with syphilis and other diseases like measles,” explained Elizabeth Marshall, an associate professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health. –Mashable

If you are organizing an event please keep in mind that epidemiologists and virologists are really good at tracing back infections. You don’t want to get blamed for causing an epidemic in your community. Consider canceling.

— Florian Krammer (@florian_krammer) March 11, 2020

Seeking out contacts is vital for this new coronavirus, which leads to the respiratory disease COVID-19 that results in more severe cases than the flu and is ten times more lethal. That’s because around 80 percent of infected people have mild or no symptoms. They can walk around for five days before the first hint of infection hits. So it’s important to find out who they may have been unknowingly infected while they spread the virus.

As we’ve said before, the best way to prepare for this pandemic is to make sure you don’t get infected.  If you live in an area where there are a lot of people who have contracted the virus, make sure you wear a properly fitting face mask in public.

Will A Face Mask REALLY Protect You From The Coronavirus?

If you do get sick, quarantine yourself and don’t spread it to others.

Read More @ SHTFPlan.com