Coronavirus Conversations: Day 3 - Discussing the Spread of Coronavirus
In this live‑stream, Dr. David Perlmutter provides a daily COVID‑19 briefing, beginning with the declaration of a national emergency and the concept of "flattening the curve" to protect limited ICU and ventilator capacity. He shares up‑to‑date epidemiological data: total global cases around 130,000, daily new cases 8‑9 k, a rising proportion of cases outside China (now ~44 %), and a concerning disparity between new cases and recoveries. Perlmutter discusses transmission, citing a super‑spreader event where one individual may have infected up to 50 people, and compares COVID‑19’s lethality to seasonal flu, noting a 2‑3 % case‑fatality rate versus 0.1 % for flu, with higher risk for older adults and those with comorbidities. He reports emerging therapeutic news on the antiviral Remdesivir, disclosing his personal Gilead stock holdings. Practical prevention advice includes hand‑washing, homemade sanitizer using 151‑proof grain alcohol, mask usage (including N95 considerations), glove protocols for delivery workers, and environmental cleaning. Supplement discussion covers high‑dose vitamin D (10,000 IU/day), zinc, vitamin C, and glutathione/Nrf2 pathways, though he notes limited evidence for efficacy against SARS‑CoV‑2. He outlines the incubation period (2‑14 days, mean 3‑6.4 days), asymptomatic carriage, and uncertainties about temperature thresholds for virus inactivation. Throughout, he answers audience questions on topics such as seasonality, re‑infection, testing availability, and household protocols, and directs viewers to the Worldometers website for real‑time statistics. He concludes with a commitment to continue daily updates at 5 PM Eastern, expressing cautious optimism about the Remdesivir data while emphasizing the need for continued vigilance.
Chapters
Okay, looks like we are live, live at 5, as it were. I'm gonna back down on the light a tiny bit. Sorry, folks. Hi, David. Okay. Well, a new day, isn't it? We just heard the president declare a national emergency. Probably a good— well, definitely a good thing. Raises our level of awareness as to what's going on. I think it's so darn important that we realize that this is a serious situation. It is unlike anything we've ever experienced, truth be known. The ability of this coronavirus to spread is Proving itself, as was discussed weeks and weeks ago, and the aggressiveness in terms of how serious a disease this is is also playing out as expected. Interesting that one of the president's advisors today said that we are less well-equipped in comparison to Italy. We know what Italy is going through. Patients requiring intensive care are out on the street in a tent. And that's certainly a worrisome thing. So I think you've heard the notion of flattening the curve. What does that mean? It means not having a huge surge of patients all of a sudden. If we can try to keep our heads about ourselves and take measures to reduce risk, then maybe if we are going to get it, we're not going to get it next week or the week after. We can extend that time out. So that is somewhat less of a burden on our healthcare facilities. We know that there are only a limited number of intensive care units, intensive type interventions including ventilators available in the entire country, and it's times like this where we begin to make those calculations. Well, with all due respect, these calculations should be made before. The problem begins. As John Kennedy said, the time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining. So, hello family from Sally, and I'm going to just update everybody with some statistics in terms of where we are. Total statistics showing that the curve is now trending upward in terms of total cases, somewhere between around 100 and Around 130,000 now reported. The number of new cases really spiked yesterday. Unfortunately, it's spiking even higher as it looks like— well, yesterday and the day before yesterday, as it looks at the 12th. Number of new cases in the day, approximately 8,000 to 9,000. Of course, these are all variable based upon people, countries reporting. We know that the rate of increase in terms of active cases has increased quite substantially. We had a nice dip end of February, looked pretty promising. That's not occurring. And as we look at now, the percentage of cases outside of China is now at about 44%, and the rest, 55%, are in China. So that number I've been following, as you know, That number is increasing. So pretty soon, I'd venture to say in the next three or four days, there'll be more cases outside of China than there are inside of China. So it's clearly you know a a global event. What is concerning is the number of new cases has spiked dramatically in relation to the number of recoveries, which has remained pretty static. So again, number of new cases reported. Would be about 7,000 and the number of recoveries somewhere, it looks like about 4 or— 3 or 4,000. So that is a bit of a worrisome statistic. I'm going to answer some questions in just a moment. Let me, I mean, one question everybody's been asking is the transmission rate, transmissibility. We know of one description of an individual attending a meeting who may have transmitted it to as many as 50 people. 50 people. On the treatment front, some good news. The drug Remdesivir made by Gilead, G-I-L-E-A-D, was just described as about 10 minutes ago Japanese research revealed that it looks like it helped dramatically according to the initial reports. That is a drug, it's an antiviral given intravenously. We just learned that just before going on the air. Remdesivir made by Gilead. In full disclosure, I will tell you that Gilead stock is part of my portfolio, so I want you to know that. Nonetheless, this news was just released, and I'm not telling you that because of personal interest. All right, let me run through some questions, see if we can— Why is it more aggressive than the flu? From Terry. We lose more during flu season than we have this. Good point. Am I wrong? You are correct that we do lose more in the flu season than we have lost, but the important part of that statement is so far. If the predictions are true that 40 to 70% of Americans will get this, that it is equally as contagious as the flu, the problem is that it is 10 or perhaps as much as 20 times more Lethal. So, you know, all these people talking about, well, everybody gets the flu and it's— we don't get worried about it. The flu kills 0.1% of people who get the flu. This coronavirus is killing a 2 to 3 or even more percentage of people depending on things like their underlying medical condition and certainly their age. We went through all those statistics yesterday. They have not changed in terms of increased risk based upon your age. And increased risk based upon underlying disease. So we do know that the median age of the disease right now is about outside of China is about 45 years, ranging from age two up until age 74 years. 71 percent more than two thirds of the cases are male. Why that is? Who knows? Women. I just did an interview with Lisa Mosconi who wrote the book The XX Factor. I might have it here. I don't have it here. But we know that the immune systems of women are different. That might be a good thing. It might be a bad thing. In this case, somehow it's probably a good thing and as such, maybe in some way protective. So we're going to look at— give me one moment. Okay. Let me get back to some of these questions. Hi from Marina del Rey. Love Marina del Rey. I was supposed to be there last week. That didn't happen. I want to talk a little bit about what you can do if you're not finding hand sanitizer. Now, I'm going to tell you some ideas I've had. They may not be right, but you can go to the liquor store and buy 151 alcohol, grain alcohol, and that is by definition half the number of proofs, so 75% ethanol. And that said, that is what we are told is effective in terms of the virus. So if you want to have that in a spray bottle, what we do, put a little bit of lavender oil in it perhaps, and that may do the trick if you can't find anything else. I think hand washing, underrated but really very important. I don't go anywhere without hand sanitizer, that's for sure. I don't need it here at home, but when I go out, I always carry hand sanitizer with me. Think about things where you're touching that other people have touched, like going to the gas station and grabbing the handle to pump gas for your car. How many people have touched it that day? My husband is a driver for FedEx, Kelly Pfeiffer, and handles a lot of packages and boxes. Yesterday you mentioned the porous surfaces can carry pathogens, or coronavirus let's say. Should he be wearing gloves? I would recommend absolutely Absolutely, he wear gloves and that he should sterilize those gloves, treat those gloves. But the problem with wearing gloves is they are a non-porous surface. If you're having contact with surface, touch your face, bad idea. So need to think about that. He cannot be touching his face if he's wearing gloves, especially if he's wearing them all day. I look okay. Thank you. Hi from Tennessee. As the weather warms, does that help? Good question. We know that's likely associated with the seasonality of the influenza virus, but does it help here? We don't know yet. We are seeing outbreaks in temperate areas, and that if the theory is right, that shouldn't be happening, and yet it is. And we're seeing outbreaks in northern climates as well, like even in Iceland. for that matter. So I don't know. I suddenly feel lightheaded and dizzy with a temperature of 90— looks like 95.5. Should I be concerned? I don't have other symptoms. I'm 34, otherwise excellent health. Thank you. I would tell you the following. I'm not your doctor, but look, you can be asymptomatic and be a carrier or be infected with the coronavirus. And anything in between. So you don't have to have a high fever and a headache and a sore throat and a productive cough. Those are the classic symptoms that are now being described to, you know, be diagnosed with this disease. So you may have it, you may not. Unfortunately, I don't know where you are, but, you know, getting tested here in America right now is something unlike how it is in 60 other countries around the world. Something that you can't readily do. I learned that yesterday with somebody actually I'm very close to and we were unable to get that individual tested. Okay, at what temperature does the virus die? Good question. I don't think anyone has the answer to that. I'm told or I've read that even sheets and towels in the dryer at normal dryer heat is sufficient, but I can't say. Let's see. Many have never been tested. How many have had never tested? I'm not sure about that question. Australia is going into winter when the flu—that's an issue. We know that it's certainly picking up in Australia, and that is worrisome. That's for sure. Let's talk a little bit about incubation period. I think this is really probably one of the most common questions that's been asked today. And here's what we know. The incubation period has been documented to last anywhere between 2 and 14 days. There have been outliers showing instantaneous infection and/or incubating for as long as 27 days. So COVID-19, the current understanding is 2 to 14 days, but there have been, you know, these outlying cases. The mean incubation period A study based on 1,300 or so cases was 3 days. That's the average, the mean, but the mean incubation period in people observed from Wuhan, China was significantly longer at 6.4 days. It doesn't mean that, you know, you can watch somebody for 3 days because that's the average and therefore on the 4th day if you're thinking about having them come over They haven't had a fever, they're fine. That isn't 100% certainly going to be, you know, certainty in terms of that being helpful for you. Let me try to get back to— let me tell you that we've doubled the number of viewers since yesterday and I'm very, very pleased to see that. It means that you're wanting this information and that you are finding it helpful. I am going to move forward and do this every day at 5 o'clock Eastern. Always good to keep it, keep up to date with every disease, that's for sure. I mean, we need to stay healthy, especially now. Okay, okay. Some of these I've answered before. There's no rubbing alcohol in the stores. I understand that. Wear a mask outside if you have one. It will prevent you from touching your face. Great idea. You know, we've been told wear the N95 mask or don't wear the N95 mask. N95 masks. I think you can argue both sides. The argument in favor of it would be if you are, for example, infected, wearing an N95 mask is a good idea for people around you. Also, I believe wearing an N95 mask around people who may be possibly transmitting the disease, in my opinion, is a good idea. But the pores on the N95 mask can trap the coronavirus and now you've trapped them in your mask. What do you do? The idea there is you either get a mask with an exchangeable N95 centerpiece filter or you do your best to disinfect the mask by spraying it with something like bleach or alcohol, then you can keep using it. The trick is though, if you're wearing a mask then you touch the mask, bad idea. You've defeated the whole opportunity to help protect yourself. Exposure to vitamin D helpful? Data on that with respect to coronavirus? I've bumped my vitamin D dosage to 10,000 units a day. Why? Have I done that? Vitamin D helps immunity, vitamin D helps the production of what's called an antimicrobial peptide in your body that's called cathelicidin D, and cathelicidin D is effective against bacteria and viruses. Is it necessarily going to be effective against coronavirus? I don't know the answer to that. I've bumped up my D to 10,000 units a day, and that's why. Yeah, so again, I am not going to tell you that the 151 from the liquor store is proven to be helpful, but look, it's 75% alcohol. Proof, take half the number, whatever proof something is, that's the percentage alcohol. We all know that. So if you can't get alcohol at your pharmacy, get a couple of bottles of 151. And then if this all blows over, then you can celebrate. What can I say? Not that I would be drinking that because I wouldn't. Anyway, you can add lavender, etc. That's exactly what we've done. 100.4 or higher is what they're looking for for low-grade fever. Yeah, but some people don't get a fever at all. Some people get a very high fever, you know, and some people have no symptoms whatsoever. Some people have died within 1 day. So it's all over the place. There are no specific things that we could tell you that are, you know, going to be something you can hang your hat on for each individual person. So let me just get to a couple of other topics that I think are very important. Give me just one moment. And I want to look at— just stand by for just one second. Okay. I have a very good website. It's called worldometers.info. Worldometers, W-O-R-L-D-O-M-E-T-E-R-S, plural, dot info. Why don't I just write that in here? You know what, I think I'm going to just drag the URL and post it for all of you folks. This is one of the best websites I have found in terms of great information. Actually, it's not going to let me drag it. Stand by. We'll do the old Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and hope that works out. for the best. You all let me know that you've seen this. Let me know that my— it came through. Okay, so I'm gonna take a couple of other questions. I'm gonna be back tomorrow. If you guys want to link my podcast or Facebook Live to yours, that's totally fine. I'm here to help. Good question. If 71% are males of the patients, could it be that women are asymptomatic instead, or obviously some of them because not all of them. That is certainly a possibility. I think it should be considered. What is the best protocol for people coming into your house? Step 1, they don't come into it. I'm telling you what we do. Nobody comes into the house unless you first wash your hands. That's not asking too much. Wash your hands with soap and there's paper towels right there and they could go into the garbage. Shoes off. As well. We've— that's been our practice always regardless of the coronavirus infection. And by and large, we're not having people who have traveled recently visit anymore. We have some friends who are locals coming to dinner tonight and, you know, frankly, that might be it for a while. You don't know where people have been and their infectivity. I think that if you have people in your home, Keep your distance and again hand washing is key. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Am I more likely to get that than a healthy person? I would say really depending on your treatment that you're receiving. I've not seen the statistics relating rheumatoid arthritis or any of those type of autoimmune conditions to increased risk, but I think, you know, what we're probably going to talk about here is the outcome, your risk of not just getting it, which is already between 40 and 70%, that's what we're all experiencing, but the risk of you having a bad outcome, my sense is it would be worse if you're on immunosuppressive medication like steroids for the rheumatoid. Have you seen any effects from zinc or vitamin C? Oh, that went quickly. On this virus? No, I have not. Talked about zinc yesterday. Zinc is effective for reducing risk of rhinovirus, that's the common cold, Is it going to be effective here? Don't have the answer for that. There's been one paper I read recently that looked at the role of zinc that possibly it would not be effective here. Can someone catch it twice? Don't know the answer to that. We suspect that that may be possible. So the notion that you get it like chickenpox and then you don't get it again is not necessarily something that is supported at this I mean, I think some of us are probably feeling like, shoot, I'll just— maybe I should just go out and get the darn thing, hope for the best, and then I can live my life. Hey, I've thought about that, but there's no real data to support that that is a reasonable option or course of action. Hi, Angie, great to see you joining me. I will keep you updated. Nice that you Hi, Rob. Oh my gosh, from Michelangelo Street. Great, very helpful. Great. I hope you're doing well. I hope Jennifer's great and Judy. Thanks for checking in. It's awesome. It's great to reconnect. Tucker, what about glutathione? Not sure. You know, glutathione is helpful for detoxification, antioxidant, and secondarily inflammation. The pathway whereby we amplify amplify glutathione is the Nrf2 pathway. People have asked us about that. That also helps to reduce inflammation. Traducción en español, lo siento, pero es algo que no puedo hacer ahora mismo. Pero tal vez mañana puedo tener alguien conmigo que que puede traducir en para español. Tea tree oil antiviral, yeah. Perhaps. Is it effective here? Don't know. I'm a real fan of tea tree oil but don't know necessarily here. Is COVID-19 airborne? Great question. CDC is looking at that, World Health is looking at that. There is some suggestion based on at least one report or comment from Harvard School of Public Health that it may be airborne. And what we mean by airborne is as opposed to these respiratory droplets that can propagate when somebody coughs or sneezes. Airborne propagation of a virus is something that can happen. It happens with bacteria. It happens with tuberculosis, for example. Is it happening here? We do not know. Do I take prednisone? No, I don't take steroids. But anyway, thanks for asking. Good. There's my post just appeared on the website. Look at the in the follow the feed. Find my post and. Click that link. Great information. Okay, everybody, I am going to— holy moly, look at all these questions. I sure hope that I've covered most of them. And when do you know when you're no longer contagious? Let me end with that one. I think that, you know, if you look at what CDC is telling us, they're telling us that having no temperature, no elevated temperature. Everybody has a temperature, right? No fever measured twice. And actually, you know, the, the best way is having a test for the virus proving negative. Hopefully that's going to be something that's available to all of us very soon. I'm gonna join you all tomorrow at 5:00 PM Eastern with the latest updates. I am looking forward to to having better news and trying to see, you know, the bright spots here. I do say that this Remdesivir report that just came out just before I went on air is encouraging. And again, with a disclaimer that I— part of my portfolio is a company that makes Remdesivir, but be that as it may, don't judge me. I am grateful that everyone's listening, and I will be back tomorrow. At 5 PM. That's it for now. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
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