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To use or not to use public toilets on board.


chabad
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7 hours ago, Gwendy said:

Worst is on long haul flights.  Toilets are not pretty places after a 14 hour flight.  Cannot believe how people get them in such a mess.

It's called no common courtesy of your fellow guests. I'm a elementary school teacher, and the kids are really good at riding one another out when the bathroom instantly becomes a mess. And I make that last one go back in and clean it right up. Shame you can't really do that with adults as well unless you want conflict.

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7 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:


Plenty of diseases out there that can kill you, but none as prevalent on a cruise ship as norovirus, which is probably the most likely thing you will catch onboard.

 

Actually that's not true.  You are far more likely to contract a cold, Flu or ILI (Influenza like illness) than Norovirus on a cruise.

 

 

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So by deduction, if you’re taking steps not to catch noro you likely aren’t going to catch corona. 

 

 

Again not true I'm afraid.   The primary transmission mode of Norovirus is by touch.  Touching infected surfaces like hand rails, lift buttons, serving tongs in the buffet and so on.  

 

The primary transmission mode of Coronavirus is from the aerosol droplets thrown out into the air by infected people coughing and sneezing.  That's why you're at risk if you are within 6 feet of an infected person. 

 

 

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There are relatively few people on the planet that have the coronavirus at this moment so statistically a pretty low chance in catching it.

 

The truth is the authorities have no actual clue how many people have Coronavirus.  They only know about the cases that have been specifically reported which are just the serious cases where people struggle to cope.   Coronavirus presents with very mild cold/flu symptoms for many people and some people don't even know they have it.   None of those people are reporting their illnesses to anyone.   When was the last time you got the sniffles and thought "gosh I must rush over to my GP and tell them".

 

People just don't do that.  They stay home and deal with such conditions privately.   So the actual numbers of people with Coronavirus are probably huge it's just that nobody knows about them.   And those numbers will go up and up.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

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As someone who will pee just about anywhere it's surprising the number who won't use public toilets on a cruise ship.  Also surprising is the number of people who if they work up the courage to use a public restroom are paying close attention to everyone else's hygiene practices.  For those who are keeping an eagle eye do you rebuke other passengers who do not meet your standards of cleanliness?

 

It's a cruise ship. You are crammed on to the boat with thousands of other people wiping their hands everywhere.  Unless you are donning rubber gloves and a bio suit there isn't any guaranteed way to avoid germs.    

 

 

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7 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:


Plenty of diseases out there that can kill you, but none as prevalent on a cruise ship as norovirus, which is probably the most likely thing you will catch onboard. So by deduction, if you’re taking steps not to catch noro you likely aren’t going to catch corona. 
 

There are relatively few people on the planet that have the coronavirus at this moment so statistically a pretty low chance in catching it. So yes, I’m more concerned about noro. 

The steps you take to avoid noro have nothing to do with trying to avoid corona.  Noro passes “hand to hand to mouth” - it is not airborne, so if you avoid touching contaminated surfaces, keep your hands clean, and are careful about bringing things you touch near your eyes, nose and mouth you effectively protect yourself — even if the virus is present.

 

Corona is airborne - as long as you breathe you are open to picking up that virus if it is present.

 

Then, the symptoms of corona - while certainly rare at this point - are far more harmful.  

 

Comparing noro to corona is is like comparing the risks of getting wet in a rainstorm to getting hit by lightning in a thunderstorm:   yes, more common - but certainly less worthy of concern.

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13 minutes ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

Actually that's not true.  You are far more likely to contract a cold, Flu or ILI (Influenza like illness) than Norovirus on a cruise.

 

 

 

Again not true I'm afraid.   The primary transmission mode of Norovirus is by touch.  Touching infected surfaces like hand rails, lift buttons, serving tongs in the buffet and so on.  

 

The primary transmission mode of Coronavirus is from the aerosol droplets thrown out into the air by infected people coughing and sneezing.  That's why you're at risk if you are within 6 feet of an infected person. 

 

 

 

The truth is the authorities have no actual clue how many people have Coronavirus.  They only know about the cases that have been specifically reported which are just the serious cases where people struggle to cope.   Coronavirus presents with very mild cold/flu symptoms for many people and some people don't even know they have it.   None of those people are reporting their illnesses to anyone.   When was the last time you got the sniffles and thought "gosh I must rush over to my GP and tell them".

 

People just don't do that.  They stay home and deal with such conditions privately.   So the actual numbers of people with Coronavirus are probably huge it's just that nobody knows about them.   And those numbers will go up and up.

 

 

 

 

If you think you cant catch the coronavirus or any other virus through tough then good luck to you because that’s not true.  Yes, you are correct, that being in close proximity to someone sneezing and coughing is a transmission vector but the other problem is that those people generally do that into their hands and they they go and touch everything.  So even if you do your best to avoid everyone you can still catch it easily by touching a surface they did up to 24 hours later.  

 

You are also correct that they don’t know exactly how many people have it and they never will.  But with less than a dozen confirmed cases in the US even if its 1,000 times greater than what is reported the math suggests its statistically 0.  But you can say the same thing but the flu, which they “track” annually and say infects between 9 and 45 million people a year In the US alone.  So if they say there are 12 cases of coronavirus now compared to 9 million flu cases that’s barely a blip on the radar.  Your claim of “Huge” is a very misleading term, and factually inaccurate.

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3 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

The steps you take to avoid noro have nothing to do with trying to avoid corona.  Noro passes “hand to hand to mouth” - it is not airborne, so if you avoid touching contaminated surfaces, keep your hands clean, and are careful about bringing things you touch near your eyes, nose and mouth you effectively protect yourself — even if the virus is present.

 

Corona is airborne - as long as you breathe you are open to picking up that virus if it is present.

 

Then, the symptoms of corona - while certainly rare at this point - are far more harmful.  

 

Comparing noro to corona is is like comparing the risks of getting wet in a rainstorm to getting hit by lightning in a thunderstorm:   yes, more common - but certainly less worthy of concern.

 

You can reference my post above to your point on how its transmitted, which you are wrong as airborne isn’t the only way its transmitted as you suggest.

 

You are missing my point about my concern.  I am not as concerned because statistically almost no one has coronavirus.  35,000 cases in a world population of 7.6 billion isn’t even worth calculating.  So the likelihood that you are going to catch it on a cruise is almost 0 Especially now with the precautions they are taking.  Norovirus is extremely common on cruise ships and therefore you are infinitely more likely to catch it than the corona virus as of today.  

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19 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

 But you can say the same thing but the flu, which they “track” annually and say infects between 9 and 45 million people a year In the US alone.

 

Yep and those huge figures for Flu to which we can also add many millions of ordinary cold and ILI cases adequately demonstrate why any cruise you go on is going to see a number of people present with symptoms of those conditions.  The new protocols in place mandate that such people must be isolated and tested for Coronavirus and whilst that happens nobody will be permitted to disembark at whatever port they are sailing to.   That's the primary risk for cruisers at this point in time.

 

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3 minutes ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

The new protocols in place mandate that such people must be isolated and tested for Coronavirus and whilst that happens nobody will be permitted to disembark at whatever port they are sailing to.   That's the primary risk for cruisers at this point in time.

 

 

That’s not true either, the Anthem of the Seas just arrived with 4 people that had flu like symptom with recent travel to China, they are being tested with no confirmed results expected til Monday, they let everyone off the ship and they all went home except for the 4 people.  I’m guessing they had some preliminary testing to indicate it wasnt corona, but they aren’t letting the new passengers onboard until they have confirmation.  

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37 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

That’s not true either, the Anthem of the Seas just arrived with 4 people that had flu like symptom with recent travel to China, they are being tested with no confirmed results expected til Monday, they let everyone off the ship and they all went home except for the 4 people.  I’m guessing they had some preliminary testing to indicate it wasnt corona, but they aren’t letting the new passengers onboard until they have confirmation.  

I think the accurate comment would be that it depends on where the ship ports.  With the Anthem, the CDC chose to let passengers go home despite having some issues with 4 cases.  But in Asia, we now have a ship that is cruising around the sea without any port willing to accept the ship.  So far there have been no cases of Coronavirus on that vessel, but countries in the region are taking a position of caution since that vessel had picked up hundreds of new passengers in Hong Kong back on Feb 1.  What we find interesting is that even Guam, which is a US Territory, refused to let the vessel dock even after a request from the State Dept.

 

We did read that the CDC was not too concerned about those 4 cases on the Anthem...although we do not know why.

 

Hank

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1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

 

You can reference my post above to your point on how its transmitted, which you are wrong as airborne isn’t the only way its transmitted as you suggest.

 

You are missing my point about my concern.  I am not as concerned because statistically almost no one has coronavirus.  35,000 cases in a world population of 7.6 billion isn’t even worth calculating.  So the likelihood that you are going to catch it on a cruise is almost 0 Especially now with the precautions they are taking.  Norovirus is extremely common on cruise ships and therefore you are infinitely more likely to catch it than the corona virus as of today.  

Talk about missing the point — I had mentioned that corona was more capable of transmission because it was airborne, while noro is largely transmitted by contact — stating that corona can be otherwise transmitted only emphasizes the danger.

 

Trivializing it because there have been only 35,000 cases (SO FAR) is really missing the point.  The more than 700 dead (SO FAR) in just over a month since the virus jumped species indicates that there is a real problem vis-a-vis noro —- which has NO recorded death toll.

 

Statistics do not kill people - corona does

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25 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Talk about missing the point — I had mentioned that corona was more capable of transmission because it was airborne, while noro is largely transmitted by contact — stating that corona can be otherwise transmitted only emphasizes the danger.

 

Trivializing it because there have been only 35,000 cases (SO FAR) is really missing the point.  The more than 700 dead (SO FAR) in just over a month since the virus jumped species indicates that there is a real problem vis-a-vis noro —- which has NO recorded death toll.

 

Statistics do not kill people - corona does

 

The original question was should you avoid using the public restroom for fear of catching the coronavirus. My original point still stands, you are far more likely to catch noro than corona in a public restroom, and for that matter in general at all on a cruise ship as of this moment.  I never said that noro was better or worse than corona, and I am not trivializing anything, i simply stated i would be more concerned about catching it than corona because of the facts an yes the statistics.  Please don’t skew my comments on a specific question to fit your paradigm On a larger issue.      

 

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On 2/8/2020 at 8:26 AM, chabad said:

Having a random family discussion and would love to hear everyone's thoughts on would you or would you not use public toilets based off of what's going on with this coronavirus?

I never use public toilets if I can help it.When on a cruise I try and get back to the cabin when needed.

(I like your screen name )

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I suppose that we all could confine ourselves to our cabins and hide under the covers for the entire cruise.  That being said, we have been on thirty-one cruises and use public restrooms, eat in the buffet, push elevator buttons, hold onto the handrails and have never been ill.  Of course we wash our hands with soap and warm water after using the restroom and before entering a dining room.

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Purel is 70% ethyl alcohol and some glycerin (plus some stuff to make it taste bad so you won't be inclined to drink it and hence require it to be taxed as a spirit).    It's a good "last resort" after you wash your hands.   You don't know what you touch (the faucet, the bathroom door, the handrail on the stairs, the arm of your chair...) before you touch your face or food.

 

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18 hours ago, K32682 said:

As someone who will pee just about anywhere it's surprising the number who won't use public toilets on a cruise ship.  Also surprising is the number of people who if they work up the courage to use a public restroom are paying close attention to everyone else's hygiene practices.  For those who are keeping an eagle eye do you rebuke other passengers who do not meet your standards of cleanliness?

 

It's a cruise ship. You are crammed on to the boat with thousands of other people wiping their hands everywhere.  Unless you are donning rubber gloves and a bio suit there isn't any guaranteed way to avoid germs.    

 

 

With you here 100%.

 

The amount of people that wont use public facilities is staggering. How do you get through the day?

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16 hours ago, tip said:

I suppose that we all could confine ourselves to our cabins and hide under the covers for the entire cruise.  That being said, we have been on thirty-one cruises and use public restrooms, eat in the buffet, push elevator buttons, hold onto the handrails and have never been ill.  Of course we wash our hands with soap and warm water after using the restroom and before entering a dining room.

After you wash your hands with soap and water and get them clean you have to shut the faucet which is not clean.

On my last cruise I only went to a public restroom twice ,it was a 14 day cruise.

i bring 3-5 bottles of Purell from home.

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At work we have 6 toilets for about 150 women. There are 3 upstairs and 3 downstairs. I am amazed on a weekly basis how gross they can get. This is with a porter on site! We luckily have automatic faucets and seat covers available. I tap the soap dispenser with the back of my hand to get soap and use the towels to open the door on my way out. I can only control me. I have had to use bathrooms that would make stomachs turn and in the great outdoors (try using a port -a-potty after 3 hours of tailgating that starts at 8:00am for college football 🤢). When you gotta go, you gotta go. It's what happens after the go that matters.

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On 2/9/2020 at 1:46 AM, navybankerteacher said:

Why? 

 

How many norovirus fatalaties have have you heard of?

 

I got norovirus once - two days - one of which I spent on or near the toilet;  not pleasant, but certainly capable of being handled.

 

 

Last year in the USA, over 700 Americans died from complications coming from Norovirus.

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Norovirus contamination is typically fecal-oral.

This means that someone with infected fecal matter from their body has touched you or something that you touch or eat.

That infected fecal matter remains contagious on a clean dry surface for several weeks.

 

The amount of Norovirus spores required to infect you would easily fit on the sharp end of a pin.

 

On a big mass market ship, how many people have the opportunity to infect a public toilet in one day?

A public toilet that looks and smells clean is rarely virus-free.

If you walked into one with an ultraviolet lamp, you would be shocked and sickened.

 

How many people have the opportunity to contaminate your cabin toilet?

Do you feel lucky?

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On 2/9/2020 at 7:46 AM, K32682 said:

As someone who will pee just about anywhere it's surprising the number who won't use public toilets on a cruise ship.  Also surprising is the number of people who if they work up the courage to use a public restroom are paying close attention to everyone else's hygiene practices.  For those who are keeping an eagle eye do you rebuke other passengers who do not meet your standards of cleanliness?

 

It's a cruise ship. You are crammed on to the boat with thousands of other people wiping their hands everywhere.  Unless you are donning rubber gloves and a bio suit there isn't any guaranteed way to avoid germs.    

 

 


I have no problem reminding someone who is leaving a restroom directly from a stall without washing their hands that they "forgot something."

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3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

After you wash your hands with soap and water and get them clean you have to shut the faucet which is not clean.

On my last cruise I only went to a public restroom twice ,it was a 14 day cruise.

i bring 3-5 bottles of Purell from home.


I leave the water running if the faucet isn't an automatic one and turn it off with a papertowel.  Dispose of that one and grab another to dry my hands.  Problem solved.

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