[Tellurian]

coronaviruses have been demonstrated able to spread via a synapse-connected route to the medullary cardiorespiratory center from the mechano- and chemoreceptors in the lung

Could flooding the lungs with fluid disable these "mechano- and chemoreceptors in the lung", and that alone interrupts the breathing reflex? Or are they claiming, or suspecting, that the infection that somehow reached the brain stops the breathing reflex?

Reminds me of the stories of birds dropping out of the sky, suddenly dead. I guess that's what has happened to some in China ... people just suddenly drop dead.

[21twelve]

“Could flooding the lungs with fluid disable these “mechano- and chemoreceptors in the lung”...”

That sounds like what the body is naturally trying to do - pneumonia.