Coronavirus - Should we be worried?

[HIGHHorse]

I keep seeing people freaking out all over the place over it. I feel like it is just a standard flu with a twist and the people who should be concerned are those with weakened immune systems. So like people who have AIDs, people who recently got vaccinated, people getting treated with chemo, and people who are on medication that is known for weakening the immune system. 

I am not worried myself. I am in the US by the way, for those that don't know. Should we be worried?

[SNAK3S]

If you take care of your body, you shouldn't be worried.

I, do not do this... Not as well as I should anyways. We have not had any case of someone being sick with it in my state, yet anyways. I know there were several cases in California though which would be bad if someone homeless caught it. It would spread like wildfire between them. 

[Parzival]

Yes...

...you should be.

[DiamondDave]

I keep seeing the Umbrella Corp meme floating around and I was thinking the same thing as Parzival. What if this turns into a real like zombie issue? WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!

[Parzival]

5 hours ago, DiamondDave said:

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!

You won't be for long. 🤣

Edited February 1, 2020 by Parzival

[YellowDragon]

I could picture all the people obsessed with zombies losing it with "I told you so!" and then you have the ones who have "shelters" with stocked up food in their basements we all think are crazy, we'll be hitting them up first. lol

[Parzival]

3 hours ago, YellowDragon said:

I could picture all the people obsessed with zombies losing it with "I told you so!" and then you have the ones who have "shelters" with stocked up food in their basements we all think are crazy, we'll be hitting them up first. lol

To paraphrase Mad Max, "And then your shelter was raided."

[shiverz]

I never watch the news but my mother did tell me that they said they keep finding new cases in the US but it is not highly contagious over here so it is nothing to worry about. She only mentioned it to me when I was there because I brought up my brother (who works at a hospital). She panics over everything and she isn't panicking. 

[SageNinja]

They need to just get in handled in China because that is where it is the biggest threat. Their government is acting like it ain't a big deal but want to get mad over travel bans. Get your crap together and stop letting people eat animals that commonly eat infected or poisonous food. I mean people there eat raw snake and bat ffs.

[DylBandit]

Yes, you should be worried. Start building that underground bunker!

[CrabApples]

If it is factual and they did get this from eating bad food, isn't it more likely to infect people who have also been eating said food vs those who haven't?

I am no doctor or mad scientist here so I really don't know how this stuff works but thinking back to mad cow disease, you had to actually eat the cow to have the highest risk of death, right?

[liquidfire]

*Virus spreads in China*

American: "I think now's a good time to take a trip to China!"

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/02/07/coronavirus-american-citizen-china-death-toll-cases/4699514002/

I didn't read the details as to why he went but ffs are you really that stupid to risk it?

[HIGHHorse]

Since posting this, I actually researched it. The coronavirus in and of itself is one of the most common viruses because it can be spread from animal to animal, animal to human, and human to human. What happened in China is just a hardier version but it has a 98% survival rate. Also, those who are older or have a weakened immune system are the ones who should be worried. Everyone else should be fine.

[SNAK3S]

On 2/10/2020 at 7:24 PM, HIGHHorse said:

Since posting this, I actually researched it. The coronavirus in and of itself is one of the most common viruses because it can be spread from animal to animal, animal to human, and human to human. What happened in China is just a hardier version but it has a 98% survival rate. Also, those who are older or have a weakened immune system are the ones who should be worried. Everyone else should be fine.

That actually makes more sense then what everyone has been saying. People are acting like this is the next black plague or something. 

[DiamondDave]

On 2/1/2020 at 5:22 AM, Parzival said:

You won't be for long. 🤣

LOL just gotta hope we go out fast. Can't imagine being chewed to death by my neighbors who hate my dog. They's likely take their time!

[xsugarskull]

The whole state of panic the media puts people in should be against the law. Like I seen people acting like complete idiots over this virus. Some people even were being racist against Chinese immigrants and visitors over it. Like what the hell is wrong with people?

[Mr. Bohannon]

It has been proven that the cornavirus originated in Tumbleweed and then spread across the rest of the map, thus the reason we no longer have animals .... 😂

[Kean_1]

19 hours ago, xsugarskull said:

The whole state of panic the media puts people in should be against the law. Like I seen people acting like complete idiots over this virus. Some people even were being racist against Chinese immigrants and visitors over it. Like what the hell is wrong with people?

.....and funny enough, it's the same media taking those relatively isolated incidents of "racism" and making it seem widespread so then it becomes more of an issue in people's minds.  ......fuel on the fire.

As for the virus, yes, the media plays their part in making people panic but it also should be of concern to people.   It's not necessarily the mortality rate of the virus itself but the resulting complications it can cause based on a myriad of other individual factors.  Yes, the elderly are more susceptible but so are a lot of other people with lung problems (e.g. history of pneumonia, asthma, etc.),  folks that are or have been recently ill, etc.  For those with a compromised immune system, it doesn't necessarily mean having AIDS or some severe disease, cancer, etc.  

Also, seemingly healthy folks can die from complications of viruses like pneumonia.  My pulmonologist lost his friend who died from that after getting the flu.  Very athletic and very healthy otherwise.  .....stuff happens.  

This season is already particularly bad flu season.  I've been warned that that there are now two flus to watch out for (I already got one last year and had pneumonia myself).  I can't afford to get another and certainly not something like this new coronavirus which seems to target people's respiratory systems (it had been compared to SARS which is something no one should simply shrug off).  

.....btw, the doctor who initially raised awareness of this new virus died from it last week.  .....he was just 34 years old.

This virus is spreading like wildfire over in China and cases are popping over here on the west coast.  Personally, I'm glad the U.S. government with agencies like the CDC are taking the spread seriously and doing what they can to minimize the exposure of our citizens.  

.....so no, I don't think it's being blown out of proportion in that sense but of course, the media will always try to sensationalize stories to make things sound worse than they really are.  In short, I wouldn't just shrug this off but folks should use a little common sense to cut through the media BS.  

[YellowDragon]

I read that people who have recently been vaccinated for anything need to be careful too. This is because vaccines temporarily weaken the immune system so getting a virus like this can lead to complications and a longer recovery. 

A lot of people are just drawn to panic when they see others doing it. Can't blame the media for all of it. It is their job to inform us. Whether they get it right or wrong is another story. 

[Jammin Jim]

There is nothing wrong with spreading awareness of the issue but people these days tend to be high strung and overact over the smallest things. I haven't seen much on it the past week so hopefully it is dying off.

[Kean_1]

 

[Enoch]

Almost 3,000 people die in car accidents per year in the US. Almost 200,000 people die per year in American hospitals due to nosocomial infections and human error. So far this flu season we’ve had around 16,000 deaths. 
 

Coronavirus has killed just 66 people in the US. The panic over this “outbreak” is going to do more harm than the virus itself. And the media is loving every second of it. 

[Kean_1]

4 hours ago, Enoch said:

Coronavirus has killed just 66 people in the US. The panic over this “outbreak” is going to do more harm than the virus itself. And the media is loving every second of it. 

.....and there are now over 174,000 confirmed cases worldwide and over 6,700 deaths linked to COVID-19.

I understand folks trying to put things in perspective in regard to deaths caused by other means, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this new virus is a real threat to be taken seriously.  

If the measures the U.S. and other countries / localities are taking now were to be dismissed, the impact would be far greater along with the consequences.

The spread really just started to make an impact in January within China and then the rest of the world by Feb. .....we're still in March.  If the threat had been ignored, can you imagine how much worse it would be now especially with how easily this virus appears to spread?   ....how about during the whole flu season or over the course of a year?

I'm not saying there isn't senseless panic or a level of media hype over all this because there most certainly is.   ....but I wouldn't dismiss the current impact nor the potential harm this virus could do if the measures we've seen were not being taken.  

A lot of people are idiots when it comes to the spread of the flu, etc. in any given year. They just don't care or realize how their carelessness impacts their coworkers, customers, relatives, close family members, other children, fellow travelers, etc.  I'm glad you're posting deaths from the flu in general because IMO, I don't think it gets enough attention.  ......I just had influenza B and pneumonia in Dec / Jan which wasn't fun at all. Luckily my pulmonologist got me sorted out.

The impact of these measures here in the U.S. have already affected our family and community but I understand it as do many in our city.  It sucks but hopefully our businesses will pull through and can get back to normal sooner rather than later.

 

[Foxtrot]

From what I gather, the severe form of Coronavirus affects about 14% of people it infects.  Even though the risk for healthy people is low, we still want to prevent any chance of the 14% people being infected, so we all need to be careful about personal hygiene and getting close to others to help protect the vulnerable.

[Enoch]

7 hours ago, Kean_1 said:

.....and there are now over 174,000 confirmed cases worldwide and over 6,700 deaths linked to COVID-19.

I understand folks trying to put things in perspective in regard to deaths caused by other means, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this new virus is a real threat to be taken seriously.  

If the measures the U.S. and other countries / localities are taking now were to be dismissed, the impact would be far greater along with the consequences.

The spread really just started to make an impact in January within China and then the rest of the world by Feb. .....we're still in March.  If the threat had been ignored, can you imagine how much worse it would be now especially with how easily this virus appears to spread?   ....how about during the whole flu season or over the course of a year?

I'm not saying there isn't senseless panic or a level of media hype over all this because there most certainly is.   ....but I wouldn't dismiss the current impact nor the potential harm this virus could do if the measures we've seen were not being taken.  

A lot of people are idiots when it comes to the spread of the flu, etc. in any given year. They just don't care or realize how their carelessness impacts their coworkers, customers, relatives, close family members, other children, fellow travelers, etc.  I'm glad you're posting deaths from the flu in general because IMO, I don't think it gets enough attention.  ......I just had influenza B and pneumonia in Dec / Jan which wasn't fun at all. Luckily my pulmonologist got me sorted out.

The impact of these measures here in the U.S. have already affected our family and community but I understand it as do many in our city.  It sucks but hopefully our businesses will pull through and can get back to normal sooner rather than later.

 

I’m not saying don’t take precautions, all I’m saying is we should keep this in perspective. The media isn’t helping in that regard at all. People are panic-buying sh*t left and right. Me and my wife just went grocery shopping and there was barely any meat or toiletries or cleaning supplies. It’s stupid, panicky people who can’t think straight that are putting a strain on everyone else. 
 

I’m a nurse. Take plenty of Vitamin D, C and Zinc to boost your immune system and wash your hands. You’re more likely to die of the flu or a car accident than the Coronavirus.

What this outbreak has taught me is that people are more prone to panic than I originally thought and I need to get on the road to self-sufficiency as soon as possible. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Enoch

[Kean_1]

39 minutes ago, Enoch said:

I’m not saying don’t take precautions, all I’m saying is we should keep this in perspective. The media isn’t helping in that regard at all. People are panic-buying sh*t left and right. Me and my wife just went grocery shopping and there was barely any meat or toiletries or cleaning supplies. It’s stupid, panicky people who can’t think straight that are putting a strain on everyone else. 

I get it and I agree.  Some people panic in situations like this and then stock up on items they really don't need to.  Unfortunately, that forces the hand of more rational folks to buy additional items they may need out of fear those items may not be available for a while. .....kind of a domino effect.  We had Costco deliver to us since it was that time and we really didn't want to go anywhere near that place.  Luckily, the grocery store also had plenty of meats and produce they stocked back up on the next day so no worries there.  I really don't think there will be a problem in that regard especially as stores place limitations on certain items.  ....toilet paper on the other hand, don't get me started.   

One cool thing is that beer, wine and booze seem unaffected which is great. 

Luckily, we already prepare for stuff like natural disasters, service interruptions, etc.  in my house so we have plenty of food for weeks if needed.  .....but I prefer not to tap into that since it's quite expensive so we have frozen items, etc. that will sustain us for a long time.  

 

39 minutes ago, Enoch said:

I’m a nurse. Take plenty of Vitamin D, C and Zinc to boost your immune system and wash your hands. You’re more likely to die of the flu or a car accident than the Coronavirus.

What this outbreak has taught me is that people are more prone to panic than I originally thought and I need to get on the road to self-sufficiency as soon as possible. 

I would just clarify that I believe the concern over the potential is warranted IMO.  I also think (generally speaking) the steps and recommendations coming from our government at the direction of the experts is justified.   The real problem will come from those that don;t take this thing seriously enough in my honest opinion.  .....but we need to approach this all with a degree of rationality and calm.  

As for the media and those individuals who decide to freak out, what can I say.  It's gonna happen.  

[NF85]

Based on what i have read thouse few who had the full C-19 infection and recovered from it, it is anything but a "flu with a twist". It is some serious sh*t and it will be worse for you the older you are.

Yes the flu kills alot of humans on a yearly basis but atleast there we have a tool and the immun system knows about the sh*t. C-19 has no tool yet and it will take 2 years untill we get a world wide one and the immun system has never seen it before.

delaying the infection over time so that we all can get infected by a mild C-19, sounds as the best option to me. The immun system cant get to work if it has nothing to work on and we cant be in global isolation for 2 years...

So get your vitamins (ABCD) and wash thouse hands!

 

[Parzival]

State-wide stay-at-home order went into effect at midnight this morning for California. All non-essential businesses are closing. Or rather, most. GameStop is refusing to close and considers itself an essential retailer, telling any law enforcement agencies to defer to corporate headquarters. At least I'll still get that copy of Far Cry 5 I ordered this morning. 😆

[Kean_1]

33 minutes ago, Parzival said:

State-wide stay-at-home order went into effect at midnight this morning for California. All non-essential businesses are closing. Or rather, most. GameStop is refusing to close and considers itself an essential retailer, telling any law enforcement agencies to defer to corporate headquarters. At least I'll still get that copy of Far Cry 5 I ordered this morning. 😆

I saw that news yesterday about Gamestop trying to justify that they are an essential business in a situation like this.  .....you can't make this stuff up.

They say they "also offer a wide array of products and devices that are important to facilitate remote work, distance learning, and virtual connectivity" which is justification for them keeping stores open.  They also say they encourage customers to use their online store.  ......so why not just shut down the B&M locations and offer the online option?  

Personally, I don't know anyone who goes to Gamestop for other needs other than gaming but who knows.  I order online or in a "need it now" situation I'll use a retailer like Best Buy or maybe even Target's electronic section for cables, a modem, ext drives, etc.  ......assuming companies who have their employees working from home don't already supply them with the things they need.

IMO, this is just them trying not to lose money and maybe even trying to take advantage of the situation by making more.  They've already caught a lot of heat though so we'll see if they keep this foolishness up for much longer.

https://www.gamestop.com/preventive-measures.html

[Parzival]

Personally, I figure I'm at less risk going to GameStop for a video game or other related materials than I would be going to an "essential" retailer like Walmart where there would be a lot more people, though.