Coronavirus

[Taikuri]

The level of panic going on right now is embarrassing. People are so dumb.

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself so I'm not too worried about myself but I'm more worried about my mother (who is 64) would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

[HomoSapien]

The level of panic going on right now is embarrassing. People are so dumb.

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself but I'm more worried about my mother who is 64 would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

That's the point, isn't it. People are sort of acting as if our older population is insignificant. The CDC just issued a warning to anyone over 60.

Older Americans, especially those with underlying health conditions, should stockpile supplies and avoid unnecessary travel, a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday.

"As the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the U.S. will at some point in time this year or next be exposed to this virus, and there’s a good chance many will become sick," Messonnier said. "The reason to stock up now is to kind of stick close to home."

Messonnier said global data from Japan and South Korea show that people younger than 60 generally have better outcomes if they catch the virus.

However, people older than 60 are at higher risk for serious illness, especially if they have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or lung disease, Messonnier said.

Younger people with underlying health problems are also at risk, but older people with health problems are the most vulnerable.

So what exactly is the appropriate response? Seems like what people are doing, is basically the right thing. Stocking up and limiting outside exposure as much as they can.

[Payt10]

The level of panic going on right now is embarrassing. People are so dumb.

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself so I'm not too worried about myself but I'm more worried about my mother (who is 64) would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

We should take necessary precautions, but the media is treating this like it's the second coming of the bubonic plague. Nobody needs to go out and stock up on toilet paper or gas to survive this. Just be reasonable. I don't remember H1N1 being treated this way.

[HomoSapien]

The level of panic going on right now is embarrassing. People are so dumb.

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself so I'm not too worried about myself but I'm more worried about my mother (who is 64) would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

We should take necessary precautions, but the media is treating this like it's the second coming of the bubonic plague. Nobody needs to go out and stock up on toilet paper or gas to survive this. Just be reasonable.

You're really underselling this. Italy literally just locked down its entire country. When was the last time a Democratic country took such measures?

Entering this past weekend, Italy had imposed relatively minor movement restrictions — applying to 11 small towns with a total of 50,000 people — near the epicenter of the country’s outbreak. Then, early Sunday, Italy took its first drastic move against the virus, with Conte announcing a plan to lock down areas around the virus’s epicenter in the north, with travel restrictions applying to 16 million people.

It is now cutting off its citizens, no matter where they live, from most kinds of travel, including to other countries and from one region to the other.

There is a sense in Italy that the country is facing its greatest emergency since World War II. In recent days, the number of people to fall ill has accelerated, with active cases reaching nearly 8,000. In less than three weeks, 463 people have died.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/09/coronavirus-live-updates/

[DuckIII]

The level of panic going on right now is embarrassing. People are so dumb.

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself so I'm not too worried about myself but I'm more worried about my mother (who is 64) would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

We should take necessary precautions, but the media is treating this like it's the second coming of the bubonic plague. Nobody needs to go out and stock up on toilet paper or gas to survive this. Just be reasonable. I don't remember H1N1 being treated this way.

The media is absolutely not acting like that, generally. Though there is no accounting for the random panic salesman.

[AKfanatic]

There’s a lot of “the media is creating panic” talk going around... many members of a certain political base are continually accusing the media of purposely doing so in attempt to harm the economy and the current president.... these theories are absurd and ignore how entire nations are quarantining themselves.

Panic caused by the media, at this point, is far less dangerous than the playing down of dangers by those that sit at the highest offices in the country. The lack of any worry has led, and will lead, to things becoming much worse.

[dice]

there is no reason to believe that we're going to have to hunker down in our homes and not be able to go out for toiletries

There are plenty of countries with quarantined cities right now. How a quarantine would impact your ability to get toiletries likely differs place-by-place.

of course. i'm referring to places like Chicago where there's no hint of a quarantine on the horizon

[suckfish]

There are like 300 deaths in just one region of Italy. The first case of the virus in Italy was 5 weeks ago. As Ron Burgundy would say, 'Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast'.

I also hate the 'oh it's fine unless you are old or have a compromised immune system' thing as well. That accounts for a lot of people in the world, a few who make up a circle of very important people in my personal life.

The panic buying of supplies is kind of ridiculous I will agree. Unless you are in China or Italy or somewhere where it has truly broken out you don't really need to be doing that.

It needs to be respected though.

[dice]

over the past decade in the USA there have been an average of 450,000 ANNUAL hospitalizations and 37,500 ANNUAL deaths...from garden variety flu

[dice]

white house official has leaked to the press that a CDC recommendation that seniors not fly on airplanes was nixed by the trump administration:

https://apnews.com/921ad7f1f08d7634bf681ba785faf269

[Dresden]

The level of panic going on right now is embarrassing. People are so dumb.

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself so I'm not too worried about myself but I'm more worried about my mother (who is 64) would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

We should take necessary precautions, but the media is treating this like it's the second coming of the bubonic plague. Nobody needs to go out and stock up on toilet paper or gas to survive this. Just be reasonable. I don't remember H1N1 being treated this way.

I think the media has been doing a pretty good job of reporting about it. They aren't telling people to go out and horde toilet paper or gas. They are trying as much as possible to get information from reliable sources, like people at the CDC, NIH, or public health professionals. At least at the major news outlets. Not so sure what local outlets are saying about it.

At the same time, there has been a lot of coverage on this, but that's reasonable, given that every day there are new developments, and people want to know what is happening- where it has spread to, how many have died, etc., etc.

[Dresden]

The latest bit of news I've heard is that pro sports leagues are now preparing for the possibility of playing games in front of empty stadiums. That would be bizarre. Teams all fly charters now, so the travel aspect wouldn't be a problem I suppose.

[DuckIII]

white house official has leaked to the press that a CDC recommendation that seniors not fly on airplanes was nixed by the trump administration:

https://apnews.com/921ad7f1f08d7634bf681ba785faf269

Admittedly I am ignorant of how the CDC is governed. So how is it that any political group has control over the way the CDC is permitted to tell the public about, you know, diseases.

[MAQ]

there is no reason to believe that we're going to have to hunker down in our homes and not be able to go out for toiletries

There are plenty of countries with quarantined cities right now. How a quarantine would impact your ability to get toiletries likely differs place-by-place.

of course. i'm referring to places like Chicago where there's no hint of a quarantine on the horizon

Read Pritzker is taking steps to declare a state of emergency. I know one was declared in NY and there is no quarantine as of yet, but I'm not sure how much further down the horizon one really is.

I'm going to see my mother this week. Make sure she has what is needed. But I know she won't let this stop her from doing what she wants.

This sucks.

[Taikuri]

Well it is a disease that we have never seen before. The unknown is the scary part. It is worse than it's relative disease SARS, even though SARS had a higher death rate. Corona seems to spread easier.

I would take it seriously and not like play it down or something. I'm not that old myself so I'm not too worried about myself but I'm more worried about my mother (who is 64) would catch it from me or from someone else. She is one of those who don't take the disease very seriously unfortunately.

We should take necessary precautions, but the media is treating this like it's the second coming of the bubonic plague. Nobody needs to go out and stock up on toilet paper or gas to survive this. Just be reasonable.

You're really underselling this. Italy literally just locked down its entire country. When was the last time a Democratic country took such measures?

Indeed. I heard that 15 million people are quarantined in Italy. Italy has stopped every professional sport from happening in their country as of yesterday I believe. After some time it might get similar elsewhere. Germany and Austria seem to be the next likely candidates in the "western world" where corona really starts to spread the same way as in Italy. In Sweden they had the first case where the source can't be traced anymore and it's totally out in the dark how this person got infected. Before that they were able to trace every infection and each was linked to Italy some in one way or another.

I'm from Finland myself and nothing very serious has happened here so far. We have 29 infections and 10 new infections yesterday alone. So it's increasing here too. Nobody died yet. One school I walk by every day has 60 people quarantined.

[madvillian]

Taikuri you have nailed it and hopefully the action by Italy and what I'm seeing here in Seattle helps "nip this in the bud" as much as possible. Older folks, even (gasp) older rich folks otherwise healthy are at serious risk here.

For those at risk it's very smart to self quarantine until this (with prudence) blows over in a few months. Despite that it's likely we are going to see some pretty significant death and stress on the healthcare system.

[dice]

white house official has leaked to the press that a CDC recommendation that seniors not fly on airplanes was nixed by the trump administration:

https://apnews.com/921ad7f1f08d7634bf681ba785faf269

Admittedly I am ignorant of how the CDC is governed. So how is it that any political group has control over the way the CDC is permitted to tell the public about, you know, diseases.

not sure how common it is in normal times...but these are not normal times. politics can infect any government organization given that there are political appointees and administrations can fire people who don't toe the line. one more example:

https://time.com/5075265/epa-website-climate-change-censorship/

[dice]

There are plenty of countries with quarantined cities right now. How a quarantine would impact your ability to get toiletries likely differs place-by-place.

of course. i'm referring to places like Chicago where there's no hint of a quarantine on the horizon

Read Pritzker is taking steps to declare a state of emergency. I know one was declared in NY and there is no quarantine as of yet, but I'm not sure how much further down the horizon one really is.

I'm going to see my mother this week. Make sure she has what is needed. But I know she won't let this stop her from doing what she wants.

This sucks.

the state of illinois is in bad shape financially. declaring a state of emergency is a way to get free federal funding

again, it doesn't make much sense to be panicked about coronavirus if you're not also panicked about the flu, which is at this point still far easier to contract. 37,500 annual flu deaths in this country. death toll WORLDWIDE from coronavirus? 4000

[SimonFish]

Some Hongkongers have made a 3-ish minutes video in 18 languages on how to prevent coronavirus. Those who are interested may go to take a look:

https://2019ncov.health/info/


Sent from my [device_name] using [url]RealGM mobile app[/url]

[robert76]

Taikuri you have nailed it and hopefully the action by Italy and what I'm seeing here in Seattle helps "nip this in the bud" as much as possible. Older folks, even (gasp) older rich folks otherwise healthy are at serious risk here.

For those at risk it's very smart to self quarantine until this (with prudence) blows over in a few months. Despite that it's likely we are going to see some pretty significant death and stress on the healthcare system.

Unfortunately, they announced the quarantine beforehand and many people fled the area, so there are probably people carrying the virus that left the quarantined area. I'm from Romania and there are lots of Romanians working in Italy, and now they're coming home, despite pleads from the government to stay put. Schools are closed here, games are played without spectators. Still, one or two new cases appear every day. No deaths yet.