SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Yeah, that's why I was comparing to the Spanish flu but I forgot about secondary infections causing so many deaths. What worries me the most about RNA viruses is there are already drug-resistant copies out there, even before the drug is developed. At least that was true with HIV and small molecule inhibitors. Vaccines may be a little different. Judging by the flu vaccine, I guess it will be the same scenario.

The second round of the Spanish flu was very deadly but it didn't last long simply because it was killing its victims before they had chance to spread it. They also had no idea what it was or how to stop it spreading back then.

If this does develop into a more potent strain, there won't be any more asymptomatic cases and it will be easier to spot and contain. At least that's what happened with other similar viruses in the recent past.
 
I work at an international forwarding company, and our business is hugely impacted. Hardly anything is going to or leaving China. We also start to have huge stock problems for IT equipment.

No, I meant they're surviving from the lockdown.

As far as we know this virus could wipe out a large chunk of people. Again, whats the point in preserving the economy? Need to look at the present more than the future.
 
Why are people getting so hysterical about this?

The flu kills thousands every year and we never get this fuss.

For the vast majority of people, you feel a bit shit for a few days, you move on.
Sigh. IF it spreads as much as flu it kills 10-30 times more. It would be nice if it didn't spread as much.
 
Why are people getting so hysterical about this?

The flu kills thousands every year and we never get this fuss.

For the vast majority of people, you feel a bit shit for a few days, you move on.

Fear of the unknown and the media making this seem like a doomsday scenario. We haven't seen much testimony from survivors because they would probably make it seem like a damp squib
 
Sigh. IF it spreads as much as flu it kills 10-30 times more. It would be nice if it didn't spread as much.

I tried explaining this to someone who was trying to claim it was not a problem. They didn't grasp it! There have also been some alarmingly high death rates for people with certain underlying illnesses. Wasn't diabetes something like 7%?
 
I'm more inclined to believe this:

Fear of the unknown and the media making this seem like a doomsday scenario. We haven't seen much testimony from survivors because they would probably make it seem like a damp squib

Than this hysteria:

Sigh. IF it spreads as much as flu it kills 10-30 times more. It would be nice if it didn't spread as much.

They bring out a flu jab in October/November before the 'season' commences, so it should not take that long to produce something t combat this, then everyone can get back to normal.
 
I tried explaining this to someone who was trying to claim it was not a problem. They didn't grasp it! There have also been some alarmingly high death rates for people with certain underlying illnesses. Wasn't diabetes something like 7%?

Mortality increases with age, with the highest mortality among people over 80 years of age(CFR 21.9%). The CFRis higher among males compared to females (4.7% vs. 2.8%). By occupation, patients who reported being retirees had the highest CFRat 8.9%. While patients who reported no comorbid conditions had a CFRof 1.4%, patients with comorbid conditions had much higher rates: 13.2% for those with cardiovascular disease, 9.2% for diabetes, 8.4% for hypertension, 8.0% for chronic respiratory disease, and 7.6% for cancer.

https://www.who.int/docs/default-so...na-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf
 
I'm more inclined to believe this:



Than this hysteria:



They bring out a flu jab in October/November before the 'season' commences, so it should not take that long to produce something t combat this, then everyone can get back to normal.
Oh dear. My post isn't hysteria. For an accountant you don't seem to be very good with numbers. Flu kills about 0,1%, a bit less probably. Corona probably 1-2%, not enough data yet (both probably less, because there are many undiagnosed cases). It is very likely it will be pandemic. What we do not know yet is, how many would be infected in that scenario 10%/30%/60%? Not enough data. But we can do scenario analysis. It might still be contained and it will end up as a side note like previous viruses. Or it might be 20 times worse than flu. I think it makes sense to prepare in sensible ways. I wash my hands more often now and have been short on the stock market since last Friday. No need for panic from anyone of course.
 
Oh dear. My post isn't hysteria. For an accountant you don't seem to be very good with numbers. Flu kills about 0,1%, a bit less probably. Corona probably 1-2%, not enough data yet (both probably less, because there are many undiagnosed cases). It is very likely it will be pandemic. What we do not know yet is, how many would be infected in that scenario 10%/30%/60%? Not enough data. But we can do scenario analysis. It might still be contained and it will end up as a side note like previous viruses. Or it might be 20 times worse than flu. I think it makes sense to prepare in sensible ways. I wash my hands more often now and have been short on the stock market since last Friday. No need for panic from anyone of course.

I think the not enough data yet is the salient bit of this post. I'm going to go against this pandemic assesment and say it will all be gone within 1-2 months once the sun comes out.
 
I'm more inclined to believe this:



Than this hysteria:



They bring out a flu jab in October/November before the 'season' commences, so it should not take that long to produce something t combat this, then everyone can get back to normal.

Dude, he rationalised the problem with a fairly scientific take on it, and you basically said "Nah, I choose to believe it's all just hysteria."
 
I just can't stand overreaction to stuff.

Other than the media, who is really overreacting though? I’d say nation responses have been fairly balanced. It’s not like anyone has totally closed their borders.

In London, life is just going on as normal except I see a couple more people with masks.

And yes there is some overreaction in this thread but isn’t that the same with anything? On the whole, no one is really losing their mind over this yet.

That’s not to say though that appropriate response and precaution shouldn’t be taken.
 
I just can't stand overreaction to stuff.

As there will be with anything. Think of how many people have vulnerable grandparents in this country though of whom they love very much. Pretty sure nobody would want to lose them.
 
i wish people would stop going on about how the flu is more deadly. They don’t put entire cities on lockdown for the flu, and not nearly enough is known about this virus. I do think that the main concern for a lot of people is the potential for it to shut down cheap labour factories in quarantined towns/cities, bringing production to a halt for a lot of big companies.
An awful lot of people are comparing it to flu and have done particularly before we've had much dimensions on the difference in the hopes of trying to understand what we're going to be coping with if it becomes personal.

For myself I'd like people to stop scaremongering whilst making idle guesses. Be a lot more helpful if when pronouncing statements they could back it up with some data or links to firsthand knowledge. Perhaps, but we're all coming to grips with something new aren't we?
 
They don't go out much, tbf.

Not many probably do but I happen to have a grandfather who is 90 years of age who still drives and likes to get out of the house. So there will be a fair few still. Think most will be catching it through family members anyway tbh.
 
Better to overreact to a potential disaster, than playing it down.
Everything will be an overreaction until it becomes uncontrollable, at which point we'll have been negligent. No matter what you decide in such circumstances you're gonna get criticized from one side or another.
 
To think, somewhere in the US, a man by the name of Billy Blaggs is probably dying to tell us how he's currently got it.... for the second time
 
An awful lot of people are comparing it to flu and have done particularly before we've had much dimensions on the difference in the hopes of trying to understand what we're going to be coping with if it becomes personal.

For myself I'd like people to stop scaremongering whilst making idle guesses. Be a lot more helpful if when pronouncing statements they could back it up with some data or links to firsthand knowledge. Perhaps, but we're all coming to grips with something new aren't we?

It is something new, but the spread of min-information and conspiracy propaganda just escalates the situation further than it needs to be when the reality of it is pretty clear. Its a new virus that likely originated from hygiene negligence and the epidemiologists of the world are trying their best to figure out the best way to contain it, which I am sure they eventually will.
 
It is something new, but the spread of min-information and conspiracy propaganda just escalates the situation further than it needs to be when the reality of it is pretty clear. Its a new virus that likely originated from hygiene negligence and the epidemiologists of the world are trying their best to figure out the best way to contain it, which I am sure they eventually will.
Nothing is clear yet. The infection rate, whether you can get it more than once, to what extent it could mutate, how long before a commercial vaccination is viable etc. etc. etc.

Personally Flu could kill me, which is why I always take advantage of being offered an early vaccination before every winter, however every year flu has mutated and likely any vaccination may prove ineffective. Winter appears to be the season when people get the flu the most, we hope Spring or Summer will kill or slow down this new Corona-Virus, however here we've had no Winter, we've had almost no cold weather, most days have been in the late teens or early twenties, in Central Italy that's unheard of and we have a case or two in the region. There's so much we don't know that having a pop at people comparing this to something they understand and some of its traits may help in not contracting it or passing it on, or in fact what to do if we do isn't really necessary. Allow people to speculate for now but if we want to believe any so called facts about Covid-19 then let's see some science eh?
 
@Sassy Colin will get the virus in a month and he'll have very mild symptoms. He will then post on here about now there's nothing to worry about and the seasonal flu is 100 times worse, obviously. All this whilst I'm in a makeshift tent on life support with my lungs riddled by corona with no one by my bedside because everyone I know is already dead. The fecker.
 
First case in Portugal probably here in Azores.
 
Apparently if you don't have insurance, the cost of testing in the US is $3000. Take into account that the vast majority of uninsured are in low paying service jobs where they will be in contact with the public and Americas tradition of guilting employees to come into work... They are fecked.
 
Apparently if you don't have insurance, the cost of testing in the US is $3000. Take into account that the vast majority of uninsured are in low paying service jobs where they will be in contact with the public and Americas tradition of guilting employees to come into work... They are fecked.
I find that bizarre (obviously coming from the UK I have no experience of your situation) because surely it's a Societal issue. Surely it's in the best interests of government and community to test suspect cases?
 
I find that bizarre (obviously coming from the UK I have no experience of your situation) because surely it's a Societal issue. Surely it's in the best interests of government and community to test suspect cases?
But how will they make money?

Won't somebody think of the money?!
 
But how will they make money?

Won't somebody think of the money?!
Oh you wait, it will be in the humanist interests of the US, UK and Nato to send a peacekeeping expedition to the Middle-East as soon as they have a couple of dozen infected.