Novel Coronavirus COVID-19

[RecentChange]

1 minute ago, Woggle said:

Maybe I need to stop constantly reading news about it. I am normally not a paranoid person like this but it does have me worried.

Seriously, you have boarded the crazy train. Turn off cable news. They do everything they can to start panic, to inflict emotion so you will tune in.

Coronavirus is not the end of the western world, it's not the end of your life.

Its a flu virus with a 2% mortality rate that like many flue viruses, tends to affect the elderly and medically comprised. 

I know people in the medical field, who are here in the bay area with me, where we do have positive cases and no one is freaking out.

You know what weakens immune systems? Stress. So calm the F down. Worrying about dying from coronavirus when you aren't an elderly person in Wuhan or in a particular skilled nursing facility in Washington is crazy talk

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

Just now, RecentChange said:

 Turn off cable news. They do everything they can to start panic, to inflict emotion so you will tune in.

 

And it's clearly working! 

[Woggle]

You are right and I can't argue with any of it. Both of us are kind of losing it and that is because we constantly check the local websites every five minutes to see if it has made it to our area. 

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

5 minutes ago, Woggle said:

You are right and I can't argue with any of it. Both of us are kind of losing it and that is because we constantly check the local websites every five minutes to see if it has made it to our area. 

Literally got this text message from my sis 2 hours ago:  

Watched and read too much COVID 19 news today

Anxiety. I don’t know how people who watched so much news as mom Don’t just implode

(Also, 30 minutes ago, an ambulance had to be called for her husband whose "bear spray" accidentally went off in his backpack.....so....there are other things that can happen to you besides this dumb virus lol....)

[gaius]

I'm concerned about other people, older folks especially, they deal with enough indignity already without having to deal with an especially bad case of pneumonia. But personally on some level I would enjoy battling the virus and expelling it from my body. Just another defeated competitor.

If coronaviruses do become a more regular thing like the flu getting this strain and overcoming it might be beneficial for your long term immunity. Considering so far it's one of the least lethal strains to breakout it seems like a good one to start with.

[gaius]

On 3/3/2020 at 12:50 PM, Libby1 said:

I saw something today about new cases in China (but outside Wuhan) being attributed to Italy.

Being able to build a new hospital in a matter of days must have helped a lot.  When you look at other places where there's been a big outbreak, the difference in fatality rates is quite striking.  For instance, the fatality rate so far has been less than 1% in South Korea, but more than 3% in Italy.  South Korea has around 12 hospital beds per 1000 people whereas Italy has about 3 per 1000 (source, OECD...figures last updated in 2017).  

Indeed. Apparently a big part of Italy's fatality rate also involves their population being so old compared to other countries. A whole lot of cases in South Korea were linked to one particular church. It would be interesting to see the age break down of the people infected there to see if if it skews younger, which might explain the low mortality 

There's also news from China that they've discovered 2 different strains of this coronavirus in circulation. One much more lethal than the other. If Italy got the bad one and South Korea the gentler one that could also explain things.

 

[major_merrick]

2 hours ago, basil67 said:

We could all go and live with @major_merrick   I always thought she'd be handy to have around during a disaster.

1 hour ago, RecentChange said:

"Prepper" cults etc, aren't stock piling weapons and supplies to support the masses - they have weapons to keep anyone that may want their supplies at bey. 

I don't consider our family to be "preppers."  We just choose to live in a less-vulnerable manner than other folks.  Peace of mind for daily life....not for some future apocalyptic scenario.  Having stuff on hand, living away from the masses...it just makes life's little bumps (like this one) a bit less uncomfortable. 

I'm kind of torn on what to do about the virus.  My logical side tells me that it doesn't seem to be spreading in the US, and the mortality rate is pretty low.  The likelihood of getting it right now AND suffering consequences is far less than the risk of getting bit by a snake in my yard.  BUT the crazy overprotective mommy side of me wants to bolt the doors shut, disinfect everything, and filter the air! 

Right now, I just try to stay away from too much news.  It doesn't help that my MIL is a doctor and keeps emailing my husband updates about it every 2 hours (not an exaggeration.)  Much of the time, I'm more SICK of it than I am worried.  But with my husband gone on a business trip the next few days, I'll probably worry a bit more. 

 

[gaius]

On 3/3/2020 at 11:12 AM, pepperbird said:

Making the tests accessible makes so much sense, but I wonder if, to help prevent crowd from spreading the disease, would it make more sense to test people in their own homes? at least, while the number being tested are low enough to keep it feasible.

Something I'm expecting to see is cases that look like the virus but are something else. Until these tests can be done, it's going to be hard to really tell the extent of the virus's spread.

I think that's actually a wonderful idea. They should probably be testing anyone and everyone who wants one at this point. But it would be nice to also have isolation centers people can use to try and prevent infection of their loved ones. Without having to pay the hospital bill.

I actually started a new job less than a month ago and my insurance hasn't kicked in yet. I probably wouldn't flush thousands of dollars down the toilet getting checked out if I developed symptoms tomorrow. And I'm sure many others feel the same way.

[SincereOnlineGuy]

Forget water, what if we run out of plastic  to bottle all the water people want to buy?

 

I read a story where some fool predicted 70% of everyone will get coronavirus, and then stated that it is "already 10 times worse than SARS".

 

But then I looked up SARS data for U.S.A. ...   

 

U.S. cases:     27

 

deaths       0

 

 

(yawn)

 

Now that somebody (in her 80's, in California, who had recently been on a cruise ship) has finally succumbed to coronavirus in The Americas and outside of the Bermuda triangle of coronavirus within one city in Washington State, that gives license to all for complete and irrational panic.

 

Meanwhile, Seattle's county announced "10 new cases" of coronavirus on Wednesday before going on to say   "9 of those were connected to the original retirement home".

 

If this were anywhere near to the pandemic so many are expecting, it would be randomly distributed among everybody like coupons in the weekly mail.

 

Three days ago, Hong Kong had 98 cases recorded.   Now, they have 105.

 

Three days ago, Singapore had 106 cases recorded.  Now, they have 110.   (and it's not because everyone in Singapore who could possibly get it, already has it)

 

(those being two densely populated areas, for comparison)

 

You'd probably be in worse shape if 200-deep in the checkout line at Costco than you will ever be with regard to the coronavirus.

[Ruby Slippers]

I was just telling my guy that my parents have guns and ammo, so if we need to stay with them and protect the supplies from looters, we're all good

[contel3]

I haven't read most of the posts, but I wouldn't worry too much about stocking up…..maybe the basics like rice or pasta, water if you're in a desertic area….desinfectant...the rest is not gonna dry up any time soon. 

I have decided to stop reading the news. It's either full on panic, or people telling others to calm down, live your life and not be paranoid. The first is making me anxious, the second is pissing me off…. Like I am supposed to stay at home to "protect the older population from getting infected" while some dude twice my age is partying it up and having a good time.  

[Libby1]

On 3/4/2020 at 12:22 AM, RecentChange said:

And I can't for the life of me understand why people are stocking up on toilet paper and water.... Do they think the municipal water is going to get contaminated or shut off?? Why toilet paper? Why is that a priority? Just nuts. 

I was thinking "that's a bit rough...loo roll is a basic necessity nobody wants to run out of".  I usually walk to the shop, and loo roll is a pain to carry - so I only tend to buy it when I'm driving to do a bigger shop.  But to me, stocking up = buying a multipack of 9 for two people.  I've bought 2 of those over the past couple of weeks just in case (especially as I'll tend to use loo roll as a tissue when I catch a cold)

But after reading your post I looked it up and I saw the pictures.  People with  shopping trolleys (carts?) filled with massive multipacks of what seem to be dozens of loo rolls.  I suppose it's always possible that they have huge families.  If somebody has 6 or 7 kids and the whole family tends to be wasteful I suppose they'll soon work their way through one of those huge multipacks.  I've heard, though , of some people hoping to sell them at inflated prices on ebay.  I mean really, if you've run out of loo roll you can't afford to wait for a delivery of massively overpriced loo roll from some hoarder who's getting excited about making a few extra quid out of desperate people while virus control measures are in place.  You're just going to improvise with what's available.

I suspect the main reason loo roll has flown off the shelves is that it's such a bulky item (especially these massive multipacks of 32 rolls) that you don't get many of them per shelf...and it only takes a few more people than usual who've decided "best make sure I've got a decent stock" for shelves to empty rapidly.  Supermarkets don't carry a high inventory of them, due to them being both bulky and easily squashed, so they tend to replenish their stock little and often.  I guess people will have seen shelves emptying and have a kneejerk panic response.  

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Libby1

[Redhead14]

10 hours ago, Woggle said:

This is true but most preppers don't really think long term. They panic. If society does collapse the people who know how to hunt, grow food and live off the land will be the ones who do the best. Us city dwellers would be up a creek.

The "preppers" who aren't thinking long-term are not really preppers -- they are panicky, irrational hoarders.  True preppers have a long-term plan, have been at educating themselves at least about survival, etc. 

The people who are buying up all the water now are being irrational.  It's too late to "prep" for a pandemic that's happening now anyway   If they wanted to be ahead of the game, they should have been "prepping" years ago.

This may be a little bit of a wake up call though.  People have been living with their heads in the sand and taking everything for granted for so long.  It all could go away very quickly and without notice/by surprise.  The fact is that it's probably inevitable that a SHTF scenario will go down somewhere along the line.  Whether it's our lifetime or the next.  Live your life, love your loved ones and show them everyday and be nicer to one another.  You may need them some day.

 

[NerdGoneWild]

Amazon instructed all 50,000 employees in Seattle to work from home until the end of the month after one employee came down with the virus.

We have been instructed to work from home if we have the slightest hint of illness.  Also, sick time will be covered even if you don't have any saved.

Woggle, why are you panicking? Are you elderly and in poor health? Are you unable to reduce your contact with other people? Just use common sense. Avoid crowds. Wash your hands frequently if you go outside. Clean cross-contamination sources like your cell phone, with alcohol. 

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by NerdGoneWild

[NerdGoneWild]

3 hours ago, contel3 said:

I have decided to stop reading the news. It's either full on panic, 

Where? I haven't seen any panic on TV. I see a lot of republicans accusing people of panicking because the stock market was crashing. But that was due to investors anticipation of supply chain interruptions, which certainly will happen. 

The ONLY panic I've seen is from stock investors. 

Edited March 5, 2020 by NerdGoneWild

[gaius]

I'm not sure why being aware and slightly more cautious than normal but not feeling like you're about to be run over my a Mack truck is so difficult for a lot people. Maybe the lack of genuine hardship nowadays has caused inability to rationally deal with even the slightest ripple. 

When you have people who don't really pay attention, or are dismissive, like the Iranians, the marathon runner in Italy who's now responsible for thousands of infections and dozens of deaths, or SincereOnlineGuy, that's when you start having problems. There's a risk factor there that people need to understand and be aware of. Be aware but get a grip.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

1 hour ago, NerdGoneWild said:

Amazon instructed all 50,000 employees in Seattle to work from home until the end of the month after one employee came down with the virus.

 

Guess they don't have a distribution center in Seattle?  All office workers?

[Ellener]

We went through Harvey in Texas and that was as apocalyptic as anything I could imagine in peace time, yet people were orderly, helped each other, and though there were some accident deaths and a lot of grieving for the lost and all the damaged homes we got through it.

Living in much of America now with the endless natural disaster issues I think we are getting better at co-ordinating disaster relief. Katrina was awful, but there was none of that disorganisation and panic after Harvey ( maybe because many of our community here today had come here after Katrina to start over )

The government in the US need to get to grips with the financial realities of life next, that people don't go to work sick for the fun of it, they need the money, and people often can't afford their medical bills because of the excessive profiteering. If businesses close en masse the government needs to reassure people they will be given grace periods to catch up on their bills later. I did hear the Vice President say yesterday that Corona Virus testing has been designated an 'essential service' on all health insurance plans, so it will be covered.

I've fetched in extra water and some acetaminophen(paracetamol), aspirin and cough medicine just because I would not want to go out again if I get sick. But we do this here every year for hurricane season.

For coping with the anxiety I was told make the thoughts into concrete actions, so I wear little bead bracelets ( which I make myself ) which I snap and play with, I quote poems and things like psalm 23 aloud to myself, do some stretches or exercises, write/draw/paint etc etc

 

[Redhead14]

Amazon shut down!  Oh, heavens!  The supply chain is being affected.  How will all the entitled, sheltered people of society get their K cups and Alexa dots during this difficult time?

[carhill]

We may tend to think of Amazon supplying basement dwellers with Skittles and videos to watch but it's much bigger than that, business uses their JIT inventory solutions and many portals on the internet, forums similar to LS among them, use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to present their content to the internet. If AWS went dark due to a problem and no bodies to fix it, a wide swath of the internet, and commerce, would be affected. At the micro level, I've noticed numerous glitches at Amazon's web site in recent days, and my normally one-two day delivery of a typical Prime Pantry box got pushed out to almost a week and that distribution center is in Vacaville, CA, nowhere near WA. That doesn't reflect that the system was out of at least 80% of the stuff I normally order. I didn't note any of the price gouging from third parties that made the news of late, nearly everything I buy is sold by Amazon Services, LLC.

No doubt we'll hit typical death numbers for flu this season, pretty big numbers, and anything from Corona will get piled on top of that. Amazing how many people die here each year just from influenza and related diseases. Those of us who breeze through the cold and flu season likely don't give it a second thought unless working in that industry (medical/care). Hopefully we'll will pay more attention to our health and safety surrounding viruses in general  as the life we save may be our own.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

28 minutes ago, Redhead14 said:

Amazon shut down!  Oh, heavens!  The supply chain is being affected.  How will all the entitled, sheltered people of society get their K cups and Alexa dots during this difficult time?

How does me ordering my Kcups from Amazon make me entitled? I also just placed an order for kitchen trash bags and a leaf blower....I'm entitled?

[Redhead14]

If people are trying to stock up for some kind of apocalyptic scenario now, they are wasting their time.  It's too late for that.  Focus on taking precautions, stocking up necessities for a little while, and not panicking and focus on what's really important.  Don't waste the time panicking.

[Redhead14]

6 minutes ago, CautiouslyOptimistic said:

How does me ordering my Kcups from Amazon make me entitled? I also just placed an order for kitchen trash bags and a leaf blower....I'm entitled?

No offense to K cup users on here   There are people out there who's priorities are a little out of line and haven't experienced having to do without anything ever and/or inconvenienced in anyway and is the reason they are panicky. 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Redhead14

[contel3]

1 hour ago, NerdGoneWild said:

Where? I haven't seen any panic on TV. I see a lot of republicans accusing people of panicking because the stock market was crashing. But that was due to investors anticipation of supply chain interruptions, which certainly will happen. 

The ONLY panic I've seen is from stock investors. 

You're probably in an area that hasn't really been hit yet. We've got several hundered cases (I don't want to disclose my exact location). So people are more tense.

[Fletch Lives]

I don't even know what a K cup is. Maybe I don't want to know?! Don't tell me - my virgin ears! Sometimes ignorance is bliss! Please don't corrupt me anymore, you bad, bad, people you!