Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

@themcnoisy 160 confirmed cases.

@themcnoisy US healthcare is dirt though unless you have coin.

WHO predicting a mortality rate of 3.4% could be pretty tragic though.

@KALofKRYPTON And the fact it has potentially prolonged damage from contracting it. Grim times.

@kyleforrester87 We can only go on the stats. If there are carriers who suffer a very mild form of it and don't suffer that's fair enough. But is there? Remember this is not the flu.

@themcnoisy We absolutely can't only go on the available stats, of course they are an important way for professionals to assess and manage the outbreak (one of a number of less than perfect tools available to them) but apparently they are an unfortunate way for the media to whip up hype, too.

@Kidfried - i was there from last tuesday til monday, i think the first covid-19 cases were announced on the nieuws on the sunday evening, if i recall. i spent a good chunk of my 20s in the netherlands, i did postgrad there and some time after, which is when i learned dutch (badly).

@themcnoisy Our incompetent government isn't testing as many people as other countries, so I can almost guarantee that the USA has a LOT more cases of this. If we ever get around to testing in more large cities, I think the number is going to explode.

I’ve always wondered what would happen if a virus or contagion had the easy transmissibility of the common cold, with a long dormant phase before symptoms show up, and also had the severity and virulence of something more deadly. I guess we might just find out.

It’s interesting that viruses, bacteria, and parasites have yet to evolve to this extent though. There are many deadly infections throughout the world and throughout history, but over the thousands of years we’ve yet to have one that is incurable and so virulent that it wipes us out. Tuberculosis, Smallpox, Bubonic Plague, Ebola, HIV, Meningitis, Influenza, Hepatitis, etc, etc. So many different infections exist or have existed but the perfect bug has not evolved yet that will spread easily and be catastrophically deadly to bring in the apocalypse. It’s a testament to human resilience and innovation to control these things, as well as to the amazing immune system we have.

On the subject of Coronavirus, this will hardly be something to cause global havoc on the order of that big Influenza outbreak decades ago or The Black Death back in Middle Ages. That is, unless it mutates.

And after reading comments, I do think it’s important to note that I think the highest risk group for getting Coronavirus is actually the middle class. We don’t live in feudal states anymore, and despite social class inequalities, there is not Classic proletariat / bourgeoisie or nobility / peasant situations where the nobles will stay in their castles to seclude themselves from the infection whilst the serfs all die from Plague. No, actually the lower socioeconomic class is probably more prone to be isolated, rural, unemployed and therefore not in contact with the public (outside of the small group of urban homeless who live in shelters). The Middle class are the ones who are in busy city centers, commuting back and forth, working 60 hours a week to be able to pay for their homes, cars, and luxuries and will have a harder time being away from crowds. The super wealthy will be in their mansions and high rises and not on the subway or airports. The middle class is the most at risk for getting this, in my [uninformed] opinion. Actually, this might be more a rural vs urban issue, as far as risk goes.

And access to healthcare appears to probably not be as much of an issue with this epidemic seeing as there is no cure. The elderly and disabled in the US actually are all covered by a socialized medicine program we call Medicare. They have better access to care than most other citizens actually.

....Anyway, just some of my thoughts after reading the interesting comments on here.

I interviewed a guy yesterday who has been to Hubei with his family, spent 3 weeks in quarantine and was tested for Covid19 (and obviously didn't have it). I didn't shake hands. I also bought a bottle of vodka and poured it over me. Those 2 werent related.

To be honest, my main concern really is supply chain issues. We rely so much on Asia for manufactured goods and general exports, that is my main worry. If I get ill, I get ill. I am worried for my famalam but that is all I can do.

@Th3solution Well, we also need to remember that the majority of bugs and viruses don't want to kill the host - those that do struggle to move on or have a very specific infection method. UNLESS THE GOVERNMENT RELEASES THE SUPERFLU...

Woo! First confirmed case of COVID-19 close to where I live. Was just announced in a local press conference.

Better get some more supplies now before the panic buying starts.

@Th3solution Yeah, like @Rudy_Manchego said, the goal of a virus isn't to kill the host, the goal is to replicate and spread. After all, the viruses that are able to spread more effectively have the best chance of survival. An extremely virulent pathogen may kill the host almost instantly, but that would limit it's traversal and ability to spread.

@Ralizah We got the first confirmed case at university as well. No frenzies at the supermarkets fortunately.

@Octane @Rudy_Manchego That’s a good point. So actually, it does make sense that we would have fewer epidemics over the centuries. Evolution of a germ would be to produce long standing or permanent low level infection so the virus can live on and reproduce. So natural selection will rid the world over time of infections that are too aggressive and too deadly. 🤔

@Th3solution Natural selection can come at me.

@Th3solution In principle yes, but that doesn't mean an aggressive virus can't pop up somewhere and still be a treat, it's just that it probably won't be around for long. Additionally, our general understand of health and sanitation has improved drastically, so I wonder if something extreme like the black death is even possible in this day and age.

@Octane Oof. Viruses and whatnot can spread quickly around a campus. Be safe.

@Th3solution The virus has already mutated.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-chinese-scientist...

@themcnoisy, @KALofKRYPTON, the reason the death rate in the US is currently higher than the recovery rate is because there was/is an outbreak at a nursing home.

Of course, it's sad that anyone is dying from this, but just a little perspective (I think 8 or 9 of the US deaths are from that nursing home).

@RR529 I feel really bad for those families. That's the last place in the world where you want there to be a coronavirus outbreak.

@Ralizah Yeah, apparently he was already sick a week ago. So chances are that it has already spread.

Would be good to see the world take global warming this seriously though wouldn’t it.

@kyleforrester87 Haha, yeah I had a similar thought, although about other health and societal concerns. If only we could rally this kind of furor around global warming, renewable energy, drunk driving, domestic violence, pre-natal care, the obesity epidemic,... name your issue.
Big picture - every day more people die from not wearing their seat belts.

@Th3solution yeah, imagine how much better the world could get in such a short time.