Coronavirus: Epidemic or Overblown?

in #coronavirus5 years ago (edited)

I remain skeptical of the coronavirus pandemic paranoia despite the fear so many exhibit in my online interactions. I'm not in the camp of, "it's all made up," but neither can I seriously support the "we're all gonna die" crowd.

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We have seen this sort of thing before. Bird flu, swine flu, H1N1, SARS, Ebola, Zika, and so on. As far as I know, these are all real viral strains that pose real threats to human health. However, every time one of these pops up, we see people start to sell fear, and it has always come to naught thus far, at least in proportion to the hype. People got sick. Some died. But it wasn't the Black Death.

There is insufficient data to support the COVID19 fears to my knowledge, and ample reason to consider it at worst on par with the seasonal flu, which is another coronavirus family. My biggest concern is not that this bug is as bad as it is made out to be, but that the people constantly crying wolf will make us ignore something really dangerous should it appear in the future.

Oh, and I need to buy a Corona beer to inoculate myself. Not against the virus, against idiots. Drunkenness due to cheap Mexican beer might be the only remedy to help me survive this unending onslaught of imbeciles, and that will only grow worse as the election cycle rolls on and COVID19 fades into memory.

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I jest. Alcoholism is bad, mmkay? Drink responsibly.

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People don't think clearly about these kinds of things from what I'm seeing. Right now, around where I live, people are stripping the shelves of toilet paper and hand sanitizer "preparing" for this. Meanwhile, bars of soap, water, and canned food are still in good supply. All I can do is shake my head.

Yes. Basic hygiene matters most, and so msny people don't even bother washing their hands after using the restroom. Food is a priority, not toilet paper.

Swine flue killed 250 000 to 500 000 people
Sars was a lot of noise but I think total statistics were about 8000 dead coronovirus hasn't started yet 3000 dead
I think it's got potential for major disruption even if not in itself then definitely due to people panicking and that's enough for it to make sense to have some supplies

I have seen a half empty bottle of sanitizer from Lidl that new cost £0.5 on auction 5 days left 20 something bids about £6 on eBay and that can be considered cheap at the moment here

I think that shows a lot about the state of mind people are

I looked to get a pallet of the stuff and make a quick $$ you simply can't buy a bigger amount at normal price and so far I checked wholesalers in 3 European countries !

A tad worrying I'd say.

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Panicking people scare me more than a virus. Based on what I have read, COVID19 may be more dangerous than the flu for the elderly, but the fatality risk is low for most otherwise-healthy people. The stats are based on deaths from confirmed cases, not a sudden spike in overall mortality rates, and they can't confirm very many cases or do it very fast. This inflates numbers.

True 3000 deaths in China on an overall mortality graph is nothing considering the population but if we were to look at a graph of mortality just in the city of Wuhan would probably be different

At the moment they say about 3% mortality with those dying mainly elderly or with underlying health issues but that doesnt mean much in itself people who are sick now have full acces to hospitals and medicine if the infection rate is high all over the world at the same time... it hasn't started and we are running low on supplies of sanitizers and such a shortage of antybiotics for instance would cause a massive spike in deaths and if shit hits the fan it's not that impossible

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-latest-uk-figures-update-a9385326.html?amp

Uk predicts 5% will require hospitalisation
Italy is saying 10% does require hospitalisation

Another important factor swine flue, bird etc didn't mutate further once transmitted to humans coronovirus is thought to have already mutated twice in 3 months

I agree panicking people can make things so much worse by looting stockpiling crimes because of shortages it can turn into a vicious self propeling circle

I'm not really that much of a pessimist just talking possibilities here to be honest I'm not worried at all but then again I live off-grid way away from people.

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according to the same panic Media , normal flu numbers came way down this year ,.... While corona-19 numbers rice like rockets ... ??? .... idiots , do some simple maths i say , it's probably all normal flu .
cheers on the corona , don't forget the lemon slice ;-)

It may be a new flu strain. It may in fact become a dangerous pandemic. But the more the media hypes it, and the more idiots panic, the less I fear the virus and the more I fear homo statist.