To not get the panic about Corona Virus?

[speakout]

I am not getting it- can someone explain?

Less than 1000- people infected, 26 dead. Why the hype?
I understand a few pharma companies making anti virals have made a stack of money in the past week.
In global health terms these stats are insignificant surely.
Why all the headlines?
I suspect we have many pathogens jumping species barriers on a regular basis, most probably fade away and don' t make headlines.

Can someone explain.

@HuloBeraal

Why listen to a qualified medical professional, when you can ask the opinion of a bunch of anonymous randoms?

I mean, the bottom line is that new viruses POTENTIALLY pose a serious risk to human health worldwide. The logical response is therefore to treat situations like this with extreme caution when they first arise, to avoid worst-case scenarios occurring just because we were complacent about it.

That all makes sense, and I'm sure nobody here would disagree with it.

That the mass media sensationalises the whole thing a bit is not really surprising either, is it? That's what they do. If nothing else, learn to take everything you see/read in the news with a little pinch of salt. Meanwhile, we await further credible information from scientists and health experts.

@Plantainchips

My DP is an expert in a particular area (not pandemics) but he has no interest in registering with mumsnet and joining in conversations/mansplaining to you.

My DP and I have conversations about both our areas of expertise. We both explain certain things to each other. I therefore know the basics of his area of expertise and understand it well enough to explain the basics to other non experts in that area.

This thread is not full of highly qualified scientists debating the nature of pandemics with each other.

I agree with what others have said don't read the daily mail for info on this they are always trying to whip up panic about something. I think it is a good idea to be cautious with hand washing hygiene etc but always is this time of year due to seasonal flu. Im very concerned as I have an underlying condition and so does my daughter. The worrying thing is the lack of facilities and beds in the NHS if it is a pandemic. My husband is a paramedic and they frequently have to queue at the hospital in the ambulance to get into ED even with seriously ill patients. This is due to lack of money being invested in the NHS and an ageing population, plus lack of support for people in the community with mental health issues due to government cut backs means an ambulance is often called out to these cases . They are just overwhelmed, but the DM want you to believe it's due to "foreigners" @Bunnyfuller I totally agree about Brexit etc.

Depends what you mean by panic. AT this stage there's absolutely no need for individuals in the UK to watch videos on social media, panic or do anything at all. There is absolutely the need for professionals to act to ensure this doesn't become a pandemic. It is absolutely possible (although less likely than in the past) for a pandemic to occur and some of the casual comments on this thread are quite frankly ridiculous. It would absolutely NOT be OK to have a huge upsurge in the number of people suffering from a bad flu and related complications like pneumonia. This would cause hundreds and thousands of deaths.

@bunnyfuller the guardian has reported this today -

Beijing now has five confirmed cases of coronavirus, but two of those had no connection with the province of Hubei.

This appears to be the first time the virus has spread without having a direct link to Hubei, indicating that the virus is now being transmitted person-to-person within the capital.

I think the whole “hubby mansplaining” is that it’s frustrating when a woman comes on here, not being an expert herself, but says “ oh my husband is insert impressive professional thing”. He should come on here and explain it, rather than his wife.

😂 Why. So he could hear "This is MUMsnet. We don't need mansplaining"?

The measures that are being taken in Wuhan would indicate more about the potential of the disease than the current death rates attributed to it.

I have to admit that that development actually made me stop and think. You don't just super build hospital for nothing super serious...

It's a totalitarian state.
They have a history of very dramatic over-reaction.
They have the power to implement extreme responses, and a lack of mechanisms to stop ridiculously excessive responses.

Anyone remember the 1950s plan to kill all songbirds?
The extremes of the cultural revolution?
They lack a history of proportional response to difficult situations.

Corrupt officials LOVE construction projects! Any excuse will do.

The daily fail love those "Killer bees fly south" stories as bad news sells papers!

The one thing that concerns me is how reliable is the information coming from China? Is the outbreak being downplayed somewhat. I mean when you think of them building a massive field hospital with a week or two it gets you thinking.

Anyway, it would appear that like flu, this virus is not that serious in those in reasonable health, but the compromised cohort are very vulnerable.

I don't panic, won't panic, but will watch and wait.

Watching not panicking

Good we have a "hubby expert" to mansplain things

Well your breathtaking rudeness there seems to have had you having to scarper from your own thread.

You also seem to have no understanding of what mansplaining actually is, unless you are also a Consultant in Infectious Diseases.

You got a clear and factual answer from a consultant in this field, but you tossed it aside flippantly because you are apparently so knowledgeable.

I'm not going to panic about coronavirus, but I will be keeping a watch on the spread of it. I was grateful for the explanation from Hulo's DH. Unlike OP.

Thank you for that information, from your husband Hulabetaal and please pass on my thanks to him. I’m just wishing I had taken some of the special masks I was measured up for in work, a few years ago, home with me, before I left.

The hospitals really don’t seem to be coping in China, so it’s good that they’re building a new one. In my humble opinion, it should be built to accommodate only those with the suspected contagion, as so many people will be put at risk in the other hospitals, that are in for unrelated illnesses.

To be honest I would be reluctant to go to hospital, if I thought I had it, if it was anything like the hospitals currently overcrowded due to the illness. It might actually be safer to stay at home and hope you just have an ‘ordinary’ flu.

No mansplaining but WHO have issued guidance which rather suggests spread outside of China is likely and a global pandemic is possible.

"Breathtaking rudeness"? Are you having a laugh? It was mildly snippy. I'm gobsmacked the post was deleted. No snippy remarks from the mummies or you get deleted. Unbelievable.

It was fucking rude

If you say so.

If you believe that China is telling the truth about the number of people sick and dead, then I have a bridge to sell you.

China has form for lying through their teeth and denying what is happening until news gets out to the point where they have to admit it and do something.

Quite glad we not hosting Chinese students in our home this year. I had 4 once who all got chicken pox whilst staying with us that was fun

NoterNorCis

It may have come to nothing for you but my BIL very nearly died of complications from swine flu. Now he has a life limiting condition as a result.

The Chinese side of my family are reporting Chinese social media posts about hundreds dead and bodies not being cleared from hospitals. Those posts are being deleted in minutes. Add to that a hospital being build in days, and a city of 11 million people being effectively cut off. They say that London is only 48 hours away from starvation - I assume Wuhan is similar. Those facts alone suggest to me that the situation is more serious than the Chinese government are admitting.

During H1N1 my service (part of adult community healthcare) were asked for two volunteers to be fitted for masks to maintain a skeleton service in event of a pandemic. I had no dependants, and so volunteered. Fortunately that came to nothing* but the emergency plan we were issued with was beyond sobering.

Am I panicking? No. But I'm keeping a cautious eye on the news. And, if I were in a major city, I'd be making sure I had a few days food tucked away, just in case. If it comes to nothing, then you can eat the stockpiled baked beans later.

(*I'm aware that there were deaths - by 'nothing' I mean no society-altering pandemic.)

Interesting to hear about China's reaction to things. I assumed they were rather trying to underplay things. Kind of like USSR did with Chernobyl. This thread is actually really interesting.
Cheers, OP

There was a very interesting interview on Matt Frei (LBC radio) this morning. He spoke to an Irish psychology teacher who is working in a Wuhan College right now and has been living there for two years. If anyone wants to listen back......

www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presente...trapped-wuhan/