AIBU to ask you if you are worried about the new Coronavirus?

[IvyBush123]

I am not sure if there is reason to worry about the new Coronavirus. I am not a medical expert but to be honest feel a bit scared because we know so little and some experts seem worried. How do you think?

Sorry, link fail

edition.cnn.com/2020/02/06/asia/china-li-wenliang-whistleblower-death-timeline-intl-hnk/index.html

@MagicalThinking ah sorry about that I thought there had been cures found now I do apologise

I wonder how the planet will cope with fewer people , it's very worrying.

I'm only concerned about how the hospitals will cope. Having watched Hospital on the BBC through a typical winter, I shudder to think how they would cope if we had hundreds or thousands of people in each area with pneumonia needing intensive care and ventilation. My dc also have serious asthma so it's a concern on that front.

Someone mentioned Ebola earlier - that is transmitted differently but much more fatal!

I wonder how the planet will cope with fewer people , it's very worrying.

The planet would benefit considerably from fewer people. But the plan wasn't to wipe a whole lot of them out at the same time..

I wonder how the planet will cope with fewer people , it's very worrying.

I suspect that all people desperate for population reduction believe that someone else's family will do the reducing for them

These people never mean for it to be them or their own.

I don't mean to be a dramatic but are we likely to die from this? I'm really scared to be honest I've read things that have said we will be ok to then reading stuff that basically says it's a death waiting to happen. I'm mid 20s with 3 kids ones a newborn I'm shitting it

I wonder how the planet will cope with fewer people , it's very worrying.

The planet would do fine. However, we, the humans, would find it all tremendously upsetting and traumatic. Have you ever watched Avengers: End Game?

I don't mean to be a dramatic but are we likely to die from this?
No. Even if you catch it.

I'm really scared to be honest I've read things that have said we will be ok to then reading stuff that basically says it's a death waiting to happen.
Because people aren't understanding what's going on. The way its being reported distorts the number of deaths v the number of very mild cases and the lock down adds to the effect. Plus there the secrecy of the Chinese state which amplifies it further.

I'm mid 20s with 3 kids ones a newborn sad I'm shitting it
Most deaths have been in pensioners with pre existing conditions.

That's not to say its not a risk. Just that the risk is overstated.

There are also risks associated with a social panic over NCP and indirect deaths from causes if hospitals get swamped with 'worried well' (well people who panic because they their neighbour's uncle's cat came into contact with a street that someone who might have NCP one walked down 2 years ago and they rush to hospital because they think they are dying) meaning very ill people who need hospital care have to wait.

@gingerbreadslice, people in reasonable health aren't dying. We haven't had enough vulnerable people in the developed world to know their true survival rate.

If it's any comfort a mother with the virus infected her newborn baby and both are doing well. So it seems as long as treatment is given quickly, newborns will survive it.

The issue was that if this became an epidemic, we haven't got the hospitals or medical staff to cope. So people would be at unnecessary risk because of that.

I'm really scared to be honest I've read things that have said we will be ok to then reading stuff that basically says it's a death waiting to happen.

Given your age, it doesn't sound like it's a death waiting to happen for you personally at all, so you don't need to be shitting yourself about it.

On the other hand please do remember when you're out and about that it might be very dangerous for other people, and not everyone who has a pre-existing condition is elderly, some are children or have young children themselves.

We really need everyone to treat this as a serious thing, or it might be much worse than it needs to be. It's not as simple as 'all fine' or 'all disaster' - there's a whole area in the middle where the outcome will depend on how well we all step up to take the necessary precautions, support each other and so on.

It's death waiting to happen for some people. If the CFR is 1-2% then that's a lot of people at risk world wide.

And people keep consoling themselves that it's the elderly and those with chronic illnesses who are most at risk - as if all those people are just being tipped over death's door anyway but that's just not the case.

I'm not saying that's what's happening with posters above but this idea that the vulnerable are dispensible seems to be the comfort blanket of all the 'it'll be fine' types and it's really beginning to get me down.

I don't think we know for sure anyway that its only killing the elderly and those with existing health conditions. The information coming out of china is the information they want to share with us. The cases elsewhere in the world are limited in number and so at the moment every person can have every drug they might need to help them and excellent treatment in hospital.

If however this starts to affect large numbers of people then there won't be the same access to healthcare and medicines because the system will struggle to cope. The NHS is already struggling.

I'm not saying that's what's happening with posters above but this idea that the vulnerable are dispensible seems to be the comfort blanket of all the 'it'll be fine' types and it's really beginning to get me down.

Yes people keep saying it as if it doesn't really matter if people with pre-existing conditions die. It's interesting that people seem to be defining elderly as anyone over 60. That's a lot of the population who are at risk.

It isn't only killng the elderly/compromised.

There is nothing to suggest the doctor in China fell into either of those categories. It might kill a higher amount of the already vulnerable, but it's not restricted to them.

A scientist who is not medically trained told me the difference with the way the symptoms present when this NCP turns to pneumonia is that it makes the lungs bleed from the inside. Apparently this is the reason why it’s so deadly and untreatable.

Is there anyone here that can corroborate this?

Yes people keep saying it as if it doesn't really matter if people with pre-existing conditions die.

I think when people are worried it's a natural defence to try and reassure themselves that they (and their children) will be ok. I have an 8 month old DD without any health conditions and the fact that this doesn't seem to be affecting children as much (SARS didn't either I think), and is mainly affecting people with pre existing conditions is reassuring to me on a personal level when I think about my DD.

However I wouldn't use it as a reason why, from a society-wide point of view, we shouldn't be worried about how serious this might be. And I do find it odd when experts on tv use it as a reassuring thing to say, when being "elderly" (over 60) or having a pre existing condition must apply to a large percentage of the population and therefore a large percentage of the people watching.

Nemophilist I think your friend should stick to their own scientific field. This virus gets right down into the bottom of the lungs into the alveoli (tiny air sacks). They then get consolidated (filled up with fluid) and so air exchange can't happen efficiently. This doesn't happen with any severity in most cases, hence most cases being mild. In severe cases, lots of the air sacks get filled up and people need extra oxygen and sometimes help to breath. In a few cases, this won't be enough and sadly that person will die.

There are some good videos explaining it in layman's terms by Dr John Campbell on YouTube if you're interested.
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Agree with pp that the fact that children don’t seem to be among the fatalities was reassuring to me initially. Then I considered that if DH and I died who would look after my dc and back to worried again. So angry with the government. We live on an Island miles and miles away from the outbreak. Easy to contain but no interest as it might hurt the economy. If/when it hits the financial/political cost will be far higher.

Thank you @BatSegundo

If you're elderly, immunocompromised or suffer from respiratory disease, you are at risk but you're also at risk from flu and the common cold. Normal, healthy young people don't need to worry.

Normal, healthy young people like Dr Li Wenliang? You do not know this.

The corona virus is simply a different strain of the flu virus that wasn’t anticipated. It’s a similar situation to the previous different strains...bird and swine flu that also created mass hysteria.

The risks are the same for normal flu........those more at risk of severe consequences are those with pre existing conditions (particularly respiratory), the elderly, the young and the immunocomprised. That doesn’t mean seemingly healthy people don’t die from normal flu. They do, but it’s rare. The Chinese doctor was explicitly exposed and was unlucky.

People need to calm down, listen and take the recommended precautions. These are simply good hand hygiene and cough/sneeze into a tissue.

If it's just like another strain of flu, why are the Chinese locking their country down, closing factories, making everyone stay at home? Why would they sabotage their country to that degree for a virus similar to the flu?

Also, many of you know very little about what is going on behind the scenes to manage and control this situation. The media know only what they’ve been allowed to know, hence why they end up scaremongering and creating mass hysteria.

Instead of relying on the daily mail try reading some proper info.......
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england

ofwarren I agree with this

I think there is a lot more to this