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?

If they were not doing well, would it be, in any way , helpful for that information to be Released?

And that is where we start assuming the worst

If they were not doing well, would it be, in any way , helpful for that information to be Released?

Yes it would because people would feel that the authorities are at least being honest and that they can be trusted to give information regardless of whether it is what people want to hear.

The NHS only wants to test people when they are super sick.

People returning from countries with growing infections are being told they don’t need testing/to self isolate when they phone up 111 with recent travel and developing viral symptoms. They will only test if they are confirmed as a contact if someone else with a positive or develop symptoms severe enough to need hospital.

So they are going to not screen and miss all the low level cases that are out in the community spreading it and making some people super sick.

So far they’ve tests over 600 people in Uk and found 4 positive

That’s good odds

They are releasing another 1000 tests tomorrow it looks like from the reports

There have been cases on the cruise ship that have tested positive with no symptoms and it’s been shown to now be more airborne than prevailing though and live longer on surfaces.

I’m thinking the bus drivers of the second evacuee group today will not be in hazmats suits still, as the powers that be won’t want to admit an error in the first case.

People that are awaiting testing by PHE are being told that they self isolate, but their household members and partners do not need to. Surely you get them to stay off work as well until the symptomatic person comes back negative? Waiting until they get a positive when the members of the household have all been out at work for those 3 days likely infected is no way to shut down a pandemic, rather just chase the infection trail a week later.

Yes it would because people would feel that the authorities are at least being honest and that they can be trusted to give information regardless of whether it is what people want to hear.

Only if you're the kind of person who assumes the authorities withhold information. I just assume they're getting on with their job and if there's information we need to know they will release it.

I think the issue is that it would create panic and not, as you suggest, an increased trust in the authorities.

Relative phoned yesterday, recent travel to infected country and spent weeks working with people from china. Developed sore throat and viral symptoms.

111 told them to self isolate and await testing but everyone else in the house and partner didn’t need to isolate. Then 111 phoned back saying actually as they could breathe they were fine and didn’t need testing and to go back out in public, no further contact required.

This person has decided to self isolate any way as too unwell to go to work and see how things progress.

MyHairIsSoapy Bloody hell ! 😮

People returning from countries with growing infections are being told they don’t need testing/to self isolate when they phone up 111 with recent travel and developing viral symptoms. They will only test if they are confirmed as a contact if someone else with a positive or develop symptoms severe enough to need hospital.

This is what concerns me too.

The symptoms can be pretty mild and if there's an outbreak in say Thailand which hasn't been confirmed then with the amount of travellers going through then how many other clusters do we have?

I think it's pretty inevitable that we'll have an outbreak here but hopefully we'll be able to minimise it until we have a vaccine.

I live in Macau and we are all staying at home. But no-one is panicking and everyone is calm. Some businesses and the casinos are closed but the supermarkets are open and stocked. It’s just a bit boring; thank God for Netflix!
China is a lot worse, so if you’re not in the affected areas of China, I really wouldn’t worry so much.

Only if you're the kind of person who assumes the authorities withhold information. I just assume they're getting on with their job and if there's information we need to know they will release it.

But I'm not that kind of person generally. I assume it's happening here based on the evidence. They were not very transparent in the York cases and that increased people's stress rather than the other way round. Withholding information on the grounds that it would cause panic is just the kind of thing that causes panic as every time we find out something has been held people wonder what else they withholding. Arguably withholding information is what's caused the virus to spread in China in the first place.

But I don't see what information they are withholding. We know that people in York tested positive for coronavirus. What else are you expecting to be told about the situation?

The world economy is likely to suffer as China is consuming considerably less oil ( good for environment) and they are usually a major consumer

Otherwise from personal point of view not massively worried. Both my elderly relatives live in rural areas with not many people about and although there has been a case diagnosed in my city I believe it's been contained

I think the issue is that it would create panic and not, as you suggest, an increased trust in the authorities.

I don't see that there is more panic in the countries that have been more forthcoming regarding the fact than the UK.

But I don't see what information they are withholding. We know that people in York tested positive for coronavirus. What else are you expecting to be told about the situation?

In York they wouldn't originally give information on where the student had been and left the students to worry about it for a couple of days. Then they said the student hadn't been on campus or in university accommodation after being exposed to the virus. It also took a couple of days for them to bother mentioning that the students hadn't been at a Chinese New Year celebration or graduation in York. About three days later they said that the student had actually been in student accommodation for a night. I wonder if they only divulged this information because the students had noticed that their housemate was missing. Either way it doesn't inspire confidence that they know what they're doing with regard to tracing people or giving out the information people need to know.

I’m definitely worried BUT I have severe anxiety, particularly health anxiety so I don’t trust my own thoughts most of the time and find it hard to know whether I should stop dwelling on something or give it serious thought.

I’ve been ridiculed by family and friends for being so worried, they think I’m absolutely out of my mind to even give it the time of day. Worryingly, some of them are pregnant and/or have respiratory problems.

I keep reading so many conflicting reports and don’t know what to believe. I’m confused why you’d only be at risk if you’ve been in Wuhan or directly in contact with someone who has. Surely if it can be spread whilst asymptomatic then there will be many people who have passed it to others who have then passed it to others and so on.

Why are the numbers so high in Wuhan - and I believe they probably are higher than reported - and so low in other countries? And is it possible the UK government are lying about how many have it here? So they’re releasing info of odd cases so as not to look suspicious, but the real panic is going on behind closed doors. These are the kinds of thoughts my annoying mind has!

I think HK has been pretty forthcoming about risks and updates on patients etc and talking to dh’s colleagues there is plenty of panic there.

Why are the numbers so high in Wuhan - and I believe they probably are higher than reported - and so low in other countries? And is it possible the UK government are lying about how many have it here?

As you've said, it's low in plenty of other countries so unless they are all lying about cases the number in the UK doesn't seem unreasonable low. Besides, if they were keeping quiet about any cases it would leak, they wouldn't be able to hide that many before people found out.

It’s low in some areas of China too: Tibet, Xinjiang due to travel patterns and income, I imagine.

@meredithgrey1 yes this is true, and the sensible part of me kicks in and questions why the numbers are also very low elsewhere. It would mean multiple countries all agreeing to hide the numbers, and yeah it would leak too you’re right.

Very true @ShanghaiDiva. How are you doing at the moment? I’ve read a few of your posts on here and it sounds pretty tough.

I think HK has been pretty forthcoming about risks and updates on patients etc and talking to dh’s colleagues there is plenty of panic there.

I was thinking of countries such as France and Germany. I don't know how forthcoming Hong Kong has been but arguably they needed to "panic" and take a stronger steps to stop the virus from spreading.

We are okay, left China 12 days ago and soon on our way to the UK. We have lots of friends who are still there, Jiangsu province, and streets are empty but supermarkets are open. There are strict controls in place eg a non resident cannot enter your compound, temp checks when you enter the supermarket, schools closed, but everyone I am in contact believes the Chinese are doing their best to bring the situation under control. I don’t believe any other country is capable of doing what the Chinese have done.