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?

My point still stands though, just because something is very infectious doesn't mean its more likely to kill you.

It's not a very clever or relevant point though is it. The death rate from this virus is pretty high and so the fact is infectious means there could be a lot of deaths.

So you are saying that people who are Chinese are no more likely to visit China then anyone else? Don't be ridiculous.

So going by what you are saying, when I go out tonight, I know there will be a Chinese person there waiting for their child to finish their training session. They will be in very close proximity to me. I won't know if they have been to China recently or not, so I should avoid them?

I'm immunocompromised, so could get all sorts of infections very easily. Guess I should be avoiding going there based on your argument.

It's currently number 32 on my list of worries.

Some many of them may not ever have been to China or not in recent months confused Are you planning to cross the road whenever you see someone you think may be Chinese grin

No because I'm not ignorant and I know that I'm not going to get infected by passing someone who is Chinese in the street. My children are not going to be infected by Chinese classmates who they know haven't visited China recently as well. I don't know whether the Chinese person working in Chinese restaurant has visited China recently so I will avoid the restaurants for the time being.

US doctors are suggesting it is clear this will result in a pandemic - I'm not sure of the definition of a pandemic? The UK have donated £20m to try and hurry up a vaccine. I don't think this is something to be dismissed as overstated.

Small babies are now reported as having caught it. My daughter is 17mo so she has some sort of immune system but who knows if she would be able to fight off pneumonia? I would probably be more concerned if I had a newborn. But hey, everyone has to die sometime, right? (I'm mimicking a previous poster so please do not think I believe that this virus should be taken lightly).

I personally have asthma and struggle a lot with a standard cold let alone anything else so if it becomes more widespread in the UK I would start to worry.

The NHS is great but it can barely cope in flu season. It will not be able to cope with flu and coronavirus.

I'm not panicking but I'm following reports daily.

So going by what you are saying, when I go out tonight, I know there will be a Chinese person there waiting for their child to finish their training session. They will be in very close proximity to me. I won't know if they have been to China recently or not, so I should avoid them?

It's up to you. My children know if their classmates visited China recently and if they hadn't there wouldn't be an issue. If they had yes I would avoid standing in close proximity. I wouldn't stand close to anyone who looks like they have cold or other infection either. We all make our own risk assessments.

I'm immunocompromised, so could get all sorts of infections very easily. Guess I should be avoiding going there based on your argument.

I'm immunocompromised too and am very good at avoiding infections. I'm guessing you aren't or you haven't been immunocompromised.

I'm guessing you aren't or you haven't been immunocompromised for long.

@woodchuck99 fair enough, I'm sorry for posting in a grumpy and prejudiced manner. We all have our own ways of dealing with perceived threats but I feel strongly about not 'othering' people based on their ethnicity.

Well I'm certainly not going to a Chinese restaurant while people from China who are potentially infected still visiting.

Jesus Christ the level of stupidity is maddening.

Why is it stupid forrandom? Our local Chinese restaurant was shut for Chinese New Year as the family who run it went to China to be with relatives. The incubation period can be 14 days. It is sensible to me.

Don’t know - but I can tell you people in Asia are worried - one guy told me to cross the road if I saw a Chinese person walking towards me 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Jesus Christ hmm the level of stupidity is maddening.

I'm thinking the same thing about you.

Why is it stupid forrandom? Our local Chinese restaurant was shut for Chinese New Year as the family who run it went to China to be with relatives. The incubation period can be 14 days. It is sensible to me.

The actual probability that you'll catch it is very low anyway.
Most recent evidence suggests that people are only infectious when showing symptoms.
If they were in a heavily affected area, the Chinese government is likely to have quarantined that area.

Our local Chinese restaurant was shut for Chinese New Year as the family who run it went to China to be with relatives. The incubation period can be 14 days. It is sensible to me.

Exactly.

Yes, I'm worried, but I'm not panicking. I choose to be very informed. To the extent of reading the medical articles in the Lancet and in the Scientist, new scientist etc. Xenophobia is absolutely pointless. In fact the Chinese population are mostly the most health cautious ever.
There's are question of whether ignorance is bliss but the lack of knowledge on this thread is very worrying. Read up guys and learn how to protect yourself. Knowledge is power,

Most recent evidence suggests that people are only infectious when showing symptoms.

That's not the case at all. There is plenty of evidence that this virus is infectious before showing symptoms.

Most recent evidence suggests that people are only infectious when showing symptoms.

What an odd thing to say when literally all of the evidence suggests the opposite.

Supposedly there are about 20k cases and 427 deaths. That means about 2% of those who caught it have died. But it’s important to note that only 730 of those 20k have recovered - the rest are still ill and could die. Looking at deaths vs recoveries that’s 427 vs 730 - much more worrying. Plus they’re now saying that catching it and recovering doesn’t make you immune in the long term - you can catch it again.

My point still stands though, just because something is very infectious doesn't mean its more likely to kill you.

It can, if you are also more likely to catch it.

Say, a disease only affects 1% of the population, but causes 10% deaths.
In 1 million people, it only affects 10 000 people and kills 1000.
Another disease affects 20% of the population, but causes 1% deaths.
In 1 million people, it will affect 200 000 people and will kill 2000.
So, you are 2x more likely to die of the the more infectious, but less deadly disease.

At the moment, the number of people infected is a very small percentage, but it already represents a significant number that can spread through different countries. If it goes to flu numbers of infected people, it will cause a similar number of deaths (assuming similar mortality rate) on top of those already killed by the flu. But if it gets to a higher number of infected people, then you have more deaths, and you have a higher risk of dying from it than from the flu.

There is plenty of evidence that this virus is infectious before showing symptoms.

I heard yesterday a specialist say that the evidence that it was infectious before symptoms was based on one case and that the person was actually showing symptoms.
But I'll be happy be told otherwise with actual scientific data. It can't be hard to find, as it's plentiful.

I'm guessing you aren't or you haven't been immunocompromised for long.

I am and have been for a long time. I just don't let it worry me.

Perhaps you should rethink that comment unless you are genuinely be happy if the death toll from this virus is higher than SARS.

Are you suggesting that i'd be personally, genuinely elated if the death toll was higher now? What a ridiculous, overly argumentative statement to make.

I said i'd be happy to be proved wrong in my point, meaning that im happy to see other facts etc.

Thank you for the link

Yes very worried.

I am and have been for a long time. I just don't let it worry me.

I don't worry about it either but that because I can usually avoid infections.

It can, if you are also more likely to catch it.

Its based on the morphology of the virus and how deadly that virus is rather than the infection rate. My point about the common cold was that its incredibly infectious, but the virus itself is very unlikely to kill in comparison to other diseases. I was drawing that link between the current strain of coronavirus vs SARS.