AIBU to be a bit surprised that nobody in my RL seems to be bothered about coronavirus?

[Dennisreynoldsduster]

Maybe it’s because I have an eight week old DS but I’m getting quite concerned about the virus and the impact it could potentially have.
I know there’s been a bit of hysteria on here and I’m not trying to I whip up more but I’m genuinely surprised that people in my day to day life do not even seem slightly concerned about it.
Most seem to be taking the attitude that it’s just another flu, which it categorically is not - and there’s a lot of questionable personal hygiene about!

AIBU to be surprised at this? Do people not read the news anymore?

The trouble with people deciding (on dubious, conflicting evidence, even from those with medical expertise) that it's not a risk for them, they are highly likely to not take care with contributing to its spread.

WTF? Judging that I'm at little risk, doesn't mean that I would be casual or careless and contribute to its spread. Oddly enough, in reading about it I've learned what to do should the situation change. But at this point there is no reason to change anything I would normally do. There's is nothing about my life or my standards of hygiene at present that would aid its spread

"Flu is more dangerous to ordinary individuals than coronavirus"

That's not what those articles are saying (not that I would use the Daily Express as a source, for, well, anything). They are saying it's currently a bigger risk, which is stating the obvious, tens of thousands of people in the US and UK have flu currently, while the number of people in the US and the UK who have Coranavirus is tiny, so your chance (currently) of getting the flu is obviously much, much higher than that of getting Coranavirus.

The best guess estimated death rate for Coranavirus is 1% (although they don't know the actual rate yet) whereas for the flu in the UK and US the rate is 0.1 to 0.2%.
So on current information, the flu is not more dangerous to ordinary individuals than coronavirus, it's significantly less so, but currently the chances (risk) of getting Coranavirus for people in Europe or the US are very, very low. Hence flu is a much bigger risk as it's far, far more likely to happen.

There's is nothing about my life or my standards of hygiene at present that would aid its spread
But it's not about you personally, saraclara. What about the 40 or so a week large airliners from China that have been landing in the UK for the last month or two? All those thousands of passengers are presumably wandering at large amongst us, probably blithely unaware that they could have it. And for all those of us who have had "normal" flu or viruses recently anyway, how would anyone know whether it is normal or Corona?

I have friends who live in China near those regions however it does seem to be more under control there now though it is still cause for concern. Let's just hope it is managed successfully.

it does seem to be more under control there now
In what way and how do you know? What have they done to control it?

Does anybody know if graduations are being cancelled? I know a lot of conferences and international travel is being cancelled but I graduate in two weeks with old rellies who don’t have v strong chests and am mildly concerned. It’s a big ceremony in a town famed for its university so generally jam packed with tourists and foreign students.

I'm aware of it and work in the Nhs and we have a 'plan in place' but I'm not bothered by it. My 90 year grandmother and my mother who has a life limiting illness with breathing difficulties however are worried and I don't blame them.

@Windyone I’ve not been told to self-isolate. My friends haven’t got symptoms. I’m just paranoid

@CallmeAngelina
The Chinese are restricting movement, introduced quarantines between cities, closed schools, closed restaurants, limited access to compounds to non residents, have made it compulsory to wear a mask and introduced regulations where there can be legal consequences if you have symptoms and do not go to the hospital.
All this is based on my first hand experience of the situation.

@ShanghaiDiva sorry to hear you’ve had to leave. Must be tough to be away from everyone.
Do you get regular updates from home? Is the situation as it’s being reported, or is it being underplayed?

I have young DC, and while I totally understand why people are worried, I'm not concerned.

I work for the NHS, (albeit not patient-facing) and there have been 2 confirmed cases in my city. None of our staff have been diagnosed/had symptoms and there are extensive precautions in place for suspected (and confirmed) cases.

Normal precautions, good hand-hygiene etc seems to be the best protection at this point.

I remember the meetings we had around Swine Flu and the potential catastrophic consequences of that. Which never happened, certainly not on the scale they were describing to us.

Obviously I'm not claiming to know everything, but generally, I'm not overly concerned.

@Dennisreynoldsduster
I have regular updates from China as there are regulations regarding our return eg we would go into compulsory 14 day quarantine (self quarantine at home) and dd would not be able to attend school until she day 15 of our return. All the new rules are sent to me from our house agent and compound mgt.
BBC news does not go into the detail of what is happening but the Chinese are taking extraordinary measures to contain this virus and some measures are harsh. I don’t think it would make particularly interesting news here to detail all the measure being taken, but the Chinese are not underplaying the seriousness of the situation. Latest info I have for China shows just:over 72k cases with about 2000 new cases yesterday.

Apologies for the random smiling face there. Not sure what happened and there is nothing to grin about...