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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

238 replies

Dennisreynoldsduster · 15/02/2020 04:08

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?

OP posts:
Littlemeadow123 · 15/02/2020 13:15

@MordredsOrrery

Given the fact that this is the third virus that has been released from China due to a lack of food hygeine and zero animal welfare laws, yes I blame the Chinese government, not the Chinese people at large. They haven't learnt from past mistakes and in the 21st century, there is no excuse for that anymore. We've been lucky in that no really serious viruses have been released as of yet, but if nothing changes, one day something really dangerous outbreak.

I'll just repeat that my problem is not with Chinese people, just the Chinese government who've allowed these really dangerous food practices to go unchecked.

UserV · 15/02/2020 13:18

@Dennisreynoldsduster Sorry but I really can't bring myself to worry about it. What are we supposed to do? Stay in 95% of the time and then go out in a spacesuit for the other 5%?!

My job involves mixing with 100s of people in a week, and there is nothing I can do to avoid people.

I'll worry when there's something to worry about.

Littlemeadow123 · 15/02/2020 13:19

@MordredsOrrery

Coronavirus is the result of human fault, that's a fact. It is not some unavoidable disaster. This shouldn't have been able to happen

MordredsOrrery · 15/02/2020 13:32

@Littlemeadow123 you state it is a fact that humans are to blame, yet the WHO have yet to identify how the virus transmitted to humans. You are speculating by laying the blame on food hygiene and animal welfare before this is confirmed.

No, China doesn't have the sort of animal welfare laws seen elsewhere and yes, they could definitely be improved - many people within China would love to see this happen. But there's also an element to your posts which suggests you believe certain practices are far more widespread and normalised than is actually the case.

EducatingArti · 15/02/2020 13:49

It is not just another flu.
A quote from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
"While both 2019-nCoV and influenza viruses are transmitted from person-to-person and may cause similar symptoms, the two viruses are very different and consequently do not behave in the same way. "

Many cold and flu viruses are not Corona viruses ( although I think about 4 of the many multitudes of cold virus are).
Conversely, SARS and MERS are Corona viruses but not classified as a type of flu or cold.

Littlemeadow123 · 15/02/2020 13:53

@MordredsOrrery

China have NO animal welfare laws. Not one.

Its been pretty much accepted that the virus started in the meat markets. That's where it's origin was traced back to. It will take a long time to determine the exact source because a wide range of animals were being sold as food there. Those meat markets have been a ticking time bomb for years.

We can bury our heads in the sand for as long as we want. Its not going to change the fact that this outbreak was caused by human error.

EuroMillionsWinner · 15/02/2020 14:02

It's unreasonable to get worked up about a respiratory virus unless you plan to stop breathing soon. The hypochondriacs much be going overboard with worry about something we can't really do much about.

Abraid2 · 15/02/2020 14:04

I have an immunosuppressed mother in her eighties who still needs treatment for blood cancer. I’m worried that the strain in the NHS could make it hard for regular clinics to run, aside from the risks to her of catching it.

The thing that’s really worrying is the impact on the global economy. The US and Germany trade a lot with China. This will impact on them and on us.

Squigean · 15/02/2020 14:10

The virus is thought to have from bats (possibly through snakes). Bats' lack of immune response to many viruses means they can harbour them.

Now bats are all over the world, but the places that the recent zoonotic viruses that have caused pandemic concern have tended to come from areas where there are food market that have wildlife in them. The food hygiene and animal welfare are also poor.

Zoonotic disease are plentiful everywhere, but their prevalence is more notable where hygiene is poor. Also bats are certainly not the only reservoirs.

Quartz2208 · 15/02/2020 14:11

Looked it up respiratory diseases is the 3rd highest cause of death and accounts for 6% of all deaths. This is just another form of that.

It is another form of flu in the sense it is distinctly different in the same way apples and oranges are. They are however both respiratory diseases

3luckystars · 15/02/2020 14:21

So an animal gave it to a human and then it turned into a weird virus in the human and it spreads human to human now. Is that right?

It would be like someone getting bitten by a zombie or a werewolf, then they get really ill with a virus, and this spreads to all the other humans by breathing and touching people.

EducatingArti · 15/02/2020 14:22

It is another form of respiratory disease that is estimated to have somewhere between 10 and 200 times the death rate of "normal" flu once caught and to which no-one has any immunity.
I agree that we shouldn't panic but making it out to be just another sort of flu really isn't true and may encourage people not to take precautions seriously ( eg careful hand washing, self isolating if in contact with a case etc)

MordredsOrrery · 15/02/2020 14:25

3luckystars yes, it went from an animal to a human (they don't know which animal was the intermediary yet), but it didn't turn weird, it just kept being a virus Smile

MimiLaRue · 15/02/2020 14:39

o an animal gave it to a human and then it turned into a weird virus in the human and it spreads human to human now. Is that right?

Thats how most viruses mutated. Measles came from cows, MERS came from camels, SARS came from bats potentially, HIV/AIDS came from primates, Ebola from bats, swine flu from pigs and many many more etc

This isn't a new or scary thing- viruses that jump from animal to human species through mutations is pretty much how most of our diseases came about.

Original poster
Dennisreynoldsduster · 15/02/2020 17:49

It’s really not just flu. I don’t understand why people keep airily saying “oh it’s just flu”

OP posts:
GorkyMcPorky · 15/02/2020 18:09

I'm not stupid enough to believe that Twitter is a consistently reliable source, but I think there's more to COVID-19 than the media are reporting actually. I think there's a concerted effort not to scaremonger. The citizen journalists who are now missing revealed information that later appeared in the more reliable mainstream press. I'm not panicking but I think it's naive to try to kid yourself that this is just another rerun of previous hysteria about viral pandemics.

2Rebecca · 15/02/2020 18:15

I'm a GP and I'm not particularly concerned. If I was a public health doc then I'd be concerned as that would be part of my job.
There is enough stuff to be concerned about that is actually affecting my life and patients without worrying about stuff that may happen at some time in the future, especially when at the moment there is nothing I can do to affect whether Coronavirus comes to my area or not.
Worry about stuff when it happens, unless you can do something to prevent it happening. Don't make life more stressful than it has to be.

Quartz2208 · 15/02/2020 18:16

I dont actually think actual flu is just flu either each year up to 650000 people die from flu complications.

Too many people think of flu as a cold - it isnt

Nowayorhighway · 15/02/2020 18:21

It’s truly nothing to worry about. I can’t believe anyone is even bothered by this, the flu is more dangerous and I don’t see everyone flapping around every winter about that.

Original poster
Dennisreynoldsduster · 15/02/2020 18:24

@norwayorhighway how is the flu more dangerous? Do you see entire cities being quarantined for flu?

OP posts:
EducatingArti · 15/02/2020 19:32

If you do the maths, flu is NOT more dangerous. It really isn't.

HIVpos · 15/02/2020 19:32

@Ponoka7 The Chinese woman who was told to phone an ambulance but decided instead to get a taxi and go through A&E should be able to be charged with something. Similar to infecting someone with HIV.

No, it’s not similar and it’s not the first time I’ve seen this mentioned. If it was similar, then (in England) this woman would have to fulfil ALL the following criteria to be found guilty of reckless transmission of COVID-19:

  1. She would have to know she had COVID-19 at the time
  2. She would have to know how COVID-19 is transmitted
  3. She would have exposed someone to the virus who didn’t know she had it (ie taken no precautions)
  4. She would have transmitted COVID-19 to that person.

AFAIK she hadn't already received a COVID-19 diagnosis, let alone the rest of the criteria. Please be careful when making such comparisons

Cyberve · 15/02/2020 20:04

It is just a different flu strain, its just got different symptoms. Like most flu to be fair. They aren't all exactly the same. Same as colds.

The main people dying are the same people who would die from 'normal' flu. The old and/or the already ill. It's nothing to be concerned about.

More people probably will catch it, because most people have disgusting hygiene habits. Not washing hands after being to the toilet, not covering their mouth when coughing, not covering their nose when sneezing, touching every object possible if they did bother, etc. If they catch it, it's their own fault.

WhoWants2Know · 15/02/2020 20:06

Except that it really just is not another strain of the flu.

Teateaandmoretea · 15/02/2020 20:24

It isn't flu but it is comparable to flu. They don't know what the mortality rate is yet because no one has any idea how many millions of people in China have actually had it. Yes, seasonal flu has a lower death rate but at least in part that's because the groups who are tending to die from this are vaccinated against flu. The worrying things are that it is new do no one is immune and it could spread quickly and that there is no vaccine. Sensational click bait articles in the Mail with some 'expert' citing worst case scenarios are exactly that. The more clicks they get the more they get paid it doesn't lead to sensible, truthful reporting.

OP th Ed thing i