AIBU to think people are overreacting to Coronavirus?

[NotHereToMakeFriends]

Okay, I'll admit that it's bad and a lot of people have died from it but if you read up on it you have a limited chance of actually getting sick. Most people who have gotten sick are elderly, underlying health issues or have worked themselves down such as the doctors/nurses who are working themselves sick to try and help others.

I think people are just being scared into thinking that it's worse than it should be.

[Samcarpy92]

Sensationalist news stories dont help. But yeah theres nothing to worry about unless you're an OAP with already failing health.

[MissConductUS]

I'm somewhat in agreement. We have about 10,000 influenza related deaths so far this season in the US. What make the novel corona virus more threatening is that it'll be about a year before we have a vaccine widely available for it.

That's actually a big improvement. Vaccine development and testing used to be more like two years but the technology behind it has gotten a lot better in recent years.

[RocketFire]

no....most people who have DIED or sick/elderly

the thousands who have contracted it are of all age groups

the way it spreads and the unknown angles are the worrying parts. as well as how it spreads and how our nhs won't be able to cope

glad you're cool with it though op, i guess you will soldier on with just a lemsip should you contract it then?

[Tulipan]

That's ok then ... as long as you don't know any elderly, or diabetics, or smokers, or doctors/nurses.

[Curiosity101]

I think people are just being scared into thinking that it's worse than it should be.

The governments around the world and groups such as the WHO are definitely not overreacting. They have access to a lot more information than the general public do. Every decision they make is important and you should assume it is definitely not an overreaction.

However... A lot of the information the general public have access to comes from sensationalist media stories. As a result some people in the general population are over reacting. All we should be doing is following government advice and taking normal (sensible) precautions to stay healthy (There is a lot more than just Covid-19 circulating - normal flu can be just as dangerous at an individual level).

One thing that does interest me is that most people seem to be reacting to the individual threat of infection to themselves or family members. I have lots of family members who are high risk - but my worry is for the knock on effect that a pandemic would cause. That said - I'll not be doing anything differently to usual until told differently by government officials / health care providers.

[Elllicam]

From what I can see it seems that approximately 20% of people who get Coronavirus get it seriously enough to require hospitalisation. That’s a big deal. At the moment the death rate is going up and up.

[Guacamole]

As an asthmatic, already struggling to breathe due to a heavy cold, I’m kind of worried. I commute into London everyday which doesn’t help.
All I can do is follow all the advice and guidance out there and wait and see, and hope the U.K. is a well prepared to deal with it as the government claims.

[Samcarpy92]

@RocketFire it spreads the same as the normal flu or any virus. Most people who contract it will just be mildly ill the only reason they want to lock people down is so they can't infect any other people particularly the elderly like you say.

As soon as we move into the warmer months it'll be even less of an issue as viruses like the flu and its many forms prefer cold dry air to live in.

[Jaggypinecone]

In 2018 228 million people were infected with malaria and 405,000 died from it. 67% of those deaths were children but no-one gives a toss because most happened in Africa to folk who cannot afford anti malaria treatment so stuff them Jack, we're ok. It actually makes me spit nails. I'm sorry that people are dying but FFS so many other folk die of preventable diseases all the time but it never gets news coverage.

Despite all the conspiracy theories I can't help but think when the world population is too many then it is inevitable that Mother Nature will evolve to thin out the herd.

[hamstersarse]

YANBU it’s like people need an imminent apocalypse to give them some ‘excitement’ in their lives

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasher86]

The news will always sensationalise stories, whatever they are.

The problem with Coronavirus is that it is new, it's getting worse and they don't understand it yet. The people who are getting ill are all age groups, although children seem to have some level of natural immunity. Those who have died are mainly elderly, but when you look at the figures, if it spreads a lot of people could die. It isn't panicking, or that I'm scared, but that I understand how bad things could become if it keeps spreading.

[Fishcakey]

As an anxious person I have decided I'm not worrying about this until someone in my vicinity has it. I am laughing in the face of it!

[BabyLlamaZem]

Only OAPS, sick people and health professionals dying doesn't make it a big deal? Clearly you care about no one in that category.

We have vacciness for things like flu. And it is more infectious than flu. I have a small baby and he could easily be killed from it.

[Nowayorhighway]

YANBU at all, I just don’t care about it really. I felt the same about swine and bird flu too, it’s just melodramatic hyped up nonsense.

[aintnothinbutagstring]

We don't really know the mortality rate yet, as many cases are as yet unresolved, even in Wuhan. It appears the incubation period is potentially longer than the quarantine of two weeks that the UK are using. We don't know how many people contracted the virus in Wuhan and then travelled before the city was placed into lockdown. I don't remember there being such extensive measures used for swine flu (though my memory is hazy on that), which killed lots of people, making me think think that Joe public is not getting the full story of how serious the disease is. I'm concerned because I have a number of high risk family members, with heart conditions and the like. Lastly, our NHS is already struggling with normal demands of winter illness, add to that a large outbreak of this, it'll be chaos.

[Skierrdery]

It's a massive inconvenience at the very least.

[Skierrdery]

150+ cases in Italy after a few days. 5 deaths.

[FlorencesHunger]

Maybe some people are, although the media are covering it regularly they have turned it down a notch imo. People are right to be concerned while they go about their daily business. The I am alright jack way of thinking doesn't help anyone.

Besides the mortality rate of the old and sick there are other concerns if this gets out of hand. Economies could come to a standstill or struggle. Imports and exports affected, including food. Health care services stretched to the limit if they even have an adequate one.

The surprising outbreak in Italy has certainly peaked my concern more as it is so recent and time has passed enough that it will have spread further a field. I am still going about my business with no signs paranoia.

[reginafelangee]

It's not any worse than the flu and no one is scared of that.

Between 600 and 10,000 die each year from flu in the UK alone.

[iheartislesofwight]

i'm diabetic but i can't get wound up with the hype, just can't worry about it.

[reginafelangee]

@iheartislesofwight me too

[Grasspigeons]

The problem is, following the government advice is quite alarming. My sibling returned from a country on the 'call 111 if you develop any of these symptoms within 14 days of returning' list. They developed 1 symptom, mildly so called and said 'i have 1 mild symptom'. They were told to wait at home until they got a call back. Then they had to go to a specific hospital at a specific time and werent allowed to leave the car, they were then met and escorted by a person in protective gear to a testing area which was then disenfected top to bottom after they left.
Its one of those situations where you find it hard not to be sensationalist. Just saying what happened sounds extreme.
(Sibling is fine and awaiting, most likely, a negative result)

[teapotter]

Like many things (vaccinations?) the risk to an individual is small but the impact at a societal level is high.

The most vulnerable and young kids are vaccinated against flu for a good reason. Apart from the individual risk, it reduces the speed it can spread. Our hospitals would be overwhelmed every winter if we didn’t.

The risk is not personal for most people, it’s the cost (economic and social) of lockdown of whole cities, which is currently the only way to reduce the spread to manageable levels. And the cost to health services which are already overstretched.

For those mentioning malaria, if coronavirus hit some African countries it would have a far higher death rate than malaria, even at best estimates.

There’s nothing we can do though, so no point in worrying.

[FourTeaFallOut]

Of course people worry about the flu. That's why we spend a fucking fortune immunising the elderly, the young, the pregnant and those with chronic illnesses. Flu season rockets the NHS beyond capacity on a bad year, which is why we spend a fucking fortune monitoring it and publishing weekly reports. Consequently, the flu has a CFR rate that is around ten times less deadly than coronavirus on the very worst of it's years and it still kills fucking heaps and heaps of people.

[buttermilkwaffles]

"It's not any worse than the flu and no one is scared of that."

No one? What about the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, asthmatics etc.

As for not being any worse, although nobody knows for sure yet, the indications are that the fatality rate (CFR) is higher than the flu, maybe only twice as high, but possibly as much as ten times higher. And there is at least an annual flu vaccine for what is predicted to be the most prevalent strain and some element of immunity.