To think that we must stop stressing about coronavirus

[Booboostwo]

Because stress and panic risk causing more deaths in and of themselves.

I know the WHO is still labeling this containment phase but it is quite clear that the virus transmission is very close to being out of control. It will then spread everywhere because it spreads easily, there isn't much you can do to avoid catching it and people can be asymptomatic, have few symptoms or take up to a month to show symptoms.

To repeat, we are all getting this, sooner or later.

Prepers, sorry, but unless you can stay away from other human beings for a few months until a vaccine is developed and produced in adequate numbers so that you can get one, you are also getting it.

And yes, my DS who is 5yo is asthmatic, I have elderly relatives and a friend who is immunosuppressed. But stressing and panicking will not help them either.

We all need to keep calm. Stop raiding the supermarkets, stop freaking out and depressing the economy and we need to make sure that scarce medical resources are kept free and accessible for those who will genuinely need help because of the virus.

That is the only helpful and effective thing we can do.

Will everybody get it though, as in every single person in the UK?

I thought there was lots of people in China who haven't contracted it?

Why do people keep on saying we will all get it?

Around 75% of people with flu have no symptoms. So people saying they’ve never had flu/only had it once In their life may very well have had it several times with no or very mild symptoms. The same could happen with this. So, yes, it’s very likely we’re all going to come into contact with it at some point.

In China they have restricted movement and activities much more than they’re doing elsewhere. Apparently this kept the rate of infection at around 5%. Without that it’s likely to be much higher- maybe up to 80%

Definitely not a good idea to panic but it is a good idea to take it seriously. Hand washing, making sure you have a stocked medicine cabinet (nb not a stockpile) and a bit of food in- all good ideas. Don’t panic and sell all your investments, if you have any.

I'm fairly freaked out by it, because I have anxiety and a new baby. And I also have an elderly relative I'm worried about.

The news isn't helping, I just kind of want to stay in my house until it all blows over.

I'm very envious of people who aren't worried. But unfortunately my brain doesn't work like that.

@adaline

I think it's hard to take panic like this seriously when it's been seen so many times before, and nothing has come of it

With all due respect ‘nothing coming of it’ is most likely due to all the types of precautions you described in your post. there needs to be a level of concern generated publicly for decent amounts of people’s cooperation with infection control measures.

Have a look at the stats on number of deaths from the ‘flu each year. That will put this in perspective, a lot of this is scare mongering. Far more percentages of deaths due to ‘flu than Coronavirus. I wonder that If Harry and Meghan had not done a runner then I imagine this issue would be far down the pages of the tabloids.

I think a high proportion of people on this site suffer from anxiety

I think it's more that there's a high number of people on MN who seemingly don't know it's normal to anxious about things, sometimes.

It's thread after thread of 'my anxiety...' when often the poster is describing something that it's perfectly normal to be anxious about and it's not that they're unusual or have a particular condition.

Anxiety and concern are not the same thing. Just as gender and sex don't mean the same thing.
People casually use one when they mean the other.

Preppers, sorry, but unless you can stay away from other human beings for a few months until a vaccine is developed and produced in adequate numbers so that you can get one, you are also getting it

They know that...theyre not fucking stupid

Have a look at the stats on number of deaths from the ‘flu each year. That will put this in perspective, a lot of this is scare mongering. Far more percentages of deaths due to ‘flu than Coronavirus.

Seriously?

We know how to deal with the flu. Vaccines are widely available every year. The mortality rate amongst those who contract it is 0.1%.

Coronavirus is new, not well understood, and easily spreadable. No vaccine is available. Over 3% of cases result in death, with a further 10-15% being serious enough to require hospitalization. You really can't see the difference?

Panic is bad, but so is complacency. People should have a healthy degree of concern so that they can take reasonable precautions and make sensible decisions.

The only people that talk about it are on here.

No one at work does.

I can't tell you how much I agree with your post Downtownabby.

Anxiety is the new buzzword on Mumsnet. Like bumsex used to be in t'olden days.

And I say this as someone who has actually suffered from fairly serious anxiety, over a variety of things, over a number of years. But it's just a human state. Everyone feels it.

I can't work out how to get across to people that everyone is anxious about something or other most of the time. It's how we live. It's very sad because the people who don't handle it well think they are somehow different. They are not! They just haven't got the coping mechanisms (natural or learned) that other people have. Anyway, I digress ...

Ocado email tonight...

Dear Mrs Xxx,
We want to let you know that we’re experiencing exceptionally high demand at the moment. More people than usual seem to be placing particularly large orders. As a result, delivery slots are selling out quicker than expected.
We suggest following these useful tips to avoid any disappointment:
• Place your order a little further in advance than you might normally. Ideally, try two or three days before.
• If you can be flexible, book yourself a weekday delivery (Monday–Thursday) instead of a weekend one. We’re unusually busy Friday to Saturday at the moment.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Ocado Customer Service team

No other reason Ocado would be struggling apart from panic buying. Their servers don’t even slow at Christmas.

auslass Dead rats? I'm not sure I let my dog back in the house after that, ever.

Worse thing we've ever had was when she dug up the back half of a decomposing mouse at the beach.

Does everyone get influenza every year? I've only had it about 3 times in my life.

I’ve never had flu. Granted the last 20 years I’ve had the jab, but the previous 36 years I didn’t. I was at a residential college which had an outbreak among students and staff - I didn’t get it, even though plenty of people I had been in regular contact with did.

That doesn’t mean I won’t get coronavirus, of course. But it is evidence that “everyone will get it” is probably not true.

I remember flying when SARS was a big thing.....

There was lots of panic around that too, and nothing came of it.

Maybe nothing came of it because of the measures which were put in place to contain it?

I used to work in IT, and remember the comments on 1st January 2000 saying, look, all this stuff about the Y2K bug was a fuss about nothing - they said there would be a meltdown, and there hasn’t been one. Only that was down to all the hard work of thousands of people over several years, identifying software which would go wrong when the Mille IDM came, and fixing it so that it would cope. Without that work, there would have been a meltdown, for sure. And without the measures being put in place to contain SARS, it would have spread further than it did, for sure.

Mile IDM = millennium

‘ Because stress and panic risk causing more deaths in and of themselves’

Is it?? Where?
In a town with lots of cases and it’s all business as usual around here, including gun at supermarkets.

I’m not a full time prepper, but I do prep for emergencies, and I am prepping for this. Like @TheMammothHunters I’m making sure that we have the essentials we’d need if one of us got poorly, so that we don’t have to hit the shops when we’re ill. I’m pretty calm about it all, because we’re prepared.

I've just been to the pub and it's packed because it's Friday and as it's the end of the month and payday for many people.

Earlier I was shopping on Oxford Street and I haven't seen a single person wearing a mask.

I live in a small square of 10 terraced houses. I've worked out that there are 27 inhabitants. Fewer than have so far been diagnosed out of a population of over 60 million.

Am I worried about catching it? Yes, of course. But I'm keeping it in proportion. I just don't see the panic in real life that I see on Mumsnet.

I feel so much better now that someone who is neither a doctor or virologist has told us to stop stressing.
I am, in fact, happily sat by the logburner with a bottle of wine. Safe in the knowledge that I have at least three weeks worth of food in the house. Do you genuinely want to head to the shops if it hits your town and every person who hasn't been arsed to prepare suddenly panics? Or if you suddenly get I'll and there's no food or meds in the house?
My friend, an actual medical doctor, is really concerned. Although only a small % of society will be seriously affected, the NHS is already struggling. But don't you stress yourself about the chronically ill.

It's the media who are creating all the hype and causing people to be stressed. The fact is, it is likely to become a pandemic, but 24/7 news reports won't change that. All you can do is get on with your normal life, be extra vigilant with hand washing and follow NHS advice.

I work for an NHS trust in a fairly senior role. The NHS are extremely well prepared, they invest a huge amount of time in planning for this kind of thing.

I've never had flu either! .

The WHO seem pretty concerned. But what do they know eh?
I’m not panicking. But I have ensured that if we do have to self quarantine for a couple of weeks that we won’t have to worry about getting food in. If that doesn’t happen, it’ll all get eaten anyway. If it’s months then we will be stuffed along with most others of course.
Being unconcerned and refusal to prepare for anything seems to be a matter of pride for some people.
At no point have I “raided the supermarket” just bought a few bits here and there.