To think this coronavirus hysteria is completely OTT

[tacosplease]

I’ve just read that the NHS has declared the coronavirus “situation” a level 4 incident - the highest level of emergency.

There are only 51 known cases in Britain out of a population of 66 MILLION. None of these people have died. In the extremely unlikely event that you do catch it, the chance of death is just 2%.

So, I simply don’t understand why people are getting so hysterical about this. Far more people catch the common flu every year and no one starts panicking over that. Every time you use your car you have a 1/20,000 chance of dying yet people still drive and don’t think twice.

AIBU?

There’s 51 known cases now. This is by no means over and done with. If it was, I’d agree with you but it’s far from it.

Why yet another thread saying the same as all the rest?!

For starters, while “only” 2% of people who catch it May die, many more will need HDU beds. Where will they come from? High dependency care will have to be rationed and elective treatment is likely to be affected.

Not to mention the economic impact of efforts to contain it.

So hysteria isn’t useful but equally I think YABU not to understand why it is concerning.

I agree, it's really starting to do my head in now.

I completely understand it can be serious for anyone with an underlying condition but so can the regular flu.
Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from the flu..

I just read my post back and hope it doesn’t come across as callous. I know some people have real health anxiety and for good reason. But some of my friends and family are starting to get really worked up about it all despite the odds of actually catching it being absolutely tiny - and I worry for them!

Why yet another thread saying the same as all the rest?!

Apologies if there are multiple other people starting threads on the same thing. I didn’t actually check before posting

I think anyone who can’t see how this has the potential to cause massive issues is a bit naive.

Have you seen the NHS recently? It is close to collapse as it is. Extraordinary powers would be needed if even a not very big number of people get sick on top of the normal patients.
Plus it is more about preparation. Being ready for it in every way and working out how hospitals WILL cope if care has to be rationed and staff start getting sick

I'm hearing people all day panicking saying they think they have it and they must work from home or stop their children goin to school, when nobody official has suggested it where I am located.

Best estimate mortality has now been increased to 3.5%. For common flu it's more like 0.1-0.2%. And your figure of 51 cases is pretty meaningless as the one thing everyone agrees on is that that number will rise (we just don't know how high).

No need to panic but I can see why people are worried.

It's 2% of almost all of the population of the United Kingdom in one single year. At once.

Thats why.

The government estimate 80% of the population are likely to get it and if 2% die that’s 500,000 deaths, which is a lot. I can’t believe you are comparing a 1 in 50 chance of dying from Coronavirus to a 1 in 20,000 chance of dying in your car?!

Fear of the unkown. It is human nature it fear something we don't understand and can't immediately cure .DM i think is the worst paper for whipping people up into a state of fear .I an asthmatic so i would rather not catch it but apart from following good hygiene that all really i can do and hope other people do the same 🤷‍♀️ .

Erm 2% is bloody high! Much higher than normal flu.

Sure, it’s a serious thing if you have it. But I think the reaction here is all mass hysteria.

But clearly I’m in the minority!

If people are so concerned with their health, they should maybe look at the death rates of preventable illness - which are MUCH BIGGER killers - like (smoking related) lung cancer or (diet related) heart disease, and make a change there. Don’t stockpile at Tesco because you’re worried about Cornoavirus.

At that assumes HDU beds for all. Many more will not survive if they are unable to be provided with breathing and other life support.

It's 2% of almost all of the population of the United Kingdom in one single year. At once.

It’s 2% of actual cases isn’t it? Not 2% of the population as a whole. Unless I’ve misinterpreted...

Wheretolive4,
Couldn't agree more.

I think the worry is for those vulnerable, the deaths are much higher in high risk categories and most of us would have elderly parents with pre existing conditions or family members that are suffering from stuff like diabetes ect that could end up very ill indeed. Also the fact it spreads so easily and hospitals are not really in a position to deal with how many people might need treatment too. I’m not rocking back and forth in a panic myself, but I can really see why people are worried, especially for others, and themselves if they have health issues. But in saying that, if everyone washes their hands it will go a long way to reducing the spread. Unfortunately not everyone practices good hygiene so it’s pretty inevitable that there will be more cases!

I just read my post back and hope it doesn’t come across as callous

Yes it does sound callous.

If I catch it I may be fine, that’s true. If I inadvertently give it to my mother or grandfather it could easily kill them.

But as long as you’re ok OP then I’m sure the UK as a whole will be tickety boo. Hope you don’t need to be admitted to hospital for something else - because you might not get a bed. Hope you don’t work for the NHS and will face the devastating consequences of an epidemic.

You can probably just work from home now doubt because you have that option. You’ll be just fine OP I’m sure

I work in public health. I think the concern is that actually those very small sounding percentages can have a huge impact on the health care system.

The population of the UK is about 66 million. Worst case scenario says 80% are infected. 15% of these estimated to require hospitalisation and 2% could die.

That’s an extra 8 million people in hospital and 1 million deaths. From an epidemiological perspective, that’s a pretty big deal. Mostly because the health care system is already so stretched due to disinvestment. There already aren’t even beds for normal every day health emergencies. Where will we find an extra 8 million? That’s not including someone’s nan who will die from a stroke because A&E is overflowing.

On an individual level, probably not hugely dangerous to the average person (unless you are asthmatic like me or immune compromised like the patients I work with), but it’s massively frightening on a population level because that’s a lot of extra mortality.

And that's an estimate remember . It doesn't mean at all that 2% of the population Will die from it.

It is thought that 80% could be affected.

Therefore it's 2% (though likely higher) of 80% of the entire population of the UK I'm a single year.

That's a huge death toll.

We have just had our test results back (negative luckily). It took 6 days to get results. This means that the official figures are at least 6 days out of date. It is alot bigger and alot worse than they are saying in my opinion and from our experience over the last few days.

YANBU but YABU posting in AIBU when theres a specific Coronavirus section for these threads

It’s wise to have a high level based on what happened in China. On 23rd January I was at dd’s school in China and there were rumours the virus was spreading. Three days later wearing a mask was compulsory and streets were empty. We watched the numbers go up and up. I think on 6 Feb we had about 20k cases and now it’s over 80k.