To have not done anything about the c virus?

[bingbangbing]

Despite a member of my household being in an at risk group?

We always washed our hands anyway.

We haven't bought hand sanitiser. We haven't started stockpiling. We're still going to work etc

I think the current coverage is irresponsible. It's mainly causing people with underlying anxiety issues to panic.

YABU, I understand people thinking this is media hysteria, swine flu, ebola, and many others were exaggerated. For example Ebola was never going to spread in the UK because it requires close contact.

This virus is different if you look at how China has reacted it is virtually unprecedented. At one poiny 700mil people were locked down.

Is this virus the deadliest and most serious thing we have ever seen no.

Is it just the flu and everyone needs to calm down no.

The truth is between the two.

@sleepingpup

Buying paracetamol and other shit that you don't actually need, means that there is less for those who do.

That's actual, genuine harm.

Whipping up panic worsens peoples anxiety, genuine harm.

It's a pointless, media led panic.

The truth is between the two.

Yes

I guess we all have to do what's right for us. I've been slowly prepping for a month or so for the following reasons:

I feel more relaxed knowing I've got extras in, I've been in the position in the past twice where everyone has been out panic buying and our local Tescos has been stripped bare by the time I've gone in.

Also, wanted to ensure I had the basic medical supplies in for my family in case of worst case scenario.

Not expecting someone else to spend extra time doing my shopping if we're in isolation (when most people will want to limit time out in public)

Being considerate to other people, trying not to spread it myself.

Also, the delay scenario the government keep on about. Keeping pressure of the NHS and spreading the thing out, and hoping everyone can have the treatment they need.

Buying paracetamol and other shit that you don't actually need,

But Like many other people I think I do need to have paracetamol ready.

@KahlanRahl the flu season starts in October each year here in UK. Each flu kills the vulnerable ( elderly, very young, chronically sick, immune suppressed) so we do have an idea. As yet we dint know how many people will die from this new coronavirus

I'm more worried that schools will close and as a result I wont be able to work. Technically I work from home so would be able to continue, reality is that working with a bored 5 yr old in the house would be impossible unless I just shift to working all evening when DH is home.

I also need paracetamol. Why are people panic buying that?
Do people ever actually listen to serious news programmes? India has restricted the export of ingredients used to make many common drugs. There are worldwide shortages.

I have no idea how this will all pan out ( and I've seen all the stats yes ) but if there's a chance someone in my family is going to get a contagious flu I'm going to get paracetamol in.

How weird is that? Really?

Whipping up panic worsens peoples anxiety, genuine harm.

Well, OP, have you stopped to think that by starting another thread about coronavirus you are contributing to this?

So you are comparing the death rate of a virus which has only just got here with that of seasonal flu which has been going since October. And a those ol' epidemiologist and doctors out there know less than you?

OK .

@sleepingpup
Im glad someone agrees! Its neither the end of the world or 'just the flu'.

Every year we get a new flu virus. That's why we have a new vaccination.

Not exactly. They aren’t always completely new. There is global surveillance to watch out for new strains that have the potential to cause a pandemic. e.g. the novel H1N1 strain in 2009.

The vaccinations aren’t entirely new every year either. The H1N1 strain from 2009 was used in vaccines for years afterwards. It might still be one of the A strains in the current vaccine.

And there isn’t a vaccine for this virus. Nor is there likely to be fit at least another year. Which means nobody has any immunity to it.

This virus has a higher death rate than flu. It is a new virus and we dont know a lot about it yet.

I actually think the gov are not doing enough to contain it tbh. We need stricter measures.

Anyway, I have stocked up, I actually went out last week and spent a fortune on tinned and dried good, toiletries and stocked the freezer. We have enough to last a good few months if there are supply problems or if we get ill and cannot go out/have to isolate.

If other people don't want to do that, fine, they might find they run into problems later on. I have peace of mind that I have done what I can to protect myself and my family.

@BaileysforBreakfast

So there is a shortage of paracetamol so people who might need it (and it's such a tiny might) are buying it.

That's actually despicable when there are people who genuinely need it to function.

Sure there will be other examples but this mad panic is not helping anyone.

My anxiety is going through the roof because of it!

Stockpiling is selfish, there are people on limited budgets who shop little & often who can not afford to bulk buy, also elderly people who can only manage to buy small amounts to carry home.
Also the mass buying of soap/sanitiser; did these ppl not wash their hands before now?

I'm doing nothing either. The reaction is completely over the top.

And with all the soaps and hand gels being sold out in shops it really makes me wonder how scummy people must be when there isn't a viral infection doing the rounds. No wonder corona is spreading so fast, people are disgusting.

Panic buying is utterly selfish and needless.

It displays the worst tendencies of so many people in this bloody country. I cannot stand this fuck the rest of you I will strip the shelves like a locust in case I get a virus for a fortnight mentality. The same people who fill up their massive car with fuel even though they are going nowhere in a fuel shortage either a mile queue behind them.

It won’t stop people getting the virus

It won’t improve your individual survival rate. That is already predetermined by a variety of factors which have nothing to do with paracetamol or loo rolls or long life milk

In answer to your question @bingbangbing I am doing precisely the same as you. As most healthy normal adults and children should be.

@bingbangbing

So there is a shortage of paracetamol so people who might need it (and it's such a tiny might) are buying it.

" tiny"

That's actually despicable when there are people who genuinely need it to function.

get a grip OP.

Do you leave buying sanitary protection till the day you come on?

@Kordda I couldn’t agree more

Have they not bought soap and hand wash before?
There amount of adults who I see on a daily basis who either don’t ever wash their hands or who flash them under a cold tap is far more terrifying to me than another virus

I think the Coronavirus threads are getting very alarmist and it’s almost like a competition about who is more worried, stressed, who has the most tenuous connection to a place where a case has been.

Conspiracy theories about how the virus is a biological weapon designed to wipe out the old and weak..

There’s a sense of excitement when the 2pm updates are due, refreshing, demanding updates on numbers..

All very distasteful I think.

As you've pointed out @bingbangbing there is no mad panic here, most people are just carrying on like normal, just like you.

As for India, they stopped being a colony a while back. If they choose to keep the drugs they produce for their own population, that is up to them. If you cant get paracetamol when you need it cause everyone else had the foresight to get a couple of packets in whilst they could (you cant buy more than 2 packets at a time so it's not like people are filling their trolleys) then that is down to you.

It's a free country. Make your choices and live with them.

It’s like some of those utterly tragic No Deal Brexit threads on here. The ones with people filling sheds with long life food and toothpaste.