The thing that most people don’t understand about the Coronavirus

[Notcontent]

I am not panicking about the Coronavirus but I am getting a bit annoyed at the people who keep saying that it’s not a big deal. What people don’t seem to understand is that:

• even 1% is actually quite a nigh mortality rate;
• it’s been estimated that while MOST people get mild symptoms about 10% ( could be higher ) need medical intervention;
• if it gets out of control and 10% of people who get it need medical help, there is no way that the NHS could cope.

The NHS is already very stretched but it can just about cope with dealing with medical emergencies. If there was a sudden dramatic increase, there is no way it would be able to cope. There is no health care system in the world that can cope with larger numbers of people suddenly getting sick.

🥱

Most people know this.

This is people are panicking.

whats the bit most people dont understand?? as this is common knowledge and has been since thread 2 of the coronavirus main thread which is now on thread 15!

Do most people know this though? There's an awful lot of denial going on, here and elsewhere on the internet. 'It's no worse than flu' etc.

I think there's a big rush to castigate people for panicking, without accepting just how potentially dangerous this virus could be.

MN is panicking enough for the whole world.

Here’s a thought OP

Some of us have been expecting something like this for ages

And thought it would be a lot worse

Humans don’t seem keen to sort overpopulation so is it a surprise that nature might want to intervene?

Also, some of us who are immunocompromised and wash our hands like Lady Macbeth as a matter of course, don’t really feel a lot different

And this situation is probably not that bad.if overpopulation continues, it will get a lot worse.

My mother is 82 and in poor health and my cousin is in his 40s with drastic health problems. He didn’t even pay into a pension because he thought he’d be dead ages ago.

So there’s a lot of us going “meh” for a range of reasons. I just really want the panic buying to stop. I’m okay with preppers who stocked up over time in an organised way. But the selfish panic buyers - who apparently never had a stock of soap, what were they doing all this time? - are pissing me off.

I’m 44. I expect to see far worse epidemics. I’m living normally through this one. If it’s cholera, sure, I’ll stay home. But otherwise, no.

Biggest chance I have is pneumonia which I’ve had twice and is a risk that always hangs over me.

Everyone who posts on MN in the Coronavirus topic gets all that already.

Facebook is where you need to spell it out!

Oh, I’d also stay home if it was Necrotising fasciitis.

I’ve seen a member of the family with that and I thank the plastic surgeons everyday for the job they did. She never talks about it because it’s too fucking traumatic.

I live alone. I’ve had pneumonia, spinal injury...yes I had help from friends which I might not get this time, but it will be okay.

Can they put some diazepam in the water? I think people need to calm down. And it helps me sleep 😂

I can't help but roll my eyes hard whenever someone comes out with something as patronising as 'what most people don't understand is...'

I agree. It's not about personal risk unless you are in a high risk group.
This is about delay now and flattening the curve of infections so that the most severely unwell are able to get the care they need.

This doesn't just affect the NHS it affects all the systems we rely on and without which society breaks down. All of our public systems have had 10 years of austerity and are already cut to the bone. None of our public services are in a good place to absorb the shock of this new threat.

Social care worries me the most at the moment.

Sorry - I didn’t mean to sound patronising. It’s just that most of the people I speak to say things like “what’s the big deal, it’s just the flu”, etc.

OP “ It’s just that most of the people I speak to say things like “what’s the big deal, it’s just the flu”, etc.”

Well, good, they aren’t stockpiling all the canned food then!

If they get more ill than they expect- well, it happens to most of us.

I don’t know what happened, Londoners used to be much saner than this.

Leave people to deal with it in their own way and stop trying to promote panic.

There are entire teams of experts whose job it is to work out the best way to deal with this. They have said to carry on as normal with increased hand washing. Most people I know have taken that on board. When they say something different then I imagine people will take that on board.

Constantly talking about how desperately terrible and worrying it is is achieving nothing apart from stressing a lot of people out unnecessarily. At this rate I think the worry will do more harm than the virus.

I agree. I've spent the day with people who said normal flu is just as bad and they don't understand the fuss. One is a an a&e nurse!. It's a lack of understanding of pathophysiology and immunisology.

Nobody should be panicking. Everybody should be thinking about what they can do to slow down the spread of this virus so our services have a better chance of coping.

What gets me is all those people saying ‘it’s no worse than flu’. Have they even had flu? REAL flu? Or are they one of those people that call a bad cold flu? Real flu is fucking awful. I had it 14 years ago and I still freeze in fear at the thought of ever getting it again. I’ve never felt more ill in my life. Practically unconscious for 3 days, the fever, delirious, the horrific pain in every millimetre of your body, then another almost 2 weeks to feel marginally normal.
There’s a reason why this country have spent millions of pounds developing the flu vaccine. It’s a God damn disgusting virus, even for the fit and healthy. It kills.
Anyway, off topic of Coronavirus a little, but the comments of ‘no worse than flu’ are silly.

My entire family just had flu. They were I'll with a temp of 40 for between 4 and 7 days, and then weak/not eating/ in bed all the time for another five days. None of them have their appetite back properly yet, even though it's been a couple of weeks.
Flu isn't all that benign, it can be really bad.

Ha! A huge x-post there cuppa!

It’s a huge deal and I am horrified about the relaxed stance of so many. Watch the body language and facial expressions of all the professionals giving out information on TV. That tells the real story/ truth. Be ready and be prepared-

One of the most important messages I have heard a number of times over the last couple of days is that most people who get the virus will make a complete recovery.

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Couldn’t give a shite tbh - if we all die we die !

This is what the director general of the world health organisation says:

Leadership from the top: We call on country leaders to mobilize their plans, coordinating every part of government, not just the health ministry – security, diplomacy, finance, commerce, transport, trade, information and more – the whole government should be involved. #COVID19

We're concerned that in some countries the level of political commitment & the actions that demonstrate that commitment don't match the level of the threat we all face. This is
NOT a drill
NOT the time to give up
NOT a time for excuses
This is a time for pulling out all the stops

twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1235635005415739393

@LittleRootie yes most people get better but thos of us who have underlying illnesses or are older may die. Also some randomly younger healthy people will die. And not next year but in the next couple of months so that is sad and worrying.