Shit just got real.

[blackandwhitespottydog]

Have been very thankful for the news that there’s not been a single positive result for Coronavirus in our whole large county.
Until today, when not only has someone got a positive result, they’ve also died.
It’s a town 10 minutes away from me.
How can someone have died when a county of hundreds of thousands doesn’t have a single positive result?
Clearly there’s thousands of people walking around who would test positive if they were tested.
So scary.

Oh definitely! I live in probably one of the most international cities in the country and we have two cases....yeah, right...

Sorry to hear that, it's a worry isn't it. There must be more cases than data is showing. Realistically, think of the number of 'famous' people that have tested positive; a few sports people, Justin Trudeaus wife, Tom Hanks and wife, Trump has been tested; statistically with the relatively low global numbers that would be quite a coincidence. I know they are higher than ideal, but compared to the global population it is far more likely that there are substantially more cases.

Footage on our local fb page (briefly before it was pulled) of an ambulance parked outside a local home, with a figure in full white coverup suit and facemask going into the house. Of course, it could be for another reason, but the fact that the next day it confirmed that there's a case in our authority means it could well have been identified in our time.

Not panic inducing - as it was only a matter of time.

Yes agree with the coincidence of lots of famous people having positive results.
Very odd that out of 250,000 in our county there’s not been a single positive case. Until now apparently.

Can I be nosey and ask which country you live in?
There can't be many countries where there hasn't been a single case until now, but the figures suggest that it's spreading much faster now

County not country!

If it's only just got real to you know, you haven't been paying attention. Imagine sitting sanguinely by while Spain, France, Italy etc literally shut down their own country, but then taking it seriously because someone in your local town got affected.

LizB62A county, not country

On Thursday I was asking my employers to pull us out of the hospital setting where we work as we are non essential staff ( kind of) and job could be done by phone. they refused on the basis that there had only been two positive case in the county. Now it has been confirmed that one patient has died of CV at the hospital we work from. Hoping on Monday we may be removed from the hospital.

Aha ! Sorry !
I was wondering as even San Marino has got 80 cases and that's tiny

We've had a few cases here (we're just inside the M25)

As they are only testing once someone gets critical they are only ever talking about confirmed cases. Of course there are a lot more. Behave as if there are a lot more now, not when you hear of people you know getting it.

@Loppy10 I don't think that's unusual to be honest. It's one thing to feel empathetic and shocked or worried about what is going on abroad, quite another when it finally arrives on your doorstep. People aren't exactly upset or worried about Ebola still killing people in the ROC are they, as there's a very slim chance it will come over here, and we could probably treat it.

I’ve been reading the news obsessively. And panicking about it.
But just been thankful up until now that it’s not been too close to home.

OP

So it only gets real once it’s in your town? That’s kind of.....weird.

Theres 1000s of undiagnosed cases, I thought we all knew this?

It’s been very real to me. I think I’ve been worrying more than most to be honest! Everyone here seems pretty blasé about it, perhaps because it’s not been in our vicinity. Perhaps now they’ll take it more seriously.

This is how blasé my immediate friends and family are... my 83 year old aunt caught a flight to France yesterday. And she has asthma controlled by daily inhalers.

People are not being routinely tested, this virus is everywhere. There are thousands of people with it, they may never know they had it, because there’s no testing here. It is very real.

It's probably best to assume everyone has it now. The only control you have it to protect yourself. Keep your distance, wash hands, don't touch your face etc

We are not socialising at all. I work from home. Dh is going into the office by car. He has a small team and they all are being super careful.

Dd is secondary age and very careful. When she gets home from school her coat, bag and shoes stay in the porch, uniform straight off and straight in the washing machine and she goes straight in the shower. She is socialising a bit but mainly just see a friend to walk the dog together outside.

As a family we have quick hugs holding heads away from each other. Sprays and wipes everywhere. Everyone is responsible for cleaning after themselves.

It seems a bit nuts but it feels good to have some control over it.

OP your aunt is being blasé

She’s making an active choice, just like my 82 year old mother.

Isn’t being blasé that should say!
Oh dear.

Op, the fact that there's thousands of undiagnosed cases should be very reassuring.it means that their symptoms are mild and they haven't needed any hospital treatment. It also means the death rate is lower than is being reported.

It's a really stressful time I know but remember the risk to you personally is very low.

The only way I'm maintaining any vestiges of sanity is thinking that there are probably a lot more people infected than we know, so the death rate isn't quite as bad as it looks.

But OP, that is ONE death.......and the person would more than likely have died soon anyway of underlying health conditions. Look in your local paper and see how many people in your area died on the same day perhaps?

Many hundreds of thousands of people have cold/flu symptoms over winter. Perhaps loads are CV19 without ever knowing it. No point in testing everyone - it's too commonplace. It's the new normal.

I don't think it's unusual for people to get the seriousness of a situation until it hits close to home.

Think of the mixed messages that we are being given. Keep Calm and Carry On washing your Hands vs the rest of the Western World shutting down.

As I have just said on another thread, you can't know whether anyone in your county has got coronavirus. People with symptoms are told not to contact 111 or their doctor, just self-isolate for 14 days. So there is no way anyone can know how many in their area have coronavirus. Some people are asymptomatic but can still pass it on as well. So how can anyone know how many in their county have coronavirus and how many of those that have are in their local shop/passing them walking their dog/have touched a hard surface in the last 3 days which infects you before you can get home and wash your hands?