Something doesn't add up to me

[Greysparkles]

If the virus is as contagious as claimed by some, as in you'll catch it from sitting on the same patch of grass someone else has, or just walking through where someone sneezed earlier.

Why haven't more of us got it??

1. You are wildly unlikely to catch it from a patch of grass. That's not the point of the distancing measures and the weirdos telling people off for sitting on grass are only distracting from the real risk which is close contact. 2) Yes, there are between 5 and 10 times as many cases as there are recorded. Article in German press suggested globally only 6% of cases have been found. So that does make the death rate relatively less bad , but due to the difficulty in identifying who is infectious, will also continue to drive the death rate in absolute terms.

From the way I understand it, a significant percentage of people will have already had it with virtually no symptoms - say maybe a bit feverish for a day, that cough people had in January....I’ve got several friends (and myself) who were really ill around Christmas - a few days in bed, nasty throats, coughs, fatigue, fever....all the components. None of us will know if that was it though unless they finally get us all tested!

@Bluntness100 Do you have a source for that German study - I am very interested to read more about that.

Most of us probably have got/had the virus. I remember the government talking about herd immunity and that 80% of us would get it.

However for the vast majority the symptoms are mild to non-existent. So those that have been saying it's no worst than flu seem to have got it right on the whole.

In Austria, when they tested a random selection of people, only 1% had it. So I'm not sure it really is that contagious.

We should be able to tell if things like sitting on the same grass as someone who's had it is a significant risk by asking the South Koreans who have been tracing infections.

I suspect all the talk by the government about the possibility of harsher rules is to deflect from the fact they are unable to provide enough testing kits or PPE or a whole range of other things that would actually be more effective.

Oh don't get me started on testing and PPE!

A friend of mine tested positive 3 weeks ago. She's a nurse and had very mild symptoms. Went into 2 weeks of isolation at home but had full contact with her husband and 2 young kids. None of them has showed any symptoms at all. So either they were all asymptomatic, or none of them got it despite living 24/7 in the same house as someone who has it?

There's a lot of urban myths being spread on social media in particular about how the virus is spread. Like it lasting on shoes for 5 days😂😂

Just listen to the science. Nowhere does it say it lives on grass, or you'll catch it if you happen to walk through the air space of someone else who has it.

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-rate/

Worldometer says 3.4% compared to flu 1%.

20% asymptomatic, 20% need medical help. 5% need ventilator. 2.5-3.5% die.

I would bet absolutely everything I have that you positively and definitely cannot catch this virus from sitting on grass. It is also not possible to catch it by passing through an area where someone has sneezed a few minutes before, especially outdoors, because that's not how fucking physics works (pardon my french but seriously I wonder at the sheer stupidity sometimes). Future generations will look back and think we were total braindead idiots for the way this thing has gone. When I read about people quarantining mail I just wonder how the human race has made it this far.

www.spectator.co.uk/article/covid-antibody-test-in-german-town-shows-15-per-cent-infection-rate-0-4pc-death-rate

reason.com/2020/04/09/preliminary-german-study-shows-a-covid-19-infection-fatality-rate-of-about-0-4-percent/

These articles both talk about the German study which found about 15% infection rate.

I find it all weird. Why would the same virus cause no symptoms in one person, a mild bout of coughing in another, and rapid decline & death in another? Why did Boris nearly die and Prince Charles, who is in his seventies, recovered quickly without complications?

Does this happen with other diseases? Do we get 'mild' diphtheria?

I think that science does not understand viruses very well, and how our immune systems react to them. Either that or there are different strains of this thing. The lack of clarity is the most scary thing.

I just discovered that we can, after all, get mild diphtheria...weird!

I think that science does not understand viruses very well, and how our immune systems react to them
I agree with this^
Does this happen with other diseases? Do we get 'mild' diphtheria?
Good point, my feeling is that susceptibility to developing an illness after to exposure to an infectious organism depends on multiple interacting factors.

It is also not possible to catch it by passing through an area where someone has sneezed a few minutes before, especially outdoors

The science so far - and there is still much more to learn - suggests the virus is rarely transmitted by aerosols so I would agree highly unlikely to catch it in the air from where someone has sneezed a few minutes before. There have been a few small studies suggesting the virus could become airborne over a longer period in badly ventilated small areas with air conditioning systems or any climate control that affects air flow.

Severity of illness all to do with Viral load and your own immune system. What doesn't add up is the ridiculous story cooked up by the chinese government about how it started.

Its just so weird isn't it.

We think dss (15) has had it. Didn't isolate him in the house. The rest of us (4) have had pretty much no symptoms other than I've had a slight tickly cough

I just want to know for sure.

Tootletum "the weirdos telling people off for sitting on grass" lol that was nothing to do with catching it from the grass. It was about going out for the minimum time only and keeping away from other people. Some idiots were making a day of it. Sitting in groups, strolling into shops to buy drinks/snacks and so no.

One of the reasons people have different outcomes from viruses is that immune systems react differently @jackdawdawn. Some of it is genetic, some of it is about past medical history and some of it is just luck - a very run down person will struggle more than someone who is doing well. From what I've read, the issue for a lot of people is that their immune system goes into overdrive, which can cause their lungs to become inflamed and their organs to shut down. Also some people get fluid on their lungs with then gets infected with bacteria causing bacterial pneumonia - so they have two illnesses rather than one, in effect. People's response to illness always varies enormously - for some people measles can cause almost no symptoms, for others it can be fatal.

My sister was diagnosed with it, and she was completely asymptomatic. Never developed any symptoms. So, we will never know how many people have had it, we only hear about those who are seriously ill or die.

Telling people off for sitting on grass was about ensuring that nobody looks like they're enjoying themselves too much. It's exceptionally petty and idiotic behaviour.

Science knows a lot about viruses .Yes there are different strains of some like flu for example and as others have said viral load makes a difference. Also the immune system varies from person to person and from day to day depending on multiple factors.

Then there are other health conditions that will make it better or worse for you. Previous breathing problems for example.

Can the people who think this has been around since January and that a lot of us will have already had it mildly please explain to me why we now have this huge amount of people dying right now. We didn't in Jan/Feb. please.

There appears to be a misunderstanding around risk - just because you can catch it a certain way, doesn't mean you will. Even for something well understood, like HIV, it's possible that some people have sex with a person who is HIV positive without catching it - that doesn't detract from it being risky behaviour.

If Tom coughs near ten people, three might catch it from him, but we don't know which three. Therefore Tom should stay in and cough in his elbow.

I don't think we've had it over Christmas, which a lot of us spent with elderly relatives without killing them off. The trees you can make of small genetic changes all suggest the UK cases branched off from Italy in exactly the way it's assumed.

@Greysparkles some experts think that 50% of the population have it or had it.

That is why it is important to stay away from people.

In some people it progresses and becomes a serious lung infection leading to death.

Everyone has a different immune system.

No one can predict how they will react to it.

You and your DH may have had it. You won't know.

That's not hard to understand.