Coronavirus · 6:08pm Mar 12th, 2020
Unless you've been hiding under a rock in a cavern far far away, you are aware of the coronavirus pandemic currently going on. All I can say is to repeat what everyone's telling you to do: wash your hands with plenty of warm water and soap, or use hand sanitizer with 60-70% ABV; stay away from crowds; don't cough at people, or touch your face with unwashed hands.
Most of us are young, or at most middle-aged people, and relatively healthy, so the risk of death if we get Covid-19 is low... but most of us also have elderly parents, other family members, friends, neighbors etc., or know young people with lung issues, lowered immune resistance, or other health problems. And they are at a genuine risk. Let's do what we can to keep that risk at minimum, okay?
And remember -- unless we get really lucky, this is not going to be over soon. There is no vaccine yet, and while people are working hard at creating one, it will probably be at least a year before we have anything safe and effective -- and that's if we're lucky. It's a new virus, so there's no herd immunity either, to slow down or stop the spread, so the virus is going to go through the population like a wildfire. And since it's a viral disease, there are very few medicines that can help, and the various treatments with antivirals are still experimental. In short, we're in for a serious time. Pace yourselves, and don't give into despair!
I'll finish with Rarity, who has fabulous and important advice to us all:
Source: LennonBlack on dA
Thankfully for a lot of us it's going to get warm soon. But the big issue right now people are panicing I do understand why. But it's best to stay calm wash your hands clean everything you use and then make sure you buy what you need and not panic buying. Thankfully I got my Toilet paper.
It's no different from a seasonal influenza. Neither was swine flu, avian flu, SARS or the dozen of other similar pandemics. Just please stop being one of the folks fanning panic with your "helpful advice". If you get the bug, stay home until you're well. Other than that, keep on as usual. The mortality rate it the moment is around 0.2%. Even the common cold kills a hundred times more people every year.
I'm just wondering if these pandemics will become a fun thing we get to do every year from now, because the folks in China sure won't stop eating weird stuff, which was the cause for this whole thing anyways...
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The mortality rate for Covid-19 is higher than in common cold or even a normal influenza. And this is important -- influenza kills numerous people, because it spreads very widely. There is unfortunately every likelihood that coronavirus will also spread very widely, because (as I mentioned) there's no pre-existing immunity, no vaccine, and no solid treatment. Most people who get coronavirus won't suffer much, sure. But in just the medium-bad case, there will be a ton of dead people, mostly elderly and/or sick, because projections say 40% to 70% of people are going to get this.
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The exact same results follow from seasonal influenza, to which there is no previous immunity or vaccines either. You can get a flu vaccination, but those are very much hit-and-miss because of the strains used in them are only the most common ones. There is no proof that the mortality rate for corona is higher than other types of influenza.
On the other hand, please consider this: These massive measures being taken will hurt a lot of businesses as they have to close with no ways of getting back the money, causing their employees to suffer as well. The worst affected are low-wage people who already struggle with their jobs, such as in restaurants, transport and public services. The measures will also isolate people causing loads of mental issues from loss of social contacts. Closing down all places for exercise will make people's health drop, which will especially hurt the elderly who can only exercise in indoor locations because of mobility problems, causing their health to deteriorate and the next strain of influenza hit them even harder. Closing down hobby clubs, youth centers and such will cause crime to rise and as people always overreact and panic, there will be looting, robberies and burglaries. And as you probably know, a lot of products we use daily are not local and have to be imported. As borders are being closed and quarantines put into place, there will be shortage of a number of critical products.
In short, shutting down the whole society will have huge repercussions that far outweigh the actual disease. I totally understand that you only menat good with your post, but I work in healthcare and it's been sheer madness when these half-measures and knee-jerk reactions are being taken with no forethought of the aftereffects. I'm sorry for ranting, I guess I just needed to get it out somewhere.