Coronavirus

[Hammer 20,231]

I just had to get this off of my chest.  I commented about this in another thread, but I thought it best to just start it's own thread about this.

 

The coronavirus is a joke.  I mean, sure it exists, but it's not a big deal.  The media is making it a big deal, and I guess they are making it a big deal because there isn't any other big news to report.  The only thing different about the coronavirus and the yearly flu is that no one has ever heard of or seen the coronavirus before.  Just because it's a new virus, doesn't make it dangerous.  The last I heard, it has killed 22 people here in the US.  In the 2017-2018 year, the usual flu resulted in 60,000 deaths in the US.  Did the news report that?  No, but 22 deaths from a new virus that has killed 22 people is a pandemic?  Why are the authorities quarantining people who have the coronavirus, but they are not quarantining people who have the flu?  The flu is much worse than the coronavirus, so why the rush to quarantine people with it?  Doctors can't cure a virus, you just have to let it run it's course, so what's the big deal here?  When the weather starts to warm up, the coronavirus, just like the flu, will die off.  Oh, and just to add, they now are saying that cats can spread the coronavirus, so are they going to quarantine cats?

 

The woman that I go to who cuts my hair said that, she has a customer who had the coronavirus, and he said that it was no where near as bad as the typical flu.  He also didn't understand what all the panic is about, since the coronavirus isn't all that bad.  The only people that are dying from it are people with other health issues that have a weakened immune system...the same type of people that are dying from the flu, so what's the big deal?

[OneEye 1,261]

Pandemics can cause high levels of mortality, with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic being the worst in recorded history;  this pandemic was estimated to be responsible for the deaths of approximately 50–100 million people. In 1918 the population of the USA was 103,208,000 people so...had it just hit here...it would have killed 100% of the people. Is that important? Of course it is. No one knew, in 1918, how to handle a pandemic. Most people had no idea what gasoline was in 1918! Is something that can kill off the planet worth being concerned about? Absolutely!

 

One other thing that's important about this virus, or any virus...is how fast it can spread and overwhelm a population. In 1918 the fastest you could spread a virus was in a boat. Wanna bring someone to the USA in 1918 with a virus from China? About 6 to 18 weeks on a boat. Nowadays? About 2 hours. As fast as this can spread before it's contained and an anti-serum is created...with 8 billion people on the planet the guy that going to give you this flu might as well live upstairs.

 

When it comes to things like this...I don't believe in the term "too careful"!

 

When the weather starts to warm up, the coronavirus, just like the flu, will die off."

 

6th-grade-science update: The earth revolves around the sun at a tilted axle to the sun's surface. About 23.5 degrees. This...is what produces the seasons on the planet. Come this December...when you're freezin' your nutz off in your house...it'll be a nice 70 F in Sydney, Australia.

 

The coronavirus is a joke. Killed 22 people so far!

 

Really, a joke? Only 22? Was your daughter one of them? No? Well then, since it was somebody else...who cares! Yeah, I know...when your neighbors start falling over in their driveways you'll take notice. Until then...it's all math!

 

 

[TX_Clint 20,024]

Infections

COVID-19: Approximately 113,579 cases worldwide; 607 cases in the U.S. as of Mar. 9, 2020.

Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year.

Deaths

COVID-19: Approximately 3,995 deaths reported worldwide; 22 deaths in the U.S., as of Mar. 9, 2020.

Flu: 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.

The COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly. Since this disease is caused by a new virus, people do not have immunity to it, and a vaccine may be many months away. Doctors and scientists are working on estimating the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be higher than that of most strains of the flu.

 

IMHO the insane crying wolf is doing much more damage than the virus itself.

[buddy7 1,397]

The UK Covid-19 death toll rises to 5, the central estimate of deaths is about 100,000... Some of those people would have died anyway of other flu symptoms.

I understand governments have to make us aware, but the last thing they want to do is panic us. In my opinion, that's what they're doing.

[ran23 11,856]

I was reading American Doctor reports out of China.  They are treating the virus with intravenous Vit-C.  As a preventative measure, suggesting 2000 mg .  I do 3000 mg in Liposomal Vit-C, that is closer to intravenous.  'Truth About Cancer.com' is where you can find more abut that. 

[adiantum 37,443]

This site seems to update the tally quicker then others & responds to fresh reloads.

It gives 28 US deaths now.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

Please dont be flippant about old peoples death  in that they wouldve died anyway.

They & their families wouldve felt having their matriarch safe in a nursing home was safe, not allowing for an infected global travelling staff member to pass it on to them.

This resulted in the victims being put into isolation & therefore dying alone without  having their loving family by their side .

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by adiantum

[Hammer 20,231]

I'm not saying that the 28 deaths in the US are not important, I'm saying that, considering that 61,000 people die from the flu every year, 28 deaths isn't a pandemic.  If you look at what the doctors are saying, those people who have died from the coronavirus, had other health issues, and many were elderly people with those health issues.  If you are healthy, the coronavirus won't kill you, it'll just be like a mild case of the flu, which is what one man said it felt like when he had it.  All the people have to do is to practice the same preventative measures that they do every year during flu season.  That, in and of itself, will do more towards preventing oneself from getting the virus, than anything else they can do.  There is no reason to act like this coronavirus is going to wipe out the world's population.  Watch what happens when the weather warms up here in the states....you won't hear anything more about it, just like what happened with the swine flu.

[Hammer 20,231]

Here is a chart that shows you how many people were infected, and how many died from the past few "pandemic" viruses.  They are already saying that the number of cases of the coronavirus in China, which is where this all started, is now declining.

 

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Hammer

[adiantum 37,443]

Coronavirus has officially been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-12/coronavirus-updates-who-declares-pandemic/12047598

 

I think it was the  huge increase in Italy with 196 new deaths taking their total deaths  to 827 

 

The latest Australian to die was a 50yr old woman with diabetes.

[Hammer 20,231]

Thanks for that link Lee.  I still maintain that the coronavirus is NOT a pandemic.  If the WHO is calling those unfortunate 827 deaths from the coronavirus in Italy a pandemic, then what would the WHO call the virus that kills 61,000 people every year here in the US....oh, that's right, the flu, but the flu is not a pandemic.🙄

 

Definition of pandemic:

 an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.

 

Italy has over 60 million people.  Does 827 deaths meet the definition of a pandemic, meaning that it affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population?  That's .00138% of the population of Italy that has died from the coronavirus.  That's one person in every 72,551 people in Italy.  That doesn't seem like a high proportion of the population of Italy to me, so that doesn't meet the definition of a pandemic.

 

I saw my doctor today for my 4 month checkup, and I talked to her about the coronavirus.  She agreed with me in that, the media is making this a big thing, when in fact, it's not.  She agreed with the fact that, when the weather here gets warmer, the coronavirus, like the swine flu and every other flu, will die off.  Next winter, you won't even hear mention of the coronavirus because it's no big deal.  The only reason that it's a big deal now is because doctors have never seen it before, so it's new to them, just like the swine flu was new when it first appeared. 

 

I, in no way, mean to make light of those people who have died from the coronavirus, I am just trying to show people that the coronavirus isn't something to worry about....it's not a pandemic, regardless of what the WHO says.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Hammer

[adiantum 37,443]

Sadly ,I'm sure your wrong this time.

 

Tom Hanks has been admitted to hospital in Australia having been dx with  it according to the local news on Ch9

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tom-hanks-rita-wilson-coronavirus/story?id=69547484

Edited March 12, 2020 by adiantum

[buddy7 1,397]

"President Donald Trump told the nation he was ordering an immediate shut-down of all travel from Europe to the United States".

Think, this time, The Donald is right, more countries should do the same, my view, just eliminate the spreading of the disease.

Now the word Pandemic will put the bejeezus fear into people. Those who never took this Covid-19 virus seriously, will now!

[adiantum 37,443]

7 hours ago, Hammer said:

 

 

Definition of pandemic:

 an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.

 

 

The speed in which this virus has reached all corners of the world with its severity meets your given definition of pandemic.

Is it 2 or 3 weeks since first beginning? then Italy's infected  took the worlds tally to 126+K with almost 5K deaths.

That should not happen in these times.

 

Your reasoning that coronavirus will itself die off in your spring/Summer  doesnt fill me with hope, as its then  we will  head into our Winter .

Already we have 139 cases with 11 deaths. Could it then return to the Northern Hemisphere when it warms up down here?

[Hammer 20,231]

Well, as I mentioned before, the coronavirus is only in the news because it's a new strain of the virus.  I just checked, and this is what I came across, which is what I had mentioned before, comparing the coronavirus to the flu....and this is just as of March of this year:

 

"So far, the new coronavirus has led to more than 100,000 illnesses and more than 3,000 deaths worldwide. But that's nothing compared with the flu, also called influenza. In the U.S. alone, the flu has caused an estimated 34 million illnesses, 350,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

 

The flu is more dangerous than the coronavirus is, but we don't hear anything about that every year, other than, "It's flu season, so make sure you get your flu shot."  There is no panic buying of toilet paper, businesses closing down, meetings canceled, public events canceled, restrictions put on travel, constantly hearing about it  on the news.  Now they say that it can be transmitted by cats, so what are they going to do, quarantine all the cats in the world?  I think this is just so ridiculous....all of the hoopla that is happening over this virus, when it's not as bad as the flu.

[adiantum 37,443]

Maybe it's time we adopted a flu  etiquette & stayed home when infected &  stopped sharing our bugs.

 

I dont know where I got the 11 Australian deaths from as  3 is the total. 

199 cases with 3 deaths

[pcramer1 838]

On 3/9/2020 at 2:27 PM, Hammer said:

I just had to get this off of my chest.  I commented about this in another thread, but I thought it best to just start it's own thread about this.

 

The coronavirus is a joke.  I mean, sure it exists, but it's not a big deal.  The media is making it a big deal, and I guess they are making it a big deal because there isn't any other big news to report.  The only thing different about the coronavirus and the yearly flu is that no one has ever heard of or seen the coronavirus before.  Just because it's a new virus, doesn't make it dangerous.  The last I heard, it has killed 22 people here in the US.  In the 2017-2018 year, the usual flu resulted in 60,000 deaths in the US.  Did the news report that?  No, but 22 deaths from a new virus that has killed 22 people is a pandemic?  Why are the authorities quarantining people who have the coronavirus, but they are not quarantining people who have the flu?  The flu is much worse than the coronavirus, so why the rush to quarantine people with it?  Doctors can't cure a virus, you just have to let it run it's course, so what's the big deal here?  When the weather starts to warm up, the coronavirus, just like the flu, will die off.  Oh, and just to add, they now are saying that cats can spread the coronavirus, so are they going to quarantine cats?

 

The woman that I go to who cuts my hair said that, she has a customer who had the coronavirus, and he said that it was no where near as bad as the typical flu.  He also didn't understand what all the panic is about, since the coronavirus isn't all that bad.  The only people that are dying from it are people with other health issues that have a weakened immune system...the same type of people that are dying from the flu, so what's the big deal?

Hammer man, it ain't no joke!!

[meyery2k 27,851]

My belief is that the pandemic bell has been rung.  Can't unring it.  We haven't seen much of it here in Hawaii but, I believe, it must be incubating here.  We see so much travel to and from areas that have many cases.

 

Some interesting reading about a seemingly counterintuitive approach to the 1918 influenza pandemic.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504358/ 

[janice21475 12,081]

On 3/11/2020 at 11:13 PM, adiantum said:

Sadly ,I'm sure your wrong this time.

 

Tom Hanks has been admitted to hospital in Australia having been dx with  it according to the local news on Ch9

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tom-hanks-rita-wilson-coronavirus/story?id=69547484

My 'faith' in Tom Hanks actually having the virus is very low. I think, "how Like them" to trot out a famous movie star to reinforce the illusion and add to the panic. 

 

[adiantum 37,443]

Most of our cases are from USA.

The latest death last night was of an aged woman that caught it from her daughter that had visited her  upon arrival of US

[ran23 11,856]

My county has 2 reports, no deaths so far.  staying put. 

[ran23 11,856]

I was the only one at the Post Office to mail a package.   nice

[dowling gram 6,391]

Hammer--some info for you. Anyone with a compromised immune system is going to get very sick and perhaps die if they get any virus-- flu or coronavirus. This is why in the last couple of years doctors have started immunizing seniors  and others against the 2 most prevalent pneumonias that seniors get. But that does nothing for this virus nor does getting a flu shot..

 

I had the flu in Jan. and never had it go into my lungs and that's the difference between your average flu and coronavirus. flu may or may not cause pneumonia.Coronavirus attacks the lungs first and that's what makes it more dangerous than regular flu.

 

Coronavirus is new to this side of the world and precautions are being taken. The toll in Italy is nothing compared to China and hopefully what our governments are doing to prevent the spread we won't see our people fairing as badly as other countries

[ran23 11,856]

Do we know what the US doctor's are using to treat this virus?    I read that Chinese doctor's are using high dose Intravenous Vit-C (reported by US Doctors there).  

[adiantum 37,443]

A few countries are  working on drugs designed to treat Malaria & HIV but there not cleared for human trials on corona yet.

 

Looking at the figures, I'm impressed with China's control having  71,740 people recovered , so theyre doing something right.

 

Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths	New Deaths	Total Recovered	Active Cases	Serious, Critical	Tot Cases/ 1M pop
China	81,008	+41	3,255	+7	71,740	6,013	1,927	56

[dowling gram 6,391]

3 hours ago, ran23 said:

Do we know what the US doctor's are using to treat this virus?    I read that Chinese doctor's are using high dose Intravenous Vit-C (reported by US Doctors there).  

 

I never heard of vit-C and I doubt it would work. They are talking about a special Malaria drug but have no idea if it will work or if it will cause more complications. They are only going to try it as a last resort. There is no drug yet for Coronavirus. As far as I know they are treating the symptoms and using ventilators to help with breathing problems. The most crucial symptom of Covid 19 is to the lungs and difficulty breathing so getting oxygen there is essential. I heard 1 man who has recovered saying it was like trying to breathe through a straw. Not something I'd like to do so I'm taking lots of precautions

 

Our grocery has seniors only shopping from 8AM to 9AM. The grocery stores are limiting customers and sanitizing buggies and counters often. In addition they give you sanitizing wipes at the door. I bought 2 weeks of groceries last weekend and I'll go at the end of this week and stock up again and get my mail being careful to stay 2 meters behind anyone.  I'm careful not to touch my face and I wash my hands for 20 seconds when I get home. I put away my groceries and wash my hands again. Then I stay in my house or on my front porch. I've found things to do when housebound and I talk to my sisters, son and grandsons on skype or the phone as well as friends and neighbours. The only way to get rid of this virus is to take all precautions to keep yourself safe. The more people who get it the longer it will take.