Coronavirus: COVID-19

[WilshireBoulevard 5,420]

i know it's not that serious, (for myself anyway, i'm an otherwise healthy teen thankfully) but i'm a huge hypochondriac and i'm def scared of catching it

 

Oh same, I think it's entirely natural to be worried about it when it's on the news so much. It's reminding me of when swine flu was a thing and churches stopped having communal wine and handshaking (at least where I live). People always react more to new things - it's not like other diseases can't be spread those ways, but with the news and social media just stirring up trouble and fear-mongering, it's natural to be worried I hope you don't get too down about it though!

[Party Party 3,532]

Oh same, I think it's entirely natural to be worried about it when it's on the news so much. It's reminding me of when swine flu was a thing and churches stopped having communal wine and handshaking (at least where I live). People always react more to new things - it's not like other diseases can't be spread those ways, but with the news and social media just stirring up trouble and fear-mongering, it's natural to be worried I hope you don't get too down about it though!

thank you! i'm not too worried, but i'm def on the lookout

[maxthehitman 1,729]

... 

[Ultra Violet 18,959]

i'd try not to worry too much - lots of people have recovered, it's mainly babies, older people and people with serious pre-existing health conditions that will be badly affected. of course that's awful too, but as many as 61,000 people die from the regular flu each year and nobody worries too much about that. just keep washing your hands as much as you can, take your vitamins and drink plenty of water 

 

As much as this is true, we should all be taking further measures, more than we usually do when there's regular colds going round. Even if you don't die or get super super ill, you could spread it to someone who does die.

When the swine flu was going around in 2009/10? I knew of two perfectly healthy young adults that died from it. So if I got the coronovirus, as a healthy young adult, id still be really worried. 

I guess I just know of a lot of people who have died from the regular flu too .my mum and sister worked at a special school where the kids will actually die from a regular cold cold as a lot of them have had weak immune systems from birth, and one of their favourite students did die. And it was really hard on the staff after that, like they all knew who was sick at the time and most likely passed it to this poor kid (he was 11), but we're trying not to blame anyone. 

I also don't visit my grandparents when I'm sick or have recently been sick because I know they could possibly die if they got sick at their age too.

I would love everyone to actually get used to really good hygiene because of this, rather than just go on as normal without a care. We should all get used to it. Not saying everyone is absolutely shit at it currently, but we all need to take responsibility because a time will come when all of our lives actually depend on it. 

[maxthehitman 1,729]

...

[Ultra Violet 18,959]

So I was doing some personal research this morning after the WHO update.
I fell down the rabbit hole of what most people call "conspiracy" and "fear mongering" but it seems for real.
Like the videos of people just lying dead on the street in Wuhan, nurses crying and shouting that they can't take it anymore because so many are dying. Nurses saying over recorded phone calls that the deaths are over 100,000 but it's being covered up, and that the government has not been helping with lack of supplies or anything... Idk. 10,000  dead I could believe. But maybe not 100,000 without Wuhans citizens actually realising.
The spread rate is so high now that the reported cases alone are growing exponentially.
And we all know that there are so many more cases than what is being detected. It's probably more than triple.

[WilshireBoulevard 5,420]

So I was doing some personal research this morning after the WHO update.

I fell down the rabbit hole of what most people call "conspiracy" and "fear mongering" but it seems for real.

Like the videos of people just lying dead on the street in Wuhan, nurses crying and shouting that they can't take it anymore because so many are dying. Nurses saying over recorded phone calls that the deaths are over 100,000 but it's being covered up, and that the government has not been helping with lack of supplies or anything... Idk. 10,000  dead I could believe. But maybe not 100,000 without Wuhans citizens actually realising.

The spread rate is so high now that the reported cases alone are growing exponentially.

And we all know that there are so many more cases than what is being detected. It's probably more than triple.

 

Were the videos with subtitles or could you understand what they were saying? I'm not discounting you, but it's important to remember that bad faith actors get kicks from spreading yellow peril ideas. Even mainstream media often publishes outlandish things as facts, citing websites / articles that don't source their information. 

 

Also kind of off-topic but for any Americans, is the flu vaccination free there?

[Ultra Violet 18,959]

Were the videos with subtitles or could you understand what they were saying? I'm not discounting you, but it's important to remember that bad faith actors get kicks from spreading yellow peril ideas. Even mainstream media often publishes outlandish things as facts, citing websites / articles that don't source their information. 

 

Also kind of off-topic but for any Americans, is the flu vaccination free there?

 

Yeah this is why I'm still on the edge about it, cause it was subtitled videos, but they are the same videos that were taken down from the original posters. 

I'm just wondering why we haven't seen more footage from inside hospitals treating patients, showing that it is calm and that most patients are okay. 

 

I'm not sure about America but you can usually get it free in Australia. 

[13bitches 6,176]

Re: flu vaccine, I’m honestly not sure. If it isn’t then my (mom’s) insurance covered mine

[maxthehitman 1,729]

... 

[daphnedinkley 13,467]

now that it's hit the UK it does make me a tad more anxious, but i do think that ultimately things will turn out okay.

 

keep your hands washed, and definitely don't eat or rub your eyes with unclean hands. this virus essentially causes pneumonia, so it's best to keep your immune system as well boosted as you can through a good diet and vitamin supplements; some people have died from this virus, but many have recovered, even without any cure or antibiotics. the vast majority of those who sadly passed away were older or already in poor health. personally my immune system is terrible (i have anaemia, a poor diet because of my job, i'm an alcoholic so i have very little vitamin B6 in my system and i'm deeply prone to stress) so i'm making an extra effort now to keep my vitals up, just in case for most of us, our bodies should be able to fight this thing. that's if we even get it, which most of us won't - but in the unlikely event that we do it doesn't need to be devastating, our bodies will be doing a lot of work to get rid of it so it might seem scary but with the support of good healthcare systems that many of us have and a little pre-planning, it shouldn't be so scary.

 

some good vitamins for protecting and boosting your immune system include:

 

• Vitamin C - found in citrus fruits, strawberries, spinach, kale and others
• Vitamin E - found in lots of nuts (including almonds, peanuts, etc) and spinach and broccoli
• Vitamin B6 - found in bananas, lean chicken breast, chickpeas and others

and of course keep your iron up too if possible! there are tonnes of supplements out there for those of us who don't get enough vitamins thru our food.

 

also... at risk of sounding like a crazy conspiracy-driven freak, it's kinda important to remember that january is a very slow news month and pandemics are incredible clickbait. i'm not downplaying the severity of this virus and i think it's something we absolutely should be paying attention to, but also remember that part of the reason news outlets are reporting on this so much is because it makes gripping news, which leads to engagement and is basically guaranteed money. i've seen some utterly ridiculous headlines blowing things way out of proportion for the sake of clickbait, but of course i've also seen a number of rational, balanced news reports too, so it's good to differentiate while also being aware of how the news industry works.

 

ironically though, i am about to quote from a news outlet  i read this in the guardian and it put things into perspective for me:

 

"We don’t yet know how dangerous the new coronavirus is, and we won’t know until more data comes in. The 170 deaths from about 7,700 reported cases means the mortality rate is around 2%. However, this is likely to be an overestimate since many more people are likely to have been infected by the virus but not suffered severe enough symptoms to attend hospital, and so have not been counted. For comparison, seasonal flu typically has a mortality rate below 1% and is thought to cause about 400,000 deaths each year globally."

 

i thought that was a really succinct way of describing the current state of things, though we don't know exactly the mortality rate yet as it's not been long enough.

 

clearly i'm no expert but i do believe that many countries are adequately prepared to deal with this situation and any cases as and when they come. we're learning more every day and the WHO declaring this an emergency means there will be more funding and more attention paid to this situation. don't panic, just keep an eye on your own health. ring up your doctors for an over-the-phone appointment if you're feeling unwell but worried about going outside, or ring 111 if you're in the UK.

 

stay safe everyone 

[Charlottexseax 7,942]

I'm not scared? Like, at all

 

Idk it just seems so stupid to me. It's not deadly, people are recovering, like... chill. 

[Mind Melt 10,095]

i am starting this off by saying im not rly worried or anything but the US human to human transmission happened quite close to me

[daphnedinkley 13,467]

I'm not scared? Like, at all

 

Idk it just seems so stupid to me. It's not deadly, people are recovering, like... chill. 

i'm not too stressed either tbh, i think the main thing that worries people is how new it is and how we won't know for another roughly 14 days just how bad it's actually gonna be. i think it'll work out okay tho, i lived thru swine flu and ebola so...

[Formation 4,191]

Being in Chicago, it is a little weird that it's technically so close. I don't think it'll end up being a worldwide problem in a few months, but it's good that it's making people more aware of their health and probably will stop other more common things from being spread due to fear (at least I hope).

[maxthehitman 1,729]

... 

[Hannus 1,618]

 it's kinda important to remember that january is a very slow news month and pandemics are incredible clickbait. i'm not downplaying the severity of this virus and i think it's something we absolutely should be paying attention to, but also remember that part of the reason news outlets are reporting on this so much is because it makes gripping news, which leads to engagement and is basically guaranteed money. i've seen some utterly ridiculous headlines blowing things way out of proportion for the sake of clickbait, but of course i've also seen a number of rational, balanced news reports too, so it's good to differentiate while also being aware of how the news industry works.

that's what my mum's saying. i don't know, it's really scary though but i have faith in my immune system 

 

 

in the past few days several universities sent out mass emails to students about prevention, and it included stuff like "wash your hands after using public transportation and after going the bathroom" and i was like????? do we seriously have to tell grown adults to do that???  but at the same time i know that unfortunately yes, we do... there are many who don't do it 

[Macintosh Manhattan 6,511]

So from what I heard on BBC news is that you're only at risk if you have underlying health problems, your elderly or an infant.

 

I wish news sites and channels were more responsible when reporting such things rather than frighten the general public.

[maxthehitman 1,729]

...

[Barry 5,932]

It does seem like every 2 or 3 years there is a month where a virus is overhyped and talked about for weeks then nobody mentions it again, swine flu, bird flu, ebola, this probably been a couple more.