The Elephant in the Room...Coronavirus!!!

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, slonezp said:

Not more than an hour ago a buddy texted me. Said he and a friend are going do some Social Distancing tomorrow and look for some crappie and did I want to tag along since I am currently without a boat.

From this point forward - 

I WILL be beating the heck out of that particular term.

A-Jay

[MN Fisher]

Latest insanity. Friend of mine is a Physician's Assistant at one of the major hospitals here. So many 'civilians' are buying up face masks that the hospitals are running low.

 

So the ones who NEED them - the health care professionals - aren't able to get them.

 

Also she told me that unless it's rated M3 or higher...it's useless against this. So those M1 and M2 masks you paid all that money for? Should have bought liquor instead.

[gim]

Masks do nothing to help prevent spreading this if your healthy. They do, however, help avoid spreading it if you are sick and you cough or sneeze. So if you are NOT sick, please don’t wear one (or buy a bunch). I think the Chinese wear them because the pollution is generally so poor there, so they simply just continue wearing them during a pandemic.

[slonezp]

On 3/13/2020 at 4:25 PM, waymont said:

No is not politically motivated, it's people who are worried like the rest of the world. It's not about wiping out the world it's about being sensible.

 

Paranoia the Destroyer

 

 

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Latest insanity. Friend of mine is a Physician's Assistant at one of the major hospitals here. So many 'civilians' are buying up face masks that the hospitals are running low.

 

So the ones who NEED them - the health care professionals - aren't able to get them.

 

Also she told me that unless it's rated M3 or higher...it's useless against this. So those M1 and M2 masks you paid all that money for? Should have bought liquor instead.

I'm good then

[NYWayfarer]

Got a notice from my son’s school today. They will be closed until April 19th! A whole month off. The inner kid in me was actually envious for a hot second.
 

Luckily he is old enough to be left home alone. I feel for the parents that have to arrange for unexpected child care. Especially if they have no support system. 

[jbsoonerfan]

We have heard one week after spring break is highly likely, two weeks is possible. Might put us going into June. Not sure how much truth there is to that yet, but 3 weeks off during the spawn sounds pretty sweet to me. 

[OCdockskipper]

Unless you are old or have a weak immune system, you are facing a fever and a cough.  This brings the country (the world) to a standstill?

 

If the current reaction to this virus is the correct way for us to respond, how did the nation ever survive SARS, the swine flu or the myriad of new viruses that appear nearly every year?  Those in the smaller groups that are at risk should self quarantine, the rest of us should go about our business.

 

Take this to the worst case scenario - Everyone in the world contracts the virus, all 7.7 billion of us.  The result would be about 70 million dead worldwide, nearly all elderly or with weakened immune systems.  That number is not much higher than the number of deaths we have in the world every year.  A huge percentage of the people who would die in this worse case scenario are going to die anyway this year.  I know it sounds cold & I'm not advocating to push Granny down the stairs since she is going to die soon anyway, I'm just pointing out how ludicrous it is for the world to come to a halt over this particular virus when the end result is not that different had we completely ignored it. 

 

It will be interesting if it ever comes to light who decided to press the Panic Button for this particular virus and what were the reasons why.

[VolFan]

OC - while I appreciate what you're saying - consider this like a forest fire. It will mostly burn the dead and dying, but will take healthy trees and houses with it. If it is contained, it is minimally damaging. But if it grows, it has the potential to kill a few percent of the world's population. The deaths arent part of the normal death toll of life, they are an addition to it. At peak, it would pull medical resources away from many, many other things.

[Koz]

I paid only $1.89 a gallon for gas in Greer SC on Friday. Today I’m in Bluffton SC visiting family and running errands for them and gas is $2.19 here.

 

I also did some grocery shopping for my parents and sure enough there was no toilet paper, tissues, or paper towels. Milk, eggs, bread, and almost all meats were gone as well.

 

I just don’t understand the panic some people are displaying. It’s making mountains out of mole hills.

 

That being said, if the US ever faces a massive killer virus, war, or some other big event we will not survive. You can bet that China and Russia are taking notes now. Americans have gone soft.

[VolFan]

I think the forethought and preparation being shown is for the most part commendable (except for toilet paper...). If this turns out to be nothing...well darn. When confronted with overwhelming numbers, strategy is the way to  beat strength.

[jbsoonerfan]

3 minutes ago, VolFan said:

I think the forethought and preparation being shown is for the most part commendable (except for toilet paper...). If this turns out to be nothing...well darn. When confronted with overwhelming numbers, strategy is the way to  beat strength.

I'm guessing the people who lives will literally be changed forever and for the worse, will disagree with the "well darn" theory.

[VolFan]

I'm not sure what you're going for there?

If we're talking about the lost income or store closures - that is not what I was referencing, and that side affect of the closures and quaratines is certainly awful. I was referencing the potential deaths of thousands if not millions of people. If this really reached full epidemic in the US, the economic impact on top of the health impact would indeed be even worse.

[A-Jay]

54 minutes ago, Koz said:

Americans have gone soft.

Happened quite a while ago.

A-Jay

[Glenn]

*ahem*  this thread is becoming polarizing...between "the sky is falling" people, and the "this is an overblown media hoax" people.  Both are dangerous extremes.

 

I've already asked one person to stop posting on this thread, and I just removed another post that crossed the political line.  So....

 

Time to step away from this thread guys, before I shut it down.

[VolFan]

Thanks Glenn - sorry about that.

 

Please wash your hands, cough/sneeze into your sleeve, and stay home if you are sick! 

[Dwight Hottle]

Has anybody noticed that the elephant in the room just keeps getting bigger & bigger & bigger. People are thinking maybe one or two months inconvenience. Based on the time schedule occurring in China this could be an easy 6 months or longer to play out. That’s a scary realty of the situation. 

[Tennessee Boy]

For those like me who are mathematically inclined this is a very good article that explains what it’s all about.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator

[J Francho]

I picked up 90 days worth of insulin. I’m set. I need that more than TP. 

[scaleface]

Remember   Pox  parties .We should   have a nation wide Corona Virus party and get this  over .

[Harold Scoggins]

OMG!

[slonezp]

Here's another thing to think about......remember those cruise ships with confirmed cases? if it was as terrible as what we're being told, shouldn't every single person on those boats have died?
 

[VolFan]

You're missing the math of it. Asymptomatic but contagious for several days, then onset. The issue isn't how deadly each case is, it's the .6% mortality rate and the 5% ICU hospitalization rate that, if happening in volume over a short term, would overwhelm our healthcare system. We need to flatten that exponential curve into summer.

[DanielG]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

Remember   Pox  parties .We should   have a nation wide Corona Virus party and get this  over .

Hmm. A certain percentage are destined to die from it. Even if we get on the illness right away, they still die. So, get it over with? Plus, the hospitals would become not just overwhelmed but extremely overwhelmed with desperately ill people. Even more dying in that case.

 

As it is... statistically, some of us on these forum right now will not be here in a few weeks/months because of this. So sorry to say this but the math.....

[Finessegenics]

38 minutes ago, VolFan said:

You're missing the math of it. Asymptomatic but contagious for several days, then onset. The issue isn't how deadly each case is, it's the .6% mortality rate and the 5% ICU hospitalization rate that, if happening in volume over a short term, would overwhelm our healthcare system. We need to flatten that exponential curve into summer.

Thank you. Don't think many people realize this. Italy is the perfect example of what can occur if we are careless.That being said, I do think all this panic shopping is over the top and irrational. Just do your day to day routine and be mindful about hygiene.

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, VolFan said:

You're missing the math of it. Asymptomatic but contagious for several days, then onset. The issue isn't how deadly each case is, it's the .6% mortality rate and the 5% ICU hospitalization rate that, if happening in volume over a short term, would overwhelm our healthcare system. We need to flatten that exponential curve into summer.

The mortality rate is skewed. Socialized healthcare in Europe, and other countries, by design, rations the care and prioritizes it towards the younger population leaving those most at risk, the elderly, to go to the end of the line. While our healthcare system in the US may not be perfect, the US prioritizes care going to the most in need first.