Why is there so much panic over the corona virus? I know it's rampant in China, and is now

[napi21]

spreading to Europe, and yes, we have a few cases in the US. But it doesn't appear worse that the flu that makes rounds every winter. The people who died were ill or already had some health problem that made them weak. The Corona virus simply made their problems lethal.

[Coventina]

1. Show me where people are panicking?

[Tipperary]

2. Du loves a good panic, so it seems.

Amusing.

[Iliyah]

3. Stock Market -

not the people yet.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

20. A couple thousand points is not a panic.

It's a correction for the projected loss of productivity and logistics in the world. We get a lot of electronics, pharmaceuticals, steel, plastic, manufacturing parts, etc, from China.

Maybe we are TOO dependent on China, but that's another, longer discussion.

[Yavin4]

4. It may shut down parts of China entirely.

China is the world's factory floor.

[meadowlander]

8. +1

Where I live relies on tourism and no tourists from China means hotels, restaurants, tour operators going out of business.

Everything is connected now. And there's basically a 0% chance it will stay in China.

Yes, the fatality rate is "only" 2% but for those of us with health problems or who have loved ones with health problems it is worth taking sensible precautions over.

Build yourself up now because they odds are you're going to be exposed to it at least once next year. Much better to be safe than sorry.

[lapfog_1]

15. That fatality rate is not yet proven

the rate that is calculated from deaths / outcomes (now that we are 4 weeks into the epidemic phase) yields around 9.3%

And with 25,000 outcomes out of around 80 confirmed infections, this death rate is more likely to be accurate than the initial 2%

That said, it clearly is targeting older people with health problems.

I think I saw another posting here that showed 0 deaths in children under 10. If true that would be astounding.

There is a decent chance that containment has failed and we are looking at pandemic.

As for the stock market, that is on "us" (humanity). Somehow, in a fit of stupidity, we have placed a great deal of our industrial manufacturing in one location in the world. And with that shut down... well corporate profits are going to plummet.

Suppose we had a major earthquake in China... or a meteor strike? How did we not have a backup plan?

[Crunchy Frog]

18. China's overreacting. They should just treat it like the seasonal flu and see what happens.

[napi21]

5. OK. Maybe I asked the wrong question. It should have been "why is the media trying to gin up

panic?"

[elleng]

7. High mortality rate.

[Newest Reality]

9. I have seen reports...

I have seen reports coming in of a 9% mortality rate so far. That needs more verification, but it is high.

For reference, the Spanish Flu was estimated at between 10% and 20%. It is early yet, and there are differences, plus we may have better ways to deal with it then back then, but it is still a concern.

[Quixote1818]

11. Those getting it after Feb 1st only have a 1% mortality rate

Snip:

You’re better off getting it this month than last month. Those who became ill before January 10, 2020 had an up to 15% mortality, whereas those who became ill after February 1, 2020 have had less than 1% mortality. This is likely due to extremely heightened awareness of potential for infection, with resultant earlier recognition and earlier interventions.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2020/02/22/sex-does-matter-when-it-comes-to-coronavirus/#5575ff2ba436

[Newest Reality]

12. Oh, thanks.

That's great to know. What a difference our knowledge about it makes as that article conveys.

Still no sign of slowing down, though.

[dalton99a]

14. +1. Good summary

Older individuals fare more poorly: Of the 1,408 cases of COVID-19 in patients over age 80, there have been 208 deaths, for a case fatality rate (number of deaths per number of cases) of almost 15%. By contrast, there have been no deaths in the 416 cases in children ages 0-9 years, and one death among the 549 cases of children and adolescents ages 10-19 years.

Those with other chronic illnesses do worse: There have been approximately 5,000 cases where individuals have reported a known co-morbid medical condition, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease, or cancer. The average mortality rate in these groups is in the 5-10% range, whereas of the 15,000 individuals who reported no other medical conditions, the mortality rate to date has been less than 1%.

You’re better off getting it this month than last month. Those who became ill before January 10, 2020 had an up to 15% mortality, whereas those who became ill after February 1, 2020 have had less than 1% mortality. This is likely due to extremely heightened awareness of potential for infection, with resultant earlier recognition and earlier interventions.

Females fare better than males. Much better. According to a New York Times piece this week, despite the fact that men and women have been roughly equally infected (51.4% infected are males), the death rates differ substantially: 2.8% death rate in males, and 1.7% death rate in females.

[SCantiGOP]

13. The last numbers I saw

Said the mortality rate could be as high as 2%, which is several times that of the flu.
That would mean 1 of every 50 who get sick will die.
Not knowing how it spreads increases the concern - or panic, if you prefer that term.

[intrepidity]

6. Bookmarking nt

[abqtommy]

10. People are dying, the same as in any natural disaster, and there's much doubt that we're

getting accurate information.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. It's not just people already with health problems who died

For instance, 6 health workers had already died over a week ago: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/covid-19-updates-1-700-heath-workers-infected-more-wartime-n1136841

[Crunchy Frog]

17. It's quite a bit worse than the seasonal flu.

I'm not talking in terms of raw numbers, as of yet. In terms of raw numbers, there are millions upon millions of flu cases every year, so even with very low percentages of severe illness and death, the raw numbers look bad.

This corona virus is still extremely new, and there's no reason to think that it couldn't reach the same kind of numbers as the seasonal flu, and if it does, you will be seeing a genuine medical catastrophe, because the rates of severe illness and death are VASTLY higher than those associated with the flu.

Why don't you ask yourself why they're quarantining entire cities and provinces, or putting healthy, young, asymptomatic people in quarantine for weeks, or have been keeping people practically imprisoned on cruise ships for weeks at a time. You think they're overreacting? Or do you think that's standard procedure for the seasonal flu?

[pnwmom]

19. Seasonal flu can often be prevented with a vaccine, which is high dose for the elderly,

and it can also be treated with Tamiflu.

They've been flying blind with the Coronavirus.

[intrepidity]

21. Curious where you stand on this today?

Any change in your view?