Media hype and coronavirus

The panic is off the charts and is being fueled by the media. Ray Charles could see that. It's hard not to get political with that which is political in its very nature.  

In a month or so it will be something else. 

I wish you the best. From Seattle.

The panic is off the charts and is being fueled by the media. Ray Charles could see that. It's hard not to get political with that which is political in its very nature.  

In a month or so it will be something else. 

It shouldn't be political, but it's being made so. So how does one discuss anything with people who see politics everywhere?

I was discussing CV yet again today at the hospital while waiting for a test procedure*. I asked if the nurse prepping me had heard about the suspicion about CV being in the USA in Nov' and going undiagnosed all this time (we didn't test for it then). She told me that in Nov' her parents had a high fever, difficulty breathing, and a cough, for 3 days, then it was over. She agreed that it certainly looked like CV and suggested that when testing is done on a bigger scale that we'll figure out that it's been here for awhile. She wasn't terribly concerned about the illness itself, beyond social distancing and practical precautions we've all discussed here, but about bed space. Stated that they were still dealing with 2 kinds of flu and if this gets thrown into the mix they'd run out of beds. But in Maine the most cases are down in the crowded "ants nest" county and not up by us where folks are spread out, and also stated that rural factor might keep our cases low. No cases at all in the county I live in and only one where the hospital is. Rural life and having people spread out does have advantages.

One media outlet (national?) continues to have spheroids enough to claim, "Not fear just facts", or some such BS while 99% of their "news" broadcasts discuss nothing but the Wuhan flu. That amount of coverage doesn't promote fear, nah, no way that it would. The same nurse (above) I was discussing it with I overheard stating that she limits herself to an hour of "news" per day to prevent the media from allowing them to put fear into her mind. She figures, as I do, that anything important someone will tell me about.

*My procedure had been rescheduled to late April, then we got a phone call for me to come in "tomorrow". The hospital was closed for most things, but they wanted me in there right away for the test. For those who know more, and what I'm not writing here, the test was negative and that's a really good result for this test. So now they think they know what was causing my issues, and continues to skew my test results. Heck, they've looked everywhere in my body (seriously!) and it's all OK if showing a bit of wear and tear from the decades.

I talked to a brother in a much more densely populated state 500 miles south and he told me that the supermarkets were empty at least a week before ours (we can still buy fresh items but most shelf stable staple items are gone) and he was surprised that there hadn't been any riots reported on the news yet. Me too. But this hasn't had time to fully develop and ferment yet. Give it a few weeks.

ShadowsDad -

This is one of those cases where everything you say in your post above may be accurate, and at the same time the news outlets may also be correct.

1) Is Covid-19 a flu? Yes.
2) Do people get very sick and occasionally die of the flu every year? Yes.
3) Is the media fanning the flames of panic in the country by hyping this up? Yes.

However, while Covid-19 is a flu, it differs from other flu outbreaks in a few ways.

1) Covid-19 has been seen to be fatal in about 3.5% of confirmed cases - regular flu is fatal in about 0.1% of cases. The Covid-19 number is probably higher in part because of the lack of testing, though. It still is more likely to be fatal than regular flu.
2) Tests in China indicate that Covid-19 is a little more than 2x as contagious as regular flu.
3) There's no vaccine or treatment for Covid-19. Flu vaccines drop infection spread rates and we have a barrage of treatments that sometimes work.

The US population is around 331 M people. 3.5% of that is about 11.5 M potential deaths from Covid-19 (compared to 330,000 from untreated regular flu). Perhaps that puts it into some sort of perspective.

My wife is an ICU nurse, and her main concern is not the Covid-19 virus itself, it's the fact that the hospital has 24 ventilators. This means that if the number of patients spike in our county (we have a few cases) then the hospital is not going to be able to treat all of them. Some will die. Also, given the number of uninsured and under insured people here, deaths are even more likely.

As has been said here and elsewhere, if you're healthy and relatively young, even if you get it you will almost certainly be fine (after a few miserable days). However, even before you develop symptoms, you will be spreading the virus everywhere you go. This will give rise to a greater number of vulnerable people being exposed to it and increases the likelihood that our healthcare system will be overcome with cases.

That's the real threat - the spike in cases. I think that if our doctors and scientists say that a period of 'social isolation' will help make it less likely that they will be overwhelmed and that perhaps fewer vulnerable people in our community will get seriously sick, I'm okay with the slight inconvenience it causes me and my family.

That being said, I also believe that the media is not helping by spreading panic. Stressed people are more likely to get infected and less able to fight it off, and the craziness in the stores is just stupid and is certainly being fueled by the media. However, that's what they do - hype things to get more people watching. Which is why I don't watch TV at all.

A friend sent me this this morning, a little good news in the darkness

https://www.diamandis.com/blog/good-news-covid-19

Please stop calling it a flu. It's not the "Wuhan Flu" or any other type of flu. By definition, the flu is caused by an influenza virus. COVID-19 is a completely different disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It's important to keep our language clear. Even if you're personally taking it seriously, calling it a "flu" makes it easy for others to minimize it.

Math shows it's different from the flu! Just look at how harsh the incubation rate the community attack rates are!

It's all about math. Show me how the flu compares in hospitalization rate! Why do you think China built two hospitals in 12 days? Imagine the stress of this virus if it continues to spread at the rate it spreads on hospitals. Why do you think General Motors, Tesla and other companies are offering to make ventilation devices!


Let's talk math not hyperbolic partisan media on either side!

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/10/simp...-covid-19/

This is not hype people! The flu has never done this to Italy. This virus is called Covid-19 stick to the fact

Italian virus death toll overtakes China’s as outbreak spreads. Italy has world’s second oldest population, 87% of those killed by COVID-19 are over 70!

https://www.timesofisrael.com/italian-vi...k-spreads/

Thanks for the pictures, statistics, and such. I'm aware of all that. You all forgot the tiny study done in China that showed that people with type A blood might be more susceptible. I have A type so I'll panic. (Panic? Not very likely from me. I'll just reduce it to the steps required to reduce/prevent infection, implement them, and call it good.)

But OK, I'll spread the panic too. (No I won't, others here are doing it and I won't join in, just the opposite in fact.)

I'll continue to call it the Wuhan Flu because that's what it is for most people and exactly the way it should be treated, no difference from the perspective of an uninfected person and every medical professional I've discussed it with so far has agreed with me without exception. Hand washing, keep the booger hooks away from the face, and keep people at bay. Exactly the same thing one does during a flu epidemic if one has a brain and is at risk. Masks don't work to prevent (the virus is to small, like the flu) unless it's the infected actively spewing who is wearing the mask for the sake of others, then it stops the spewage from being airborne and getting into the eyes and mucous membranes of others, yada, yada. You all can call it death disease 2020 if you wish (or Covid-19), and make as much of it as you want to make it seem as though it's the apocolypse but I will call it by words people know and thereby have control over. Wuhan Flu. Again, that's what it is for the vast majority of people and they understand those words.

BTW, no where did I write that it wasn't potentially fatal yohann. I happen to be in a high risk category so that means something to me and I take it seriously. I just prefer not to deliberately spread fear and make people panic. The best people can do is hand wash, keep hands away from the face, and keep people away. Again, the same things one should be doing anyway for the cold or flu (hence Wuhan Flu).

Now do you folks who want to spread fear and panic understand? Now go and continue to spread your fear and panic to the masses. Just don't expect me to take part in that because you're doing an excellent job of it all on your own and don't need my help. Wuhan Flu it is and hopefully I can talk sense into someone who is panicking.

If I'm incorrect and there are other steps that can be taken to prevent infection please let me know. At least that would be a positive step and not panic inducing.