Community Chat

[suzyQ3]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

One, rather hysterical, woman I saw at Walmart the other morning was carrying on with saying something like:  "People are dropping like flies all over the world because of this virus"...or something like that.  To me this kind of behavior tells me that some people are fearing for their lives and that they apparently do not know the facts. I hate to say it, but I'm blaming the media for reactions such as that.

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Not unlike some posts that I read here on a regular basis about many topics and issues, @SilleeMee, with people making wild assumptions and posting opinion as fact.

[I am still oxox]

Posts like this can add to the fear that some here are expressing, there are posters that want masks and are refusing to leave their home, this will only scare them into a panic state

[suzyQ3]

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@Buffalogal47 wrote:

How many of the fatalities were of older people, young children, or people with compromised immune systems due to other health problems? Epidemics are how Nature culls the herd. That may be a cold way of looking at it, but that has always been Nature's way. Healthy people may get sick, but they survive. So far the mortality rate for coronavirus is around 3%. Which means most who catch it will recover, just like any other virus. The reason the Chinese are in  a panic is because there are billions of people in their country. So even if there is only a 3% mortality rate that is a lot of people compared to other less populated countries.

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Almost all the deaths have been attributed to age or ill-health of some sort, @Buffalogal47

There are other reasons that China is so concerned beyond just the welfare of their citizens. This outbreak is taking a huge economic toll on the country, it's shined a light on their ability control it, and it has them struggling to work with the rest of the world's expectations.

[SahmIam]

Here's the thing:

* We have more deaths from the basic (average, US, what to call it) flu in the US and yet it is NOT getting this kind of press. Why? Doesn't sell. Doesn't bring in the ratings. Think of that for a moment.

* There are many who are profiting from this fear of OMG IT'S THE PLAGUE that is being pushed via the media. Look at masks online; the prices are over the top. Preppers are preaching from the tree tops to buy their books and follow their links (of course) to purchase what you need for the "6 month lock down that is coming". Really? It is? Hmm.

* Using the numbers provided, you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting it IF you are living in the midst of an infected area. Who here is living among the infected? Let's say you are; count of 10 people. Take 1 of them and make them infected. They still have a higher chance of survival than death.

* Of course the number is going to double going forward; incubation period plus the moment you have ANY cold/flu symptoms, you're going to report it. This means a better chance of finding those who actually are infected as they're coming forward vs staying at home.

Am I concerned? Yes but not really about catching it (though my health issue probably would mean a not so great outcome) but more about other issues I see happening as people feed into the fear. Panic is NEVER a good thing. Ever.

[Kachina624]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

One, rather hysterical, woman I saw at Walmart the other morning was carrying on with saying something like:  "People are dropping like flies all over the world because of this virus"...or something like that.  To me this kind of behavior tells me that some people are fearing for their lives and that they apparently do not know the facts. I hate to say it, but I'm blaming the media for reactions such as that.

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@SilleeMee. @Mindy D. @cherry. @I am still oxox . Here on the boards we have people of various educational levels and varied degrees of sophistication.  Not everyone is able to understand and interpret this sort of information.  There isn't a thing we can do about this virus so I feel the less said about it, the better

[Johnnyeager]

So the moderators should now forbid discussion of the Coronavirus as it's controversial?

[Mindy D]

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@cherry wrote:

There is no sense in panicking over this. It will only make things worse for everyone, and scare some  people, especially children half to death

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@cherry @In this thread there is not one person that is panicking. The people that are panicking are those that don’t pay attention very well and/or let their emotions get in the way of reason. 

[Free2be]

Everything I've read and watched from the media's reporting has been very responsible in providing factual information to help us know the facts about this virus.

There will always be people who over react with their own false imaginings.  We ought to be able to recognize the difference even if they cannot and keep our heads about us.  I tire of media being blamed for just about everything these days.

[reiki604]

Sensationalist headlines like the title of this thread without maintaining context is damaging to both the information flow and the reliability and credibility of the OP.

[Porcelain]

Surgical/dust masks are common in Asia. They're worn to filter out pollution and as a courtesy to others when you are not feeling well, such as having the sniffles.

They make perfect sense when people are in close quarters and when there's any kind of viral outbreak, such as the flu. I think Westerners can/should get more accustomed to seeing them. Beyond not breathing in airbourne germs, you get reminded not to touch your face without washing your hands first.

I'm mildly allergic to dust, so I wear a mask doing a major dusting job, like the tops of cabinets etc. If the coronavirus or a big resistant flu outbreak came to my area, I'd wear one out and about just to be safer. Nothing to get overly freaked out about.

(I personally think that people who get freaked out about things like this are usually displacing their anxiety about something else -- onto a more easily seen external "threat.")