Coronavirus

This is not a repeat of the Spanish flu. This is a relatively mild flu with few deaths, all people with underlying medical problems. And all those testing for it have well defined lines of contact.
Because it is a new strain, we have no vaccine against it yet. But 'epidemic' it isn't .
Just make sure you wash your hands properly (as you should do anyway)

Do you remember the last epidemic scare? I think it was SARS or MERS, either way they stocked up with vast quantities, millions of doses, of the drug that could help treat it. Doctors talked of 65,000 deaths in the UK alone.

What happened? Little or nothing. As I remember a handful of cases and a handful of deaths.

I will begin to consider the best course of action when the problem becomes real. In the meanwhile, why worry about something that you can do nothing about and may never get.

Lets face it, if the end is really nigh, you might as well enjoy the little time that is left, rather than fritter it away in pointless worry, which will not delay the inevitable end by as much as a milli-second.

It's not flu, there's no vaccine. It can be mild but can be fatal so although we should not panic it's fair to say that we should be concerned. Awareness and good hand hygiene seem to be sensible precautions.

That’s all very well but this is not taking just those with underlying health problems. That is a line we are fed because those, obviously, are going to succumb easily. But this is not a ‘relatively mild virus’ or it wouldn’t be declared a global emergency. It has already killed twice as many as SARS and MERS and shows no sign of slowing down.

No way is this not going to spread thousands of deaths, and cause chaos in our health service and other public services eg education.

I agree daisymae

And I agree Daisy.

Being a mild virus does not stop it being a global emergency that definition is based of rate of spread and ease of infectivity. Nr does it mean that it could not become a pandemic and, anyway, it is not always entirely mild because some people with underlying respiratory or heart problems can die.

Despite the large jump in fatality figures and cases today, based on a redefinition of who is included in the figures the death rate is still very low.

Anyway, as I said, if we are all doomed, where will worrying about it get you?

Yehbutnobut, that's purely speculation. The chances are that it won't be an epidemic or pandemic. It's only been declared a global emergency to allow for containment procedures. They are a very sensible precaution.

I know how viruses are transmitted. I understand about percentages of deaths (though until we get firm stats out of China there is no scientific data yet). That does not detract from the possibility of thousand, or tens of thousand, of deaths. Preventable deaths. If it is your husband, child or grandchild who is a victim of this virus then it suddenly becomes real.

From what I heard on the news this morning the inhabitants of Brighton are worried.

Yesterday, a chap came to read the meters. He was wearing a mask. 'Are you ill?' he said. 'No, I'm just lazy so I'm not dressed yet' I replied.

He said how worried he was about Coronavirus. I couldn't understand why as he has no health conditions.

Hetty we are allowed to speculate. Otherwise we just sit here like victims and do nothing? Say nothing?

Tell you what. Come back to me in three months time. If there is no epidemic you can say ‘told you so’.

I keep thinking of that doctor who blew the whistle. He subsequently died aged 34. I wonder what the truth is in China. We have so few cases here and everyone is receiving the best treatment. That can't continue if the infection rates increase. Let's hope they manage to keep a lid on it.

No underlying health conditions? You really believe that if you are fit and well then you are safe?

Exactly daisymae. Until we get proper data then this is just propaganda.

Lol, it is funny. There are some so-called disastrous epidemic viruses appearing every 2 or 3 years and so what? Where are all these illnesses now? Like Ebola and some others? I truly see no reason to be nervous about it.

I do know that if one of my neighbours had just flown back from China or Singapore I would be keeping my distance for 14 days. I don’t care if that sounds silly, DH and I are both in at risk groups.

Found these first stats released at the beginning of the outbreak.
“The details of the 99 coronavirus patients admitted to a Wuhan hospital were written up, as protocol demands, without fanfare: “The average age of the patients was 55.5 years, including 67 men and 32 women,” said a Lancet paper published last month, which reported 11 deaths.”

How can all those poor people dying in Chins be funny FS or should I say FFS?

The authorities are being stupid in the UK in my opinion. On our local News it was mentioned this morning that a student returned from China last week who had been staying only a half hour drive from Wuhan, and she very sensibly self-quarantined. However, Bristol Uni told her that she could not miss lectures and had to turn up!!!!

Well I am in the "at risk" group, I wash my hands frequently, I have anti bac gel in my bag if I need it.

At the moment I am not concerned, If and when more cases are diagnosed in the U.K. (infected here, not arriving from China or elsewhere) I shall rethink my day to day habits.

People with respiratory illness, auto immune deficiency, weakened immunity, young and old are all more vulnerable to coronavirus.
I think we can all safely say each of us knows at least one person in the above category.
Therefore we have a major problem looming.
When visiting hospital recently my husband and myself were shocked at how few people washed their hands or used sanitiser on entry and exit.
I will take every possible precaution I can.
I have a frail mother of 92, a pregnant daughter and a husband with an immune deficiency.
The UK will wake up and take notice when it’s too late.

I think we do not know enough about this virus yet, and we can only speculate, but I think we are being treated by our government in a patronising manner, no doubt to allay panic,

What we do know is that our NHS is clearly under strain at present coping with its normal activities, but as someone up thread said, not much use worrying about something out of our control.

The first group of people who flew in from China and who have been quarantined for 14 days have all been given the ‘all clear’ and are going home today.

My understanding is that the rate of increase of cases in China is slowing which is encouraging.

I have not read or heard any reports that indicate it could still be around in the Summer.

Are they going back to China?