Coronavirus pandemic - how are you affected?

[Michi]

The governor of Florida has declared a state of emergency. My county in Florida, meanwhile, has come to the conclusion that since no one here has yet gotten sick that all the events for this weekend are still on, including the St. Patty Parade and Shrimpapalooza. I will not be attending.

I was also told that I have to go take pictures of a dance tonight, despite the strong objections from the company nurse that we shouldn't even be having a dance in the first place. The organizations clients are a bunch of sweethearts, but they're developmentally disabled, so many of them are already immune-compromised as-is, and don't have the self-awareness to be hygienic during normal circumstances. Holding a dance for them now, a month after they had two other dances to go to and during a damn pandemic, is beyond idiotic, but that's just how this organization is run. I plan on being there for no longer than 30 minutes, then I'm out.

Also, I did have tickets to go to a concert tomorrow night in Orlando. But I'm pretty sure the city has recently decreed that no public gatherings should exceed 250 people, so I'm pretty sure that's being either canceled or postponed. So, I'm a bit bummed about that, but whatcha gonna do?

[bmoc]

The college I work at made the decision to go online only last night. Spring break is happening right now and classes resume Monday. I had already decided to start working from home come Monday for a couple of reasons. First, I need to avoid getting pneumonia if at all possible due to my splenectomy from a few years back. Second, when public schools close here, I will have to work from home anyway to watch the kids.

Also my wife just began her new job at the local health department this week. Thankfully she is only in the dental office but it is still concerning.

[wclem]

It is the flu, nothing more. People die from it, and all kinds of other things. So now they have gotten so many people stirred up that it is actually having an impact on me and others here. I am sorry to the people who are going to financially struggle due to this idiot epidemic, I may join in with you soon.

I will note here that this is NOT, in fact, the flu (and I'm not just being pedantic). The flu is indeed quite dangerous, but we have vaccines for that to reduce and constrain the spread. While some vaccine years are less effective and some years more, all flu vaccines, even the poorly-matched ones, reduce the spread and intensity of the flu. We also have widespread and accurate testing for the flu and can readily track cases and outbreaks. Our medical system is prepared for the flu and largely knows what to expect with it. We also know who is at greatest risk (the very young, the very old, and the immunocompromised). The death rate for the flu in the US is about .1% thanks to vaccines and the ability to prepare for it seasonally.

This new coronavirus, officially “SARS-CoV-2”, is something our immune systems are relatively unfamiliar with. Yes, it has a relationship to the corona viruses that cause SARS and MERS, but those aren't things that sweep through annually, for one. Also, we have no vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. And we were caught unprepared. When the flu strikes we've already started vaccinating, slowing the advance even before it starts to spread widely. With SARS-CoV-2 there's nothing to stop it from taking off like wildfire (you'll note that countries have been hit hard in only a couple weeks - the flu doesn't do that). Additionally, though data is still incomplete, the death rate appears much higher, between 1.4 and 2.3% based off two data sets from China. It is particularly deadly to the elderly, just like the flu though moreso, but appears to have a much weaker impact on the young, though still dangerous. On top of that, political interference has slowed the response from our CDC, meaning we're way behind where we need to be on being able to effectively test and screen people for this. That makes it harder to deliver targeted care.

The flu this year has been a bit harsher on us, meaning that hospital beds and medical care are already in slightly high demand, and now this rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 comes along and we don't have a vaccine to slow it down. That means that our system is going to be quickly over-burdened. A lot of health care workers who would otherwise be required to have flu vaccines and thus able to remain healthy at peak times are going to be falling ill with the very rapidly-spreading illness that they will have a great additional burden to try to treat. So you have a virus that spreads quickly due to a lack of vaccines coupled with a higher death rate. It means many more people have become and will become sick in a much shorter span of time vs the flu, a greater proportion of those people (10x?) will die than if this were the flu, and our health care system is not prepared to take this on. Oh yeah, and this is happening during flu season, so it's in addition to the yearly flu.

If you're looking just at symptoms, yeah, this looks a lot like the flu. But the devil is in the details, and the details are telling us this is not the flu and we can't just blow it off. Fear and panic won't help with this pandemic, but at the same time, failing to take this SARS-CoV-2 seriously is equally dangerous. Our society seems to have two modes as of late, On and Off, 0% or 100%. Both those responses are unhelpful right now. And if you're not an older adult with health issues and thus not in the highest risk group, you're still going to come into contact with other people, so don't take unnecessary risks, for others if not for yourself.

Like I said, over reacting. It is nothing more than an illness like all the others we get every year in the winter months. Next thing you will say is that it is ok for the government to suspend our right to assembly lol. If it was not for tv blowing this up none of us would even know about it. Some people who are pre disposed to dying of the FLU have died, wow what shock. It is not an apostolic virus and pe5like you who spread that are to blame. So go get your vaccines and live forever. It is not an epidemic, not even close. People are getting scared because it is being blown out of proportion, by people like you. Now the trickle effect is starting. It is possible that people being stirred up in panic may just hurt more than THE FLU. There are no deaths of healthy people who take care of themselves. So Howard your to and bottled water.

Wow now I remember why I stopped posting here. Your a moderator, feel free to ban my account on this dying forum being kept alive by a few people. All you had to do is say you don't think people are over reacting or you disagree with me about apocalypse prepping. The flu is a virus, this is a virus. We get them, we have always gotten them. We will continue to get them and 99 oer cent of us will survive. A few thousand people dying out of over 6 billion, not an epidemic. Quit scaring the impressionable people, or maybe you are one. You probably have a panic room for when the zombies come. You didn't read the point I was making, nor were you going to. But hey, thank you for knowing everything that nobody else does. To everyone who chose not to go nuts over a rather simple comment with a qualifier at the end thank you for being decent and understanding how I was saying how myself and millions others were going to be affected by the end of the world lol.

Good bye

[marurun]

I'm so glad you're suddenly a health expert. That post didn't come from watching TV. It came from reading about real data from knowledgeable professionals. My wife works at a hospital and hospitals are taking this seriously. No, I'm not the one at the store buying up all the toilet paper. But to dismiss this as no big deal? You're practicing deliberate ignorance. I sure hope the people you care about are listening to experts and not to you.

You posted something on a forum, and you included stuff you didn't want people to respond to? If you didn't want us to respond, maybe don't post it.

And no, we don't ban people for denying reality, even severe cases.

[emwearz]

This thread is going to go south fast.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I am not yet affected.

[marurun]

This thread is going to go south fast.

We were doing fine until someone decided to pee in the kiddie pool. I think the rest of us are mature enough adults to share our circumstances responsibly.

So day care will be closed for 3 weeks. That means the wife and I will each need to take about 7 days PTO each to make sure the kid is taken care of. Hopefully my university will allow me to do some work from home, although some of that will depend on whether the child will actually let me get any work done.

[ElkinFencer10]

This thread is going to go south fast.

Don't go there; the South is where states refuse to adequately fund the type of agencies that handle health emegencies.

[PretentiousHipster]

I just spent a while in my bed because I had a cold spell and wouldn't stop shivering. I felt extremely weak too.

My partner works in the medical field and said judging from my symptoms I most likely have the flu. Maybe I should have gotten the flu shot...

I don't wanna get tested because I don't wanna be on the news.

I have a bit more energy now and will try to play some games to distract myself.

[PretentiousHipster]

Also was gonna go in what is one of the biggest geek flea market events in the city, and my favourite video game store in the city was gonna be there who are usually like a 2 hour bus ride away. Turns out they were forced to cancel.