Originally posted by @Brian Bradley:
@Alan M. then I guess the medical experts saying it also r, and who are also reminding everybody of it. Death rate. To date 61 deaths in the US. At the same point of the swine flue we had over 1,000. Per the CDC. And John Hopkins. I’ll listen to the medical experts. The economy is on an unfortunate rollercoaster with this and geopolitical games going on in Saudi Arabia and Russia with oil. It’s a bad cocktail. Nobody wants to see the economy and stock market like this. But it’s panic driven and defensive. People r chomping at the bit to get back into it. It’s not irresponsible to state what other medical professionals who are the experts are saying. Just relax! You will all most likely be fine. I expect my wife to get the Wuhan Virus as she is treating patients with it, and her medical staff. They expect to get it also. None of them are panicking. Same with my neighbor who is also treating similar patients. He is not in a hysteria. Nobody thinks it’s funny. It’s a very polarizing time. But panicking and hysteria is not a way to function. Just take the free time to play with ur kids, family time and read a book.
During the first 2 months of the 2009 H1N1 episode, the first cases were ID'ed on April 15 & 17, 2009. At the 2 month mark, as of June 19, 2009, 21,449 confirmed and probable infections with pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus and 87 deaths had been confirmed by the CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2008-2009/weekly23.htm
The 1st case of Covid-19 in the US is believed to be the guy in WA state on Jan 19th. As of today there are between 80 - 93 deaths in the US. (Different sources show different figures) But while we're showing 4743 confirmed cases, it is likely that there are a lot of people who are asymptomatic, haven't been tested as we didn't have tests or were turned away as not meeting the criteria. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
Panicking won't help now. We have to concentrate on prevention and preparation. Mother Nature has a way of shaking us off. And this is one of them. Had this been taken seriously at the outset and if the resources had been available to deploy as soon as the WHO reported the outbreak in China, we might be in a better place than we are now. But that ship has sailed. For now: wash hands often, don't touch your face, keep a healthy distance, don't go out if you're sick, stay hydrated, add vitamins (c, d, zinc) to your regimen, eat well, get plenty of rest and try to enjoy the down time. We've got plenty of ways to stay connected and entertained. And many of us are working from home to keep the wheels greased.
Big shout out and thanks to all of the medical service professionals who are holding it down. They're on the front line. I hope they are being taken care of as they are taking care of us.
