Coronavirus - International stories and thoughts

Because it crushed the stock market. That was Trumps claim to fame along with black unemployment.

If it starts the coming recession, Trump’s done. If he survives this and the economy is booming enough voters won’t care it is on borrowed money and Trump will be hard, if not impossible, to beat.

Trump is a brilliant marketer and I am sure serious thought went into appointing Pence as the head of the task force to fight it. He has no qualifications, but evangelical support.

He is going to have some crazy spin if choronavirus destroys “his” economy. Will be fun to watch. Actual claims of it being a hoax to date are probably that it has only killed a few Americans as of today.

 

Two things about mortality rate. you need a while to get a fix for assessing risk, for two reasons. First, most initial deaths are among the elderly with other significant health issues. Not discounting those deaths, but you cant use them to model the risk to the larger populations. Second, mutations. That can have a giant effect

 

The Trump admin is all in on coronavirus being overblown hype. They are talking more about the media than they are the virus itself. That is a very dangerous bet. If coronavirus ends up hitting us hard, the Trump admin is going to have to explain why they were more concerned about protecting Trump than the country.

Media Covering Coronavirus to ‘Bring Down the President,’ Mulvaney Claims

 

How so? Are you saying it's a pandemic? Some of you should look up the definition of pandemic:

"an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population : a pandemic outbreak of a disease"

 

Fact is that if you replaced Coronavirus deaths and renamed it car accident deaths then people will express how safe driving is. Yes it is the flu but it isn't the death virus that it's being made out to be. Fact is, immune systems all react differently to the flu bug and this virus is actually mild in comparison to other flu bugs. Nobody is saying this but how lame can it be when reports are you get a fever, no body aches, scratchy throat and then suddenly its gone. Unlike a normal flu with vomiting, body aches, takes days to recover and older people die of the same exact reasons...respiratory failure. This isn't the end of the world and it would not surprise me if the "positive" results are not "positive" for the dreaded coronavirus but are for the normal flu bug or a common cold. Just can't help but think that this entire scenario is too weird and not as real or as massive as it's being projected. Nobody would even notice it if it weren't hyped to be the ending of your life virus thing.

 

it’s still not close to pandemic. Pandemics by definition impact a large portion of the population, right now it’s around 1 in 70,00 worldwide that are impacted, and the vast majority of those are in three locations (Wuhan, Iran and Italy). Just as the guy predicted.

it might get there, and I have been consistent in saying we should be prepared and take precautions because worst case scenarios are bad.
but 99% of things here in the us are unaffected. We will see if that changes.

 

Well, I'm against people dying in general. I mean, 80 to 85 people die each day in car accidents. Should I be freaking out about that too?

 

Yeah, it's not a pandemic, bro.

 

China has a new problem. The workers outside Wuhan are not going to work, even after Beijing ordered them to. What to do? Obviously, turn all the lights on and pretend everyone is going to work. Falsify attendance records.

China's coronavirus recovery is 'all fake,' whistleblowers and residents claim

Europe is only slightly better, forcing airlines to fly empty flights just so they can keep their slots at the airport open.

Airlines are burning thousands of gallons of fuel flying empty 'ghost' planes so they can keep their flight slots during the coronavirus outbreak

Not very good for energy efficiency.

 

What they're saying is that the pandemic is inevitable. The virus is that easy to transmit, and symptoms are delayed for two weeks or more, allowing people to continue to spread the virus long before they know they have it.

 

Live Updates: Millions in northern Italy under lockdown over coronavirus fears - CNN

 

Agreed. "Reported" lags "Infected". Especially with a problematic rollout of testing.

Two weeks from now, we could know that Sunday Mar 8 was far worse that we thought at the time (meaning, now.) It's the way exponents work.

 

We're just a long way from that designation. It clearly appears to have peaked in China and yes, I know they took some drastic measures, but if it is airborne and so easily transmittable, a quarantine would have only guaranteed tons more cases in Wuhan. A country of China's size is now down to 50 new infections a day. I think that is pretty remarkable, honestly. So, I'm not yet sold a pandemic is inevitable.

 

I think that's a reasonable point. Panic is counterproductive.

I also think now is the time to take (as Europeans designate them) "Phase 3" measures. More disruptive, as a way to ensure as you say that this doesn't become inevitable. These might prove unneeded. But so is having a Defense Department. Being overcautious without panic seems to be the right call.

I believe the worry by some of us here is a consistent insistence at the top that this is a made-up nothing burger. Friday's CDC press conference was the opposite of what's needed. Anybody willing to read that recap, or watch the actual event, should be dismayed and should demand honest engagement.

 

No but you should follow guidelines to drive as safely as possible. Same with crossing the street etc. Nobody should be "freaking out" right now but everyone should be at the very least following current guidelines. Pay attention to non-partisan sources, wash your damn hands, cover your mouth with tissues when you cough or sneeze, and don't go out in public if you are sick.