Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Admiral Yi]

I think Donald is more right than wrong on this one.

[Sheilbh]

To add another potential explanation.

I think background and where and how you came up always matters. For Trump it's the celebrity pages of tabloids and real-estate - two worlds that are all about spinning a (typically false) narrative rather than reality. I think he just does the same as President and genuinely doesn't understand the difference between the NYT, Post etc and page 6, or the difference between dealing with an epidemic and selling property/his brand. If you sell it hard enough, if you spin it enough then that matters more than reality.

In much the same way I still don't think he's realised the full powers of the Presidency (thank God) or its limitations. I think he basically understands it as being like a nation-wide Ed Koch era mayor of America.

[Tamas]

A British couple quarantined in Costa Adeje Palace hotel, in Tenerife, have put out a video appeal to Boris Johnson to bring them home.

In the video, broadcast by the BBC, Mandy Davis said:

Nobody, not the hotel, not the Foreign Office, not the Spanish people. Nobody knows what the right thing to do is, because nobody's had this virus before. So please, let's sort something out, come and rescue us please Boris. And let's just get the hell out of here.

Speaking alongside her husband, Roger, Davis added:

I can assure you that we are cleaner than the people at home sitting on buses, trains, planes and whatever, because everything here has been sanitised over and over again.

[alfred russel]

He is currently bankrupting the country to try to keep the economy strong enough to get re-election.

That seems to be a baseless accusation. He has a history of bankrupting almost everything he controls.

[Valmy]

He is currently bankrupting the country to try to keep the economy strong enough to get re-election.

That seems to be a baseless accusation. He has a history of bankrupting almost everything he controls.

Well that is true, we did want a business man who would run the country like one of his businesses

[crazy canuck]

I laid in my supply of eggs, milk, and bread.  I am ready to ride out the pandemic on my French Toast Cure.

Our minister of health would approve

Health Minister Patty Hajdu is encouraging Canadians to stockpile food and medication in their homes in case they or a loved one falls ill with the novel coronavirus.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-families-should-consider-coronavirus-outbreak-when-planning/

[Legbiter]

Chief Medical Officer here held a press conference. Is optimistic we can cope "even in the worst-case scenario". His worst case scenario are official Chinese statistics for Hubei, which are probably off by a factor of 10 at least. Complete moron.

[Tonitrus]

I think Donald is more right than wrong on this one.

I will agree that I think the media hype and panicked overreactions is making this whole thing worse.

From what I've seen for infection rates/deaths...the common seasonal flu still has it beat.  Corona just has a better publicist. 

So far, the new coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, has led to more than 75,000 illnesses and 2,000 deaths, primarily in mainland China. But that's nothing compared with the flu, also called influenza. In the U.S. alone, the flu has already caused an estimated 26 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

[PDH]

Our minister of health would approve

It is always nice to be ahead of the curve!

[The Minsky Moment]

From what I've seen for infection rates/deaths...the common seasonal flu still has it beat.

The statistics you quoted seem to prove the opposite.  The seasonal flu has caused 14K deaths out of 26 million illnesses, or a death rate of 0.05%
COVID-19 on the other hand has caused 2000 deaths out of 75,000 illnesses, or a death rate of 2.6%.

That is on these numbers COVID-19 is about 50 times more deadly then the flu.  If it were to reach the same number of infections as the flu, that would mean over 700,000 deaths.  I would call that pretty catastrophic.

The potential downsides of under-reacting are a MUCH MUCH higher then the downsides of a little media hysteria.

[Razgovory]

I would much rather have everyone wear face masks for a few days even if they don't need them than see 10,000 deaths.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7-KN-52GxU

Line in Taegu to buy half price face masks.

[PDH]

From what I've seen for infection rates/deaths...the common seasonal flu still has it beat.

The statistics you quoted seem to prove the opposite.  The seasonal flu has caused 14K deaths out of 26 million illnesses, or a death rate of 0.05%
COVID-19 on the other hand has caused 2000 deaths out of 75,000 illnesses, or a death rate of 2.6%.

That is on these numbers COVID-19 is about 50 times more deadly then the flu.  If it were to reach the same number of infections as the flu, that would mean over 700,000 deaths.  I would call that pretty catastrophic.

The potential downsides of under-reacting are a MUCH MUCH higher then the downsides of a little media hysteria.

Don't confuse us with the facts.

[11B4V]

From what I've seen for infection rates/deaths...the common seasonal flu still has it beat.

The statistics you quoted seem to prove the opposite.  The seasonal flu has caused 14K deaths out of 26 million illnesses, or a death rate of 0.05%
COVID-19 on the other hand has caused 2000 deaths out of 75,000 illnesses, or a death rate of 2.6%.

That is on these numbers COVID-19 is about 50 times more deadly then the flu.  If it were to reach the same number of infections as the flu, that would mean over 700,000 deaths.  I would call that pretty catastrophic.

The potential downsides of under-reacting are a MUCH MUCH higher then the downsides of a little media hysteria.

Don't confuse us with the facts.

Plus Corona has a better publicist.

[mongers]

Today, Wednesday, both Korea and Italy reported similar numbers of new cases to what China did, around 300-400.

Seems like there are now three equally important confirmed centres of infection, with Iran as an additional great unknown.