Coronavirus does not scare me!

[Palerider]

I think that there are two mistakes you can make over this virus.
One is to assume that its a storm in a teacup, that it wont cause any problems and it will all be over in a couple of weeks.
The other is that it is going to be horrendous, we will run out of food and we will all die.

Both of these mistakes are running riot among social media and one or two of the newspapers. The truth is that it is serious and must not be ignored. Sensible precausations need to be taken to stop the spread and protect the vulnerable, but we are unlikely to run out of food and we wont all die, although probably quite a lot will. Unfortunately, it is ourselves and the people we care for who are the most "at risk", so it is really important for us to lower the risk as far as possible.

I think that is a good way of looking at this @canary and understanding what risk means -it means that there is a chance of something happening, it doesn't mean that it will happen and if we do what we need to do the chances of something happening are reduced.

 

[jugglingmum]

My understanding is that there is a lot to be worried about - as the hospitals are struggling to cope. I'm in my 50s with asthma - based on my preventer inhaler fairly bad asthma - all I can do is keep my lungs strong by exercise is my thought for me.

Dau was due home this weekend (delayed to next weekend for now for other reasons) and wants to visit my mum - I've said no. I will drop mum's food off weekly with as little contact as possible - she is often asleep anyway and hope the carers can cope.

I think @canary has summed it up We will all carry on going to work unless we get ill so there will be food in the shops. Due to Brexit there was large overstocking by food suppliers which I doubt has been rundown yet. In a couple of months the worst will be over.

 

[Banjomansmate]

Margarita we are all in sympathy with Italy and of course you and yours in particular as you have become a friend. This is a really difficult time for all as we are not sure what we are dealing with. My daughter and grandson are supposed to be coming up to Scotland from London this week for my birthday. Is that a sensible thing to do? Probably not. How do I tell her that? It is so hard to know the right thing to do or say.

Meanwhile we will hope for your good health and an improvement of health in Italy.

I would say to your daughter that, much as you want to see her and your grandson, you think it might be better for them to stay at home as you do not want them running the risk of picking up the virus during their journey up to you or while in your area. Stress the point that you are concerned for their welfare and would be devastated if they contracted it whilst visiting you.

 

[margherita]

Hi @margherita good to hear from you especially in such difficult times. Your post is extremely helpful. I hope that we all get through this and get back to the normal business of supporting each other in our daily battles with dementia.

All this will be over, just like other even more serious epidemics or pandemics were in the past.
What you call " our daily battles with dementia " can't be stopped by anything or anyone. I think it is a bit more difficult than in normal times. OH is particularly restless and doesn't understand why we can't go out. Or, if he understands, he forgets about it. Also going to the doctor's to get OH's prescriptions or to the chemist's is more difficult. On line prescriptions are being put in place, so at least the queue at our GP's practice can be avoided. I will try also on line food shopping, even though it takes days to have what you bought delivered. Here you can enter supetmarkets only after long queues, because only very few customers at a time are let in.

Looking forward to the hot Italian summer... they say the virus can't survive temperatures above 26/ 27 degrees .

 

[Countryboy]

16 countries plus Taiwan have had or are currently suspected of having biological weapons programs: Canada, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Libya, North Korea, Russia, South Africa, Syria, the United Kingdom and the United States

Sorry to say this but it’s time we get real, I’m 77 and never seen 75% of the Countries in the world closing boarders stopping flights because of a flu like virus this will be on going for a very long time probably a couple of years maybe longer

 

[silkiest]

I've just been reading about the Health Secretaries proposed self isolation of all over 70's planned to start in the next few weeks. I am 63 and a carer for 3 people in their 80's, 2 with dementia. The only way I could see of enforcing this is to remove all house keys as they would forget they are not supposed to go out or to shop (all 3 are mobile and go out alone). Surely this would be unsafe and probably illegal also.

 

[Alex54]

I am not trying to say that Coronavirus should not be taken seriously, but if you google deaths from flu then:

CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.

I suspect that when the analysis is finally done, we will see a lot fewer people classed as being killed by Influenza.

 

[Lawson58]

I wrote on the other thread about the virus of my memories of what it was like to go through the polio epidemic that appeared a few years after the second world war.

People spent months in iron lungs, were left with limb deformities and lifelong health issues. I can clearly remember the fear that every family lived with and so I am not scared of this virus. My husband is getting anxious - heat failure, and other health issues. But at our age, you don't expect to keep on living forever. My guess is though my husband could well die of his heart issue because he will be unable to get adequate treatment if hospitals and doctors are overwhelmed by coronavirus cases in isolation.

I will get scared when it knocks on my door, stares me in the face and demands payment. I don't have extras of anything in my house. I filled my car up the other day but only because the tank was running on empty. I have the feeling that when everybody's houses are so full after their panic buying, then I shall have a leisurely stroll through a supermarket and buy what I need.

 

[White Rose]

Hi @Alex54 ,
It is true that covid-19 is deadly " only" for old people and those who have other serious health issues. Most of the people who get infected and are reasonably healthy can be cured.
That is the problem : being cured. There are far fewer ICU beds and respirators in our hospitals ( above all in the south) than the people who need or may need them.
What will happen over the next too weeks is a further reason for concern.
The epidemic , which seemed to be confined to the north, has been spreading in southern Italy for few days and we expect the deaths will increase dramatically.
It is true, as you say, the news agencies have over-reacted and spread panic, above all about a possible lack of food supplies in supermarkets, but it is also true that those who should have protected public health have been late in making the right decisions.
The first mild suggestions from the government were widely disregarded as the pictures of people in bars, restaurants , malls, or at the seaside ,or on the ski slopes , show.
When the suspension of most working activities and lockdown in wide areas of northern Italy were decreed , many people from the south who lived and worked in the north , mobbed trains to go back to their homes , thus contributing to spread the desease to other regions.
One of the problems of this extremely contagious virus is it can be transmitted also by people who have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

Sorry...such a long post . I apologize for the language mistakes and suggest ( may I ?) you are all cautious

What I can't understand is why Italy has such a large number of people infected - as a percentage of population far more than China and a higher percentage of deaths to total cases than China. India with a similar population size to China and people living in similarly close contact currently has a tiny number of cases, 108. Perhaps it's just that other countries are weeks behind and all countries will be seeing similar numbers of cases and deaths - frightening.

 

[White Rose]

All this will be over, just like other even more serious epidemics or pandemics were in the past.
What you call " our daily battles with dementia " can't be stopped by anything or anyone. I think it is a bit more difficult than in normal times. OH is particularly restless and doesn't understand why we can't go out. Or, if he understands, he forgets about it. Also going to the doctor's to get OH's prescriptions or to the chemist's is more difficult. On line prescriptions are being put in place, so at least the queue at our GP's practice can be avoided. I will try also on line food shopping, even though it takes days to have what you bought delivered. Here you can enter supetmarkets only after long queues, because only very few customers at a time are let in.

Looking forward to the hot Italian summer... they say the virus can't survive temperatures above 26/ 27 degrees .

You have our sympathies @margherita, this must be incredibly difficult for you and your partner.

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

The only way I could see of enforcing this is to remove all house keys as they would forget they are not supposed to go out or to shop

Mum has promised that she will stay indoors when the time comes but admits that she'll have forgotten our conversation by tomorrow. I am seriously considering removing her shoes from the house.

 

[marionq]

I would say to your daughter that, much as you want to see her and your grandson, you think it might be better for them to stay at home as you do not want them running the risk of picking up the virus during their journey up to you or while in your area. Stress the point that you are concerned for their welfare and would be devastated if they contracted it whilst visiting you.

Thanks, problem resolved. She works for a major theatre group in London and their shows are closing like dominos falling all over the world so she has her hands full. There will be other birthdays and other weekends.

 

[Palerider]

I am not trying to say that Coronavirus should not be taken seriously, but if you google deaths from flu then:

CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.

I suspect that when the analysis is finally done, we will see a lot fewer people classed as being killed by Influenza.

Hi @Alex54 I see you have qouted the CDC figures for the US, always be mindful that demographics in each country are different and also the responses made in that country are different.

 

[northumbrian_k]

Comparisons are odious as the saying goes, or at least misleading. The issue with Covid-19 is that it is a new disease so it is not yet possible to know with certainty what effects it will have for both personal and population health. This makes it harder to devise a mitigating strategy that provides protection to the most vulnerable. In time we will have sufficient data to carry out epidemiological analysis as well as better knowledge of how to deal with it. We may at some point also have a vaccine that will reduce its severity. These will be crucial if, as is possible, it becomes a familiar and recurring feature in the same way that seasonal flu is.

 

[Petunia59]

My wife is in hospital at present and I visit evey day by bus, she does not have any breathing problems nor do I but both of us are over 70. On the news today they are talking about over 70's staying at home to protect themselves, my other fear is the hospital will stop visits. I am going to use the car today as the car park is lessfull on Sundays.

I'm in a similar position. My Mum is in hospital and I too have been using the bus for visits but, partly because the Park & Ride I use isn't open on Sunday, I plucked up the courage to drive in today. I'm in my early 60's but feel I'm at risk because I have asthma and take a medication for RA that can affect the lungs.
Hopefully, Mum will be home soon; but does this mean we are at more risk from Mum's carers?

 

[northumbrian_k]

Yes, only of use as a substitute for when the loo rolls run out..........

Typical Hitchens, polishing his own vanity whilst gratuitously insulting everybody else. He is just a vainglorious polemicist and that is putting it politely.

 

[margherita]

What I can't understand is why Italy has such a large number of people infected - as a percentage of population far more than China and a higher percentage of deaths to total cases than China.

Hi White Rose,
I think the Italian government undervalued the danger of this epidemic and erroneously thought it could be easily circumscribed. Besides they there were also economic reasons , because strict measures would mean blocking wide productive sectors and damaging our already rickety economy. And last but not least, they were afraid they might be considered undemocratic and too authoritarian.
That's my personal opinion. I wish I could be more exhaustive, but I find it difficult to discuss the subject in English.

 

[margherita]

There will be other birthdays and other weekends.

So glad to hear that @marionq . I was worried about you deciding not to put off your birthday celebrations for fear of hurting your daughter's feeling.
Take care of yourself and stay at home as much as possible.
I don't wish you a happy birthday because here in Italy they say wishes in advance do not bring good luck.

 

[margherita]

Margarita we are all in sympathy with Italy and of course you and yours in particular as you have become a friend.

Thank you @marionq .
Your words are so kind!

 

[Alex54]

I wish I could be more exhaustive, but I find it difficult to discuss the subject in English

@margherita your command of English puts many of us to shame!

I see Italy reported another increase in deaths on Sunday. Are they mainly in the north or is it the South catching up?