Am I the only one not overly worried about Covid19?

[Guest]

I also get annoyed, or outright angry, at those who shrug and say, “What’s the big deal? Ten thousand people die from the flu.” 

The rate at which this virus has spread. The lack of a vaccine or even a well-defined treatment protocol. The fact that my daughter is in France where the spread is well underway. All these things affect my feeling of heightened concern over it. 

I have personally chosen to lie low for two weeks, since I was just in Austria when it turned up there. Is it likely I am carrying it? No. Do I want to be the dense ding-bat who infected friends at Bunco or the homeschool co-op by going there when it wasn’t necessary I attend those things? Nope! 

 

[Murphy101]

Just now, Happymomof1 said:

Please, please be nice to each other.  Everyone is entitled to the way they feel.  They are not wrong for the way they feel.  Scared.  Not scared.  Please.  Let's fight the virus not each other!

I am fine with that. Notice my OP was not let’s bash people worried about covid19. It was a simple geez am I the only one not worried.  That’s all I wanted to do was discuss if I’m the only one not obsessing about this. Everyone else can obsess all they want without suggesting I’m some horrible person who doesn’t care that people are dying and having work problems if I’m not as upset emotionally as they are about this. 

[marbel]

4 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I am fine with that. Notice my OP was not let’s bash people worried about covid19. It was a simple geez am I the only one not worried.  That’s all I wanted to do was discuss if I’m the only one not obsessing about this. Everyone else can obsess all they want without suggesting I’m some horrible person who doesn’t care that people are dying and having work problems if I’m not as upset emotionally as they are about this. 

Whenever a question starts with "am I the only one who..." the answer is almost certainly no, no matter what the topic.

But there is more to it than obsessing/not obsessing. A huge wide range. 

[AnotherE]

I think it was the title "Am I the only one not caring about Covid19?" Because saying you don't care seems a bit cold-hearted in light of what's happening in many areas. It sets the tone for the rest of the conversation.

[Murphy101]

1 minute ago, marbel said:

Whenever a question starts with "am I the only one who..." the answer is almost certainly no, no matter what the topic.

But there is more to it than obsessing/not obsessing. A huge wide range. 

Well obviously I figured there had to be someone else or why bother asking.  Doesn’t mean I was asking to be bashed or to bash anyone else. 

[sassenach]

21 minutes ago, Plum said:

Under.normal circumstances, wear a mask every day if you want. It’s none of my business.

HOWEVER...right now with the mask shortage, masks really should only go to health care providers, the sick, and those with compromised immune systems.

Please keep in mind... N95 masks are for healthy people so they can filter sick particles out. N95’s are thick and difficult to breathe in. They require tight fitting or they don’t do much good as the air suction when you breathe in will bring in sick particles. Most people are not going to want to wear those voluntarily all day. The surgical masks are for sick. They catch water droplets the sick may spew out. So those are more appropriate for the sick. There seems to have been a lot of confusion about this. 

Sorry. This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. There’s so many masks floating around out there that people actually need to care for others or you know....not die from their compromised immune system. 

It will be a relief when the mask shortage has ended. 

Yes, none of this is news to me. Even reusable cloth masks would accomplish what I was thinking. My mom just sewed herself one. But none of it matters if it’s just one individual doing it. 

[Selkie]

45 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

Right? It’s really insulting for doing nothing more than pointing out that being afraid isn’t very helpful.

I’ve been on my bandwagon about the cost of education eventually costing our infrastructure in healthcare, and needing universal health and work policies for nearly 20 years exactly bc I’ve suffered the fallout of our systems failures and exactly because I have done the death watch with loved ones. Folks can kiss my ample right butt check saying I’m just too privledged and lucky to have this “luxury”. 

Pretty sure at least 4 people under my roof would risk death if they caught covid19. I carry hand sanitizer on me, the house is as stocked as I can get it for illness, and I’ve double downed the hand washing nagging.  Nothing they say on the news is going to make a difference to that. If my husband loses pay because his offices close? Yep. Nothing to do about that either.   
 

I suspect 6 months to a year from now we will see America’s only real universal healthcare hit peaks: Bankruptcy petitions. 
 

As for containment. There is not a goal of stopping this with containment. That is long out of the window with a virus like this. The only goal of the quarantines is to slow the progression so that the system can have a chance to meet the expected need better.  Eventually they will discard quarantines entirely bc it won’t serve that goal in a full outbreak area anymore.

I don't understand saying you don't care about something that is very contagious, is spreading rapidly through the US, and could be fatal to four people in your family. Not being snarky here, I just truly don't understand.

[TravelingChris]

2 hours ago, Terabith said:

The flu doesn’t require 20% of those infected to be hospitalized.  

I am not really worrying about dying. I am concerned about being hospitalized and the after effects of the disease. Just a bacterial pneumonia that I was not hospitalized for really negatively affected my breathing forever.  I think if I get it and survive, I will probably need to be on oxygen forever. I will probably not be able to hike again.  And on and on.  The fear goes triple for my youngest.  She has severe asthma already.

But I am going out and enjoyed visiting an art museum today.  I went to a concert last week.  I plan to go to one next week too.   There hasn't been a patient in my area and I am not freaked out but concerned and Aldo enjoying my life.

 

 

[Murphy101]

7 minutes ago, Selkie said:

I don't understand saying you don't care about something that is very contagious, is spreading rapidly through the US, and could be fatal to four people in your family. Not being snarky here, I just truly don't understand.

I don’t care as in there’s nothing I can do about it so I’m not going to spend much time fretting over it instead of enjoying living with my people while I have them.

I’m not being snarky either, but what exactly do you think I should do about it?

[Ausmumof3]

4 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

I have seen nothing claiming this is worse than the flu. Everything reputable I have seen says in roughly 20% of less cases this attacks weak lungs leading to pneumonia (also the usual cause of death in flu patients) and eventually organ failure due to lack of healthy oxygen levels.

Thus the suggestion that if you have flu symptoms you should seek emergency care ASAP if you become at all short of breath. Many elderly and asthmatics producers what all other categories are used to expecting to feel a tight chest when sick.  And while normally they’d wait a day or so to see if it clears, if it is covid19 - the faster they treat it the better the survival rate. 

I think the main and valid concern is mostly hospitals not being able to meet the demand. Which is a concern every flu season too. 

I don’t know if you consider World Health Organisation reputable but maybe this will help

World Health Organization (WHO)

@WHO

·

Mar 4The second major difference is that #COVID19 causes more severe disease than seasonal influenza. While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new #coronavirus to which no one has immunity"-Mar 4"Globally, about 3.4% of reported #COVID19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected Mar 4"Third, we have vaccines & therapeutics for seasonal flu, but at the moment there is no vaccine & no specific treatment for #COVID19. However, clinical trials of therapeutics are now being done & more than 20 vaccines are in development"

Mar 4"Fourth, we don’t even talk about containment for seasonal flu – it’s just not possible. But it is possible for #COVID19. We don’t bother with contact tracing for seasonal flu – but countries should do it for COVID-19, because it will prevent infections & save lives"

Mar 4"These differences mean we can’t treat #COVID19 exactly the same way we treat flu. But there are enough similarities to mean that countries are not starting from scratch. For decades, many countries have invested in building up their systems to detect & respond to flu"-
copied from the official twitter account hence the weird breaks

[Ausmumof3]

I personally think the biggest issue with the media sensationalising everything is that we don’t listen when we really need to.  If this story is the boy who cries wolf there’s a good chance this time it really is the wolf.  I’m not scared much for myself or my kids but I am worried for my parents and the healthcare workers in my extended family.  
 

I have never seen a country the size of China quarantine to the scale they have and create such large scale economic problems over the flu.

the death rate raw data in Italy is 4pc.  Versus flu which is .05

the difference is this is less contagious meaning if people freak out a bit and take precautions we could actually slow it down.  If we all are blasé then we can’t.

[J-rap]

For me, it's not that I don't care, or don't understand the potential seriousness of it, but I don't worry about it, or even think about.  I do think people are over-reacting, while at the same time, of course I don't mean to dismiss people who have compromised health, etc, at all.  But even before one person in our state supposedly had the virus (and I guess as of today, there is one -- so soon there will be more), grocery stores and Targets, etc., were completely selling out of canned foods, bottled water, toilet paper, antibacterial soap, rice, etc.   So, I guess it's things like that, and how consumed some people are with thinking about it, that I don't understand.  I DO understand people wanting to be careful, crowded events being cancelled, etc.  There's a lot we don't know yet about how this will play out.   But other than that, it doesn't occupy my thoughts.

I do have a dd with severe asthma, parents who are 91 (one who has congestive heart failure), and a dh whose life hangs in the balance ~ he is only alive because of antibiotics, which eventually his body will probably not be able to tolerate.  So, perhaps it's because I've already been to the end and back and seen what it's like, that I don't tend to worry about these things.  

Edited March 6, 2020 by J-rap

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Arctic Mama said:

My baseline assumption is that the Chinese government lies about absolutely everything, possibly even the color of the sky, unless people on the ground and outside agencies confirm it themselves.  I’m more interested in the statistics out of S. Korea and Italy, but that’s an aside.

Italy are currently tracking at 4pc death rate.

[katilac]

 

1 hour ago, Plum said:

I can’t answer to that but the Asian population seems to get by just fine wearing masks all the time. 

 

I'm not sure I'd say the Asian population wears masks all the time. They frequently wear them when out and about, such as  getting to and from work, but I don't know that they wear them at work. I"d be surprised if professionals or people who talk on the phone a lot wear them at work. Maybe someone with more direct knowledge can weigh in. 

Google hasn't provided me with a direct answer to the work question, but this article has some interesting background on masks and how they directly relate to aspects of Asian culture. It also talks about different reasons younger people wear them. Interestingly, I have noticed some young people in my area wearing them, well before Covid-19 hit the news, pretty clearly for some of the 'new' reasons and not for health purposes. I haven't seen anyone past college age wearing any kind of mask (our area has no confirmed cases). 

 

 

[Ausmumof3]

4 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

@Lang Syne Boardie actually a fair chunk of us just doing what we can and shrugging are doing so precisely because we have lived in high risk categories for years or have loved ones who do, and we recognize the regular danger isn’t necessarily less worrisome than the novel, well publicized new danger, just because we are familiar with it.  Nebulizer and prednisone in hand, I’m still shaking my head about a lot of this, at least on a media level.  

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200206110703.htm
 

you may want to keep this in mind re the prednisone 

[Ausmumof3]

46 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

I am not concerned.  

I feel for those who have very real concerns and worries.  I feel for those who are having mental health struggles due to that.  

I think people who are panicking and buying out stores of toilet paper are overreacting.  I think people who are prepping as if this is the coming apocalypse are overreacting.  

And I think people who are obsessing over this by constantly checking how many more people are infected, frantically looking for the latest stats and articles....I think they are feeding their own anxiety and adding to the panic.  For some, checking over and over might help, but I think for many, it simply leads to feeling more anxious, more worried, and more helpless.  And then as people get more anxious and worried, they begin to act out of fear and not out of real knowledge.

 

 

 

I posted this on the long thread but for me the stats checking is not panicking I just tend to get interested in something and over research it.  That’s how I do life.  It’s not panic, just curiosity.  I hope that’s not offensive in context of the impact of the people on the other side of the stats because I do feel extremely sad for them as well.

[Pawz4me]

1 minute ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I posted this on the long thread but for me the stats checking is not panicking I just tend to get interested in something and over research it.  That’s how I do life.  It’s not panic, just curiosity.  I hope that’s not offensive in context of the impact of the people on the other side of the stats because I do feel extremely sad for them as well.

Ditto. I'm a huge news junkie. Other people watch TV shows or movies. News is my thing. And this is a huge news event.

[Ausmumof3]

Just now, Arctic Mama said:

I’m aware. We have them for different issues than CV treatment or asthma.

Cool.  I am a give me all the information kind of person so sharing info is a kind of love language if that’s possible (; 

[Pen]

2 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

I’ve said I get that the great concern is hospitals being overwhelmed. Every year hospitals are overwhelmed just bc of the flu.

Last I knew none of us have any ability to do anything about that. Even staying home when sick won’t help much bc many are infectious before they have any symptoms. Other than the usual preparedness, there’s nothing to do.

So can anyone explain how getting upset and obsessing over the news is helpful?

Because I’m not seeing any benefit to anyone of that.

 

 

I agree with you that getting upset is just likely to reduce immunity because stress is known to do that.

I am not freaking out.

But I certainly care, and am following developments with great interest. 

This is way, way worse than any influenza of my own lifetime.  (I am judging “worse” by R0, mortality rate, percentage of cases requiring hospital care to survive, typical length of hospital stay needed, and some other aspects of it— not on number of deaths so far)

I don’t know how it will stack up as against the 1918-1919 Influenza pandemic by the time it’s over. 

Actions of personal social distancing (not needing to be a hermit for most people, but rather keeping 3-6 feet distance, no Social kissing, no shaking hands...), and excellent hand washing and other sanitary measures (cover coughs) can help.

And, closing down large group events can help: 

Because they help slooooow  the viral spread; potentially lower the R0 

and sloooowing  this virus down: 

1. Will help keep hospitals from being overwhelmed, which would be Huge in itself 

2. May allow a vaccine to be developed before the virus can be devastating 

3. May allow other effective treatments to be figured out

Edited March 6, 2020 by Pen

[Ausmumof3]

2 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Like I said, for some people it helps.  But for others, it really doesn't.  For a lot of people, even those who don't tend towards anxiety, the *constant* coverage, the *constant* updates, start to freak them out.   So if you (general you) are a 'stats junky' or a 'news junky' or whatever, that's fine for you.  I just wish that that sort of thing wasn't feeding into the panic of those who have already done all they can and are still getting themselves all worked up.  

They can choose not to read.  In fact that’s what many people do.  That’s ok.  We’re all adults and we can choose what info we want to pay attention to.

[Pen]

11 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Cool.  I am a give me all the information kind of person so sharing info is a kind of love language if that’s possible (; 

 

I may share that with you.  I never thought of it that way before. 

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, Plum said:

I can’t answer to that but the Asian population seems to get by just fine wearing masks all the time. 

 

35 minutes ago, katilac said:

I'm not sure I'd say the Asian population wears masks all the time. They frequently wear them when out and about, such as  getting to and from work, but I don't know that they wear them at work. I"d be surprised if professionals or people who talk on the phone a lot wear them at work. Maybe someone with more direct knowledge can weigh in. 

 

No. They don’t wear mask all the time 😂

ETA:

I’m chinese surrounded by Asians.

My husband is told by his employer to work from home until at least end of March. My DS15’s dual enrollment classes might be cancelled or switch to online. His dual enrollment finals might be affected. I’m in Santa Clara county so we are affected by event cancellations and class cancellations. We were told to check the news and websites for updates regarding class cancellations.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Arcadia

[ktgrok]

 

52 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I don’t care as in there’s nothing I can do about it so I’m not going to spend much time fretting over it instead of enjoying living with my people while I have them.

I’m not being snarky either, but what exactly do you think I should do about it?

There is a difference between saying you are not panicking, and saying you don't care. 

Saying you don't care about something that is killing people sounds pretty coldhearted. I can't imagine anyone not caring about something that is killing people, and could have huge economic impacts. I'm not panicked, but I surely do CARE. 

[Acadie]

1 hour ago, kand said:

There are a number of good articles showing the difference that can be made during a pandemic by taking various measures to reduce the spread, and especially the speed of the spread, so that the healthcare system can keep up. China built multiple 1000 bed hospitals in ten days time. I don’t see us achieving that, so we better do what we can to slow it down, which means all the social distancing measures we can. Here’s one article on how different cities fared during the Spanish flu based on what measures they put in place when:  https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/health/17flu.html Seattle waited almost a week to start doing some of this stuff. Hopefully that was early enough, since this has a longer incubation.

 This chart shows the difference in how St Louis and Philadelphia after in 1918. The difference was that St Louis started canceling things within a couple days. Philadelphia waited two weeks, and had a parade during that time  
 

 

 

Super helpful graphic--this helped my very disappointed family members understand why our regional science fair and the conference where dh's book was going to be released were both cancelled. Thank you!

[Ausmumof3]

4 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Sure, on this board, you can choose not to read.

When a person is putting on their morning news so they can figure out if they need to start their car before heading to work, or because they need to know if there's an accident on their route so they can take a different way and they are hit with "breaking news" and "the death toll is now at 15, plus at least three people in our state have tested positive" that's not quite the same thing.  

And then, once people who are worried start to get wrapped up, they *think* they are helping themselves by checking, but they are really feeding their own fears.

 

I suspect though that Costco and Walmart at least for now, are probably ok with the panic.

This is actually why I use online sources for most stuff.  It’s pretty easy to just use google maps to check your route times.  
 

the alternative is a news system like China has which is to some degree allowed only to report positive news.  That’s what led to this debacle in the first place.  We need to let news agencies do what they are going to do, counteract crazy with reliable information and let adults adult.  I do not want to live in a world where we put limits on reporting.

Here in Aus we do have some good news outlets that don’t sensationalise every little thing.  That probably helps.

[Ausmumof3]

17 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

The second bolded IS the alternative.  

But then I suppose that "sensationalizing every little thing" is probably in the eye of the beholder of the news.  I suspect that in the eyes of the companies that own the news stations, "sensationalizing every little thing" is the best thing they could possibly do to get as many eyeballs as possible on their channel.  

Yes

our less sensational news outlet is gov funded meaning they don’t need headlines that make money.  However there are issues with only relying on this kind of media as well.

but yes, I guess we are coming from different countries/perspectives so I’m not necessarily seeing the same things that you are.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Ausmumof3

[Murphy101]

24 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

 

There is a difference between saying you are not panicking, and saying you don't care. 

Saying you don't care about something that is killing people sounds pretty coldhearted. I can't imagine anyone not caring about something that is killing people, and could have huge economic impacts. I'm not panicked, but I surely do CARE. 

But it’s not just that I’m not panicking. I’m not particularly concerned about it. It’s a vague, hmm. That’s interesting level of care. 

Just like I’m sure when I’ve posted about how ridiculous it is to get affordable insulin I’m sure that people care in the sense they aren’t happy about people suffering but most who read or even comment probably have a “huh. That’s pretty awful but whatcha gonna do” level of care about.  They aren’t losing sleep or writing their congressman or whatever.  Well most don’t anyways  

So what should I change “care” to if the attack is about wording?

Because I think “not panicking” isn’t quite the right word either. 🧐

Who isn’t letting covid19 fears bother them?

[ktgrok]

1 minute ago, Murphy101 said:

But it’s not just that I’m not panicking. I’m not particularly concerned about it. It’s a vague, hmm. That’s interesting level of care. 

Just like I’m sure when I’ve posted about how ridiculous it is to get affordable insulin I’m sure that people care in the sense they aren’t happy about people suffering but most who read or even comment probably have a “huh. That’s pretty awful but whatcha gonna do” level of care about.  They aren’t losing sleep or writing their congressman or whatever.  Well most don’t anyways  

So what should I change “care” to if the attack is about wording?

Because I think “not panicking” isn’t quite the right word either. 🧐

Who isn’t letting covid19 fears bother them?

Well, I think if you posted that you were worried about how you were going to afford insulin this month for your husband, and there was a conversation about how serious the rising cost of insulin is, and that people are dying from rationing it, and then someone else started a thread saying, "Am I the only one not caring about the insulin prices" that would be a pretty inappropriate thing to do, right?

It's kind of the same thing. Saying you don't care, seems to say that you don't care about the people that died, that might die, the ones that may lose their homes if they can't work, etc. It feels like you saying you don't care about them. Just as if I said, "I don't care about insulin prices and rationing" would sound like I don't care about those effected. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

But it’s not just that I’m not panicking. I’m not particularly concerned about it. It’s a vague, hmm. That’s interesting level of care. 

Just like I’m sure when I’ve posted about how ridiculous it is to get affordable insulin I’m sure that people care in the sense they aren’t happy about people suffering but most who read or even comment probably have a “huh. That’s pretty awful but whatcha gonna do” level of care about.  They aren’t losing sleep or writing their congressman or whatever.  Well most don’t anyways  

So what should I change “care” to if the attack is about wording?

Because I think “not panicking” isn’t quite the right word either. 🧐

Who isn’t letting covid19 fears bother them?

Not to be the word police, but IMHO, saying you are “not caring” is the specific word that makes me feel a lot of displeasure. 

“Not very worried” is how I would say it if I didn’t feel heightened concern about how this virus will play out and how it will affect me/people I love/the region where I live. 

[Murphy101]

13 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

Well, I think if you posted that you were worried about how you were going to afford insulin this month for your husband, and there was a conversation about how serious the rising cost of insulin is, and that people are dying from rationing it, and then someone else started a thread saying, "Am I the only one not caring about the insulin prices" that would be a pretty inappropriate thing to do, right?

It's kind of the same thing. Saying you don't care, seems to say that you don't care about the people that died, that might die, the ones that may lose their homes if they can't work, etc. It feels like you saying you don't care about them. Just as if I said, "I don't care about insulin prices and rationing" would sound like I don't care about those effected. 

Happens. I try not to think that when people post about how thankful they are for their great insurance and I’m just... Yeah. Um. Good for you. 

[Melissa in Australia]

39 minutes ago, Patty Joanna said:

This.

When I was in high school, our fire alarm malfunctioned.  It went off 10 times a day.  The first day, we all did the evacuate-the-buidling actions...but by noon, we were completely over it.  Had there been an actual fire, it would have been a disaster.  We have seen this happen already in the news re: hurricane reporting, storm warnings, etc.  You only get so many "This is the REAL THING" stories that turn out to be nothing but ratings-generators before you get a leetle bit...deaf.  

I guess the cultural differences come in here as well. Us Aussies are still in recovery mode from the worst bushfire our country has ever seen. The predictions were spot on. The government warnings were mostly followed. It saved countless lives. And now when we are told stock up on 2 weeks food, prepare for the possability of quarantine I for one are taking it seriously. I am not panicking. I don't have a stockpile of t paper. But I am following the events unfolding in the world, and reading up on the Spanish flue

Edited March 7, 2020 by Melissa in Australia

[Paige]

I have been concerned about this virus since the reports from China started coming in. That doesn't mean we're freaking out- we haven't changed our activities, but we've stocked up on some shelf stable foods and our medications, I thought about getting a mask early on but didn't, and I've been encouraging my parents to get enough food and meds so they can stay home if the disease spreads. Covid is now in their town- I think they should start social distancing now. If it comes to our town, I'll do the same. 

For those of you who think this is no big deal, or comparable to the flu, what are you basing that on?

For myself, I have seen what has happened in China and continues to happen in Iran and Italy. Do you think they don't have a seasonal flu there? Or other serious health issues? The actions of the Chinese government have been unlike anything I've ever seen, and I don't believe they would do that for something that wasn't potentially very serious. If anything, I think China would be more likely to under report what was happening than to sensationalize it.

I think there is still potential for countries to contain the virus, but that requires smart, proactive, aggressive action now and cooperation from all of us. I think if we do contain it, which I hope we can, a lot of people have done their jobs well and many lives will have been saved. If it doesn't spread as pervasively as the flu, it won't mean we overreacted now, but that we reacted appropriately and the system worked. 

 

[Melissa in Australia]

StellaM hopefully an encouraging tbought

Labs in Australia have been doing animal testing for vaccine for over a week.  If the modelling is right and August is the worst month here they may be by then close to human use. The labs are going 24/7 at the moment 

[Pen]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

But it’s not just that I’m not panicking. I’m not particularly concerned about it. It’s a vague, hmm. That’s interesting level of care. 

Just like I’m sure when I’ve posted about how ridiculous it is to get affordable insulin I’m sure that people care in the sense they aren’t happy about people suffering but most who read or even comment probably have a “huh. That’s pretty awful but whatcha gonna do” level of care about.  They aren’t losing sleep or writing their congressman or whatever.  Well most don’t anyways  

So what should I change “care” to if the attack is about wording?

Because I think “not panicking” isn’t quite the right word either. 🧐

Who isn’t letting covid19 fears bother them?

 

Not feeling “anxious”? 

But maybe it is actually more a “don’t care” and also wish you didn’t have to hear about it attitude? 

Really maybe more of an annoyed, irritated, or even pi$$ed off reaction ?

Edited March 7, 2020 by Pen

[Murphy101]

12 minutes ago, StellaM said:

 

I don't feel particularly sheltered, and I take a fair amount of umbrage at the idea that paying attention to public health is a sign of being spoiled. 

People who do deal with health risks on an ongoing basis are wise to pay attention to what's happening on a public health level.

It's called taking responsibility for your health. 

It honestly feels like people are saying 'ah well, people die, get used to it.' Would anyone really say that to someone's face? Would someone come over and say it to any of our boardies here with cancer, for example? "Ah well, you're at increased risk of disability and death if you get this virus, never mind, don't fret, we're just spoiled thinking we all get to live'. Would you (general you) say it to someone with cystic fibrosis? 'Oh well, in the olden days you would have died at birth. Be grateful you've had your sixteen years, don't moan about maybe dying from a pandemic virus'. Should I tell dd not to worry about not having enough protective gear in the hospitals because  'people die, honey, even nurses!'

Ugh.

Not personal to you, Happymom. Just jumped off your post with my annoyance.

 

Yes, people say stuff like that all the time. 

People say “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” and go about there lives with not a care in the world beyond being glad it’s not them.  If they are baptist - they’ll also offer to bring a meal. (😋 No offense to anyone! It’s just a good natured observance!) And they say, “Try not to stress! Look how far we’ve come in the last however many years! Just 50 years ago, you’d never have been able to live or live this well! Modern medicine is constantly improving so something will come up for you!”

I don’t think it’s because they really don’t care I think it’s because they actually think that’s helpful and it makes them feel better.  I don’t think they really give much thought to if it makes the person they are talking to feel better. I doubt it even occurs to them. 

eta: There’s nothing to take charge of about this. If people are following good hygiene and flu precautions, there’s nothing more to do. Doesn’t really matter what the statistics are about covid19 or the latest confirmations. All we can do is normal hygiene practices for flu season.  (Any season actually.)

Edited March 7, 2020 by Murphy101

[Paige]

The flu also likely has an artificially high mortality rate. Most people don't get tested, and therefore aren't in the stats. 

It's actually not too reassuring that many people are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms. It's good for them, of course, but it will make it harder to prevent the spread to vulnerable people. 

[Pen]

 

15 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

eta: There’s nothing to take charge of about this. If people are following good hygiene and flu precautions, there’s nothing more to do. Doesn’t really matter what the statistics are about covid19 or the latest confirmations. All we can do is normal hygiene practices for flu season.  (Any season actually.)

 

I am doing much more for the Covid-19 than I have done for any flu of my lifetime.

[Murphy101]

3 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

 

I am doing much more for the Covid-19 than I have done for any flu of my lifetime.

Like what?

My standard protocol all year is to keep basic medications on hand should a virus hit the house.  Colds meds, Tylenol, Advil, nasal sprays, cough drops and sore throat remedies, ways to stay hydrated on sore tummies, stay stocked in tissues and vapor rub.   Staple foods items.  Crackers, ramen noddles and soups for hydration and light foods  plus generally trying to keep the pantry stocked.

Stuff like bleach and alcohol and other cleaners used regularly to deep clean disinfect. Though I admit during flu season I do it more often.

Same for personal hygiene. Though during flu season I tend to ramp it up. Basicly if my kids walk in from going anywhere I tell them to wash their hands and go straight to the shower. Husband and I do it too. Normally I’d just wait until after dinner but if I know they aren’t going back out or they were somewhere interacting with a lot of people - I don’t even say hi. I just yell to wash their hands and shower and tell me about whatever they were out doing after that.

[catz]

17 minutes ago, Paige said:

The flu also likely has an artificially high mortality rate. Most people don't get tested, and therefore aren't in the stats. 

It's actually not too reassuring that many people are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms. It's good for them, of course, but it will make it harder to prevent the spread to vulnerable people. 

Actually there have been extensive studies on the flu to get the numbers they have.  I get they publish annual numbers and different strains vary by year.  But they know something like 14% of people who test positive for the flu don't show symptoms on average.  That is the kind of information they don't have for this new virus at all.  There was a bunch of stuff that came out of china initially like there is a 27 day incubation period.  I read a science based paper out of the US today that said there is no evidence of that - incubation varied from 1-14 days at the outside the majority falling between 2-5 days much like the flu.  

We will need to wait and see what falls out.  If this is relatively short lived we may not really ever have solid data.  I am aware and prepared but haven't changed anything other than being more naggy about hand washing when we walk in the door.  I have discovered digging for news that may or may not be accurate and may just be clickbait is not productive for some of my anxious tendancies.  We are lucky in that I don't think we are particularly high risk at all.  We do have aging parents and one that may be very vulnerable.  She is a walking miracle as it is to still be alive.   

Actually my biggest take away is we are just always prepared here.  We have had full blown flu and been in lock down with it for 2 weeks and I have always just stocked my house that way.  That said, I totally get it is a financial privilege to be able to order TP in boxes of 60 delivered to my door.  

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

Happens. I try not to think that when people post about how thankful they are for their great insurance and I’m just... Yeah. Um. Good for you. 

Saying someone is thankful for their insurance is not the same as flat out saying they don't care if you have insurance or not. 

30 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

Yes, people say stuff like that all the time. 

People say “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” and go about there lives with not a care in the world beyond being glad it’s not them.  If they are baptist - they’ll also offer to bring a meal. (😋 No offense to anyone! It’s just a good natured observance!) And they say, “Try not to stress! Look how far we’ve come in the last however many years! Just 50 years ago, you’d never have been able to live or live this well! Modern medicine is constantly improving so something will come up for you!”

I don’t think it’s because they really don’t care I think it’s because they actually think that’s helpful and it makes them feel better.  I don’t think they really give much thought to if it makes the person they are talking to feel better. I doubt it even occurs to them. 

eta: There’s nothing to take charge of about this. If people are following good hygiene and flu precautions, there’s nothing more to do. Doesn’t really matter what the statistics are about covid19 or the latest confirmations. All we can do is normal hygiene practices for flu season.  (Any season actually.)

Saying they are sorry is not the same as saying they don't care. Even you are saying you think they do care. And yet, in this you are saying you don't care...so not the same thing at all. 

If they said, "sorry, I don't care, becaues there is nothing I can do about it" that would be the same thing. 

And not having any more you can do, or doing all you can, doesn't = not caring. Plenty of us are already doing what we can do, but we still care. 

Edited March 7, 2020 by Ktgrok

[Jean in Newcastle]

My preparations and hygiene are the same now as any flu season. But my comments about not having the luxury of not caring is because living in a hot zone impacts every aspect of my life. Not because of fear. But because it has changed (hopefully temporarily) the social landscape. Obviously not all areas of the world or even my country are hot zones but dismissing it because it hasn’t impacted your community might bite you in the butt. And is rather insular. 

[Pen]

43 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

Like what?

My standard protocol all year is to keep basic medications on hand should a virus hit the house.  Colds meds, Tylenol, Advil, nasal sprays, cough drops and sore throat remedies,

 

Well, first of all, tbh, except in one year when I had flu vaccine and got horribly sick with flu, I don’t normally have much of that type of stuff on hand because neither I nor any family member tends to get sick and need such things all that much.  (For example, it was a very bad cold and flu season at my son’s public school, but he didn’t get sick at all.  Thus neither did I. )

However, with a novel virus that our immune systems won’t be partially already responsive to, I expect that to change.  I expect I will very likely get Covid-19, especially since it is already in PNW where I live, so for us it’s probably more likely to arrive before a vaccine does. It may just be a matter of how bad: Mild, or major with hospital needed.  And I’m hoping to do things in ways to be in the mild category even though I’m in increased risk groups by age and other health conditions. 

In preparation for possible Covid19 at our home I did get a couple of bags of cough drops.   I still do not have a bunch of things you mention having. Like, No nasal sprays, afaik. I Might have some Ibuprofen, but it might be very out of date. 

We do have some Acetaminophen around because I get migraine headaches. I am hoping not to use it because I think it may increase risk of damaging cytokine response. 

 

 I am really upping my game on vitamins and so forth, and studying about them and other things that might could help. 

I am learning what I can about the virus and illness, mostly in order to be able to know what might be of help that I can do personally. 

I bought hydrogen peroxide wipes, and a few hair covers so that my hair won’t be a hard to wash fomite, and some washable cotton gloves.  And hand lotion for dryness from all the hand washing.  

Also I Have Been premaking chicken soup (which I can then freeze) and similar comfort meals, for in case I am sick and need it and not up to making it.  I do sometimes use fix ahead and freeze cooking procedures anyway, but I am doing more things that I intend to put up for possible use when sick, rather than just to use up for dinner over next couple of weeks.

I am practicing social distancing.  Not doing social hugging, kissing, or even hand shaking, and trying to give more space in public offices etc (though sometimes that’s not very possible like in a packed DMV) 

Another change I noticed, I was at a place where I might normally get their salad bar and not worry about it, but decided to eat at home instead.  

I got an ozonator device after someone on the long thread mentioned that as a potential way to clean objects that may be hard to clean with soap and water. 

I am refilling  my emergency water containers sooner after power outages time than I would usually do.  

Because of chronic health issues + where we live + being only family driver + frequent power outages, I tend to be stocked for 2 weeks anyway, but I am being more careful not to run down on basic supplies / to “top off” the basic supplies as it were, which isn’t usually the case.   

...

Edited March 7, 2020 by Pen

[Pen]

37 minutes ago, kand said:

But there is. I don’t know if you saw my earlier post with examples of what social distancing measures can do to change the course of a pandemic. Canceling large events and keeping people from gathering in groups can make a huge difference. We’re finally starting to see that, but that was one of my frustrations initially. It took too long for it to happen when the science was all clearly saying there are hundreds of cases walking around, and acting fast to enact social distancing could make the difference between this country becoming the next Wuhan, or not. Did you see what happened in Wuhan? Does that seem like a normal flu situation to you? The CDC is still doing a lot of head in the sand stuff and refusing to test, but fortunately there are people putting out good work and getting their own testing off the ground at the state level in some states. 

 

YES! 

[Ausmumof3]

I am an expert at social distancing!  Nothing to do with germs just not a fan of hugs and kisses from acquaintances!

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-hand-sanitiser-sent-as-dangerous-undeclared-goods-by-air-mail-panic-buying-shortages/4eec59c4-3563-471a-a155-8557bd4e0a95
 

I think we’ll find this explains a significant percentage of the shortages.  Stuff being bought to send overseas.

[Pen]

4 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

I don’t care as in there’s nothing I can do about it so I’m not going to spend much time fretting over it instead of enjoying living with my people while I have them.

That’s fine imo. 

4 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

I’m not being snarky either, but what exactly do you think I should do about it?

 

Get properly informed.  Or if you choose not to, don’t pretend that you are. 

Statements like that it is no worse than regular yearly flu and that you have not heard anyone say so speak to your lack of information. 

Practice social distancing. 

[Murphy101]

37 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Well, first of all, tbh, except in one year when I had flu vaccine and got horribly sick with flu, I don’t normally have much of that type of stuff on hand because neither I nor any family member tends to get sick and need such things all that much.  (For example, it was a very bad cold and flu season at my son’s public school, but he didn’t get sick at all.  Thus neither did I. )

However, with a novel virus that our immune systems won’t be partially already responsive to, I expect that to change.  I expect I will very likely get Covid-19, especially since it is already in PNW where I live, so for us it’s probably more likely to arrive before a vaccine does. It may just be a matter of how bad: Mild, or major with hospital needed.  And I’m hoping to do things in ways to be in the mild category even though I’m in increased risk groups by age and other health conditions. 

In preparation for possible Covid19 at our home I did get a couple of bags of cough drops.   I still do not have a bunch of things you mention having. Like, No nasal sprays, afaik. I Might have some Ibuprofen, but it might be very out of date. 

We do have some Acetaminophen around because I get migraine headaches. I am hoping not to use it because I think it may increase risk of damaging cytokine response. 

 

 I am really upping my game on vitamins and so forth, and studying about them and other things that might could help. 

I am learning what I can about the virus and illness, mostly in order to be able to know what might be of help that I can do personally. 

I bought hydrogen peroxide wipes, and a few hair covers so that my hair won’t be a hard to wash fomite, and some washable cotton gloves.  And hand lotion for dryness from all the hand washing.  

Also I Have Been premaking chicken soup (which I can then freeze) and similar comfort meals, for in case I am sick and need it and not up to making it.  I do sometimes use fix ahead and freeze cooking procedures anyway, but I am doing more things that I intend to put up for possible use when sick, rather than just to use up for dinner over next couple of weeks.

I am practicing social distancing.  Not doing social hugging, kissing, or even hand shaking, and trying to give more space in public offices etc (though sometimes that’s not very possible like in a packed DMV) 

Another change I noticed, I was at a place where I might normally get their salad bar and not worry about it, but decided to eat at home instead.  

I got an ozonator device after someone on the long thread mentioned that as a potential way to clean objects that may be hard to clean with soap and water. 

I am refilling  my emergency water containers sooner after power outages time than I would usually do.  

Because of chronic health issues + where we live + being only family driver + frequent power outages, I tend to be stocked for 2 weeks anyway, but I am being more careful not to run down on basic supplies / to “top off” the basic supplies as it were, which isn’t usually the case.   

...

See I can’t fathom chronic health issues and NOT having all that on hand at all times. I also keep vitamins and supplements and we try to keep all Rx at a 3-4 month stock.  Insulin, inhalers, thyroid, ... I don’t want to go where everyone is sick to get that stuff more than I absolutely have to and when we feel like crap, we want to just walk to the medicine cupboard not get dressed get in the car and go spread it everywhere at the dr office and pharmacy and Walmart - and also risk getting a secondary whatever going around.  And in my case, I can’t legally buy a large enough quantity to cover my entire large family in one outing either. For example, there’s laws that say I can’t buy more than so much Sudafed within certain time frames. And for most of our marriage dh wasn’t around - so I couldn’t just call dh to bring stuff home from work. 

[Murphy101]

34 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I am an expert at social distancing!  Nothing to do with germs just not a fan of hugs and kisses from acquaintances!

Right?!  Me too.  LOL

[Murphy101]

13 minutes ago, Pen said:

That’s fine imo. 

 

Get properly informed.  Or if you choose not to, don’t pretend that you are. 

Statements like that it is no worse than regular yearly flu and that you have not heard anyone say so speak to your lack of information. 

Practice social distancing. 

And yet you haven’t informed me of a single thing to do about it that is any different than what should be done during flu season anyways. 🤷‍♀️

[Ausmumof3]

11 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

See I can’t fathom chronic health issues and NOT having all that on hand at all times. I also keep vitamins and supplements and we try to keep all Rx at a 3-4 month stock.  Insulin, inhalers, thyroid, ... I don’t want to go where everyone is sick to get that stuff more than I absolutely have to and when we feel like crap, we want to just walk to the medicine cupboard not get dressed get in the car and go spread it everywhere at the dr office and pharmacy and Walmart - and also risk getting a secondary whatever going around.  And in my case, I can’t legally buy a large enough quantity to cover my entire large family in one outing either. For example, there’s laws that say I can’t buy more than so much Sudafed within certain time frames. And for most of our marriage dh wasn’t around - so I couldn’t just call dh to bring stuff home from work. 

I don’t think we’d have the finance to keep all that stuff on hand just in case.  Inhalers I try but they really limit how much you can buy anyway.