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I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

stamfordadvocate.com

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Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#71

Why do we still call it "The Coronavirus", despite the fact that the common cold is caused by coronaviruses and rhinoviruses [1]? Like, with the H1N1 flu we had a more specific name. Isn't it morally important to provide the public with nuance? i.e., "there is a bad version of the common cold this year, so watch out, especially if you are over 60". [1] Falsey, A. R., Walsh, E. E., & Hayden, F. G. (2002). Rhinovirus a…

Why not? The name is easy to use and to pronounce and there is zero chance to confuse it with something else in the current context.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#72
post #5

That's why it's so dangerous. For 80% of people it's a mild cold. - so they go to work like normal.

This is a time where it would be preferable to live somewhere that has good free/cheap health and social systems: if you're sick, you stay home and there are limited social or financial repercussions. So many people where I am will just "soldier on" because they have no choice.

>So many people where I am will just "soldier on" because they have no choice.

Soldiers, usually, don't go alone into the enemy territory. Commandos do. They go alone and fight against everyone.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#74

This is dangerous. Take every precaution you can not to get infected for as long as you can and that you don't infect anyone else. This is not the flu. The flu makes you more susceptible to a material pneumonia and that's how it kills. SARS-CoV-2 is NOT the flu. COVID-19 is the disease, by the way. Here is the list of complications: -ARDS in 29% (Acute respiratory distress disease, this needs mechanical ventilation t…

Just to be clear, the percentage of those infected with the virus who will have ARDS is far, far lower than 29%. This is a percentage of those who were admitted in this one case study, in one hospital in Wuhan before January 2.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#75

This is dangerous. Take every precaution you can not to get infected for as long as you can and that you don't infect anyone else. This is not the flu. The flu makes you more susceptible to a material pneumonia and that's how it kills. SARS-CoV-2 is NOT the flu. COVID-19 is the disease, by the way. Here is the list of complications: -ARDS in 29% (Acute respiratory distress disease, this needs mechanical ventilation t…

Is it more appropriate to say that Covid-19 is dangerous if you are elderly or have pre-existing conditions? https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-se...

Median age of admitted patients in the article above was 49. That’s not elderly. Also, only half of them had pre-existing conditions.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#76
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a time where it would be preferable to live somewhere that has good free/cheap health and social systems: if you're sick, you stay home and there are limited social or financial repercussions. So many people where I am will just "soldier on" because they have no choice.

What do you mean by "social repercussions"?

Many people at offices in the US look at taking sick time as lazy and bosses will pressure you to come in anyway

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#77

This is dangerous. Take every precaution you can not to get infected for as long as you can and that you don't infect anyone else. This is not the flu. The flu makes you more susceptible to a material pneumonia and that's how it kills. SARS-CoV-2 is NOT the flu. COVID-19 is the disease, by the way. Here is the list of complications: -ARDS in 29% (Acute respiratory distress disease, this needs mechanical ventilation t…

If most people don't care to prevent infection, the hospitals and medical resources will soon be overwhelmed, the death rate will surge from 0.5-4% (no exact figure at the moment) to 10-20% like earlier in Wuhan. When viral load in the environment becomes sufficiently high, some young people will be taken away by it too, as in the case of several Wuhan doctors who sacrificed themselves under that circumstance.

Among the ~16-19% who are hospitalized and recover, you may suffer through weeks of pneumonia and your lungs could be damaged long-term.

Even if you're lucky to be among the 80% who survive without hospitalization, you could still be the vector who directly or indirectly infect someone you care about.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#78
I almost died from the type 2 strain of flu two years ago. Was out for almost 2 weeks straight. Wife found me under every blanket in the house wearing two coats with a 104.5 fever. I understand how this could be fatal to the elderly. We take care that no one is sick when we visit community centers.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#79

Why do we still call it "The Coronavirus", despite the fact that the common cold is caused by coronaviruses and rhinoviruses [1]? Like, with the H1N1 flu we had a more specific name. Isn't it morally important to provide the public with nuance? i.e., "there is a bad version of the common cold this year, so watch out, especially if you are over 60". [1] Falsey, A. R., Walsh, E. E., & Hayden, F. G. (2002). Rhinovirus a…

About 2 months ago people had no idea what this new pneumonia-related disease is. It was called "The Mystery Flu" by NYT... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/world/asia/china-SARS-pne...

It is not related to the "seasonal flu". It has been sequenced by chinese scientest very rapidly and it has been found to be a completely new virus. That why everyone is so excited about it. We don't know yet if its coming from bats, pigs, dogs, chicken or whatever.

Bam! Its not fucking "seasonal flu". We already have that also.

Re: I have the coronavirus. So far, it isn't that bad

#80
post #41

Humans are bad at gauging low probabilities. I for one cannot wrap my head around the actual badness of an event that has 2 percent chance of getting me killed. Taking the "average" approach, i.e. 2% loss of my expected remaining life time doesn't seem very good. # Yup, I know getting the virus is more than just a chance to die - you possibly infect others, get quarantined, etc.

Part of the reason humans are bad with probability is because they are bad at conditional probabilities. There is likely much less than a 2% chance you die from this. First that is assuming you will catch this disease. Even the most gloom and doom projections I’ve seen are saying that this virus will infect 40-70% of the worlds population. Which means the chance that you catch this and die from it is more like 1-1.5%. Outside of Wuhan, the death rate has been more like .7-1%, so now it’s more like .3-.7% chance you actually catch this and die. The numbers are far lower if you are not elderly, and have no pre-existing conditions.

That isn’t to say the virus isn’t concerning, especially on a societal level. We absolutely should all be taking precautions to prevent the disease from spreading. But for a given individual, the probabilities of dying from this is very low.

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