“Newly confirmed cases have fallen again.”
This is an important metric. Fingers crossed.
Regarding new deaths, it is sad but not unexpected given how overwhelmed and overworked those who care for the sick are.
@BunsenBurner No one said the flu wasn’t subject to change. The mortality rate is based on how many get the disease and how many die. So, getting a flu shot isn’t going to affect that rate. The rate of people who die FROM the flu is very, very low.
I don’t think anyone said the flu is nothing to worry about either. What I said is that the correlation between the flu and coronavirus has no basis in fact. You are certainly entitled to your opinion regarding the flu. If you want to make it an issue please go ahead.
FYI, I’m sure you realize many people don’t even bother to get the flu shot because at best, it’s a guess against what is likely to be the strain that season. Often doesn’t even address the flu for many. Yes, it’s sad a tiny % of people die from the flu.
No, it’s not 70,000 cases with thousands dead and an array of various unknown characteristics. Oh wait, that’s the coronavirus.
And news outlets don’t report on the flu non-stop, it doesn’t impact international/national markets and economies. Oh wait, that’s the coronavirus also.
Plus a lag time between infection and death. It can take weeks or long to get that stage.
Hopefully on another thread as I suggested before. Perhaps flu deserves its own thread. 
Although cases outside of mainland China aren’t rampant, there are a few places where new cases keep occurring:
Japan - 8 new cases today for a total of 74 not related to Diamond Princess
Singapore - 4 new cases today that seem to be tied to the same church cluster which has as many as 21 now. The total in Singapore is now 81.
Coronavirus: Scientists hit back at rumours humans engineered the deadly contagion
Researchers point to several genetic clues indicating that the virus responsible for a deadly epidemic evolved naturally
“A team of researchers has hit back at rumours that the coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year was engineered. In a paper posted on the scientific online forum Virological on Monday, the scientists – who include top epidemiologist W. Ian Lipkin from Columbia University; Edward Holmes from the University of Sydney; and Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research – said there were crucial genetic clues indicating that the coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, was not created in a laboratory.”
Details can be read in the article:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051167/scientists-hit-back-rumours-engineered-coronavirus
It’s because of how common the flu is.
Ebola, for example, has an extremely high fatality rate. Should you fear it? No, because it’s nowhere near you - assuming you don’t live in like the DRC.
It’s about understanding your risks of actually getting something AND then having it seriously harm or kill you.
Example: I’m not real worried about ever being killed in a rocket launch because I will never go into a rocket.
So yes, you should still be far more concerned about the flu than this.
I am not going to make this thread go on a tangent any more, just want to point the obvious. The fact that media is constantly talking about this is not an indicator of anything. The novelty of this viral strain makes people freak out about it more than about other, more serious stuff. No one makes any buzz about H1N1 any longer even though it continues to appear here and there, but back in the day, it was a BIG deal. Remember scary headlines?! If a vaccine is developed against this coronavirus, it will be media history. IMO, back in the beginning of this outbreak, no one knew if this is going to be another SARS or worse, and China made an executive decision to quarantine cities to stop the disease, thus fueling more fears of the unknown. Plus, these quarantines provide governments with opportunities and training exercises (and certain governments use this virus as an opportunity to “quarantine” dissidents, it seems). The more we know about this virus, the less freaked out we will be.
I didn’t take the flu comparison as a “don’t be scared of the coronavirus” message but more as a “stop being complacent about the flu” warning. Influenza kills 40,000 Americans a year, including healthy children, and we’re all ho hum about it. I think people just want the same level of vigilance about the flu (get a shot/wash your hands/stay home when sick) that is springing up over a virus that hasn’t taken hold in the US yet.
But yes, the new virus is scary! And that article posted a bit back about the filmmaker and his family all dying is absolutely heartbreaking.
I talked to my sister today. Apparently, my Japanese-American BIL has been the subject of some harassment over the last week or so. He had strep, took antibiotics, and was not contagious but decided to wear a mask for a while just out of an abundance of caution - something that’s VERY common as a courtesy in his native Japan. It’s just second nature to him.
He didn’t really tell her what exactly happened (my sister is tiny but scary and she’d go full scorched earth if she knew who said something to him, and my BIL is far more reserved) but decided to take a few extra days off work - instead of going without a mask.
It just breaks my heart. My BIL is the kind of person who would take a punch and apologize to the person who punched him for them hurting their hand during the punch.
Depending on what is meant by “harassment”, it might not be racially motivated. I do not look remotely Asian nor do I live in any area that has a single case of Coronavirus; I have had a lingering cough the past few weeks (getting over bronchitis, have asthma and seasonal allergies). As quiet as I keep the cough, as far as I stand from others, every time I’ve coughed outside my house people have reacted to it. Most strangers don’t say anything, but I’ve gotten some concerned glares and people visibly moving away. Acquaintances and colleagues have been more direct about asking what’s up with the cough.
I own my own business, so work hasn’t been an issue, but judging from how people are reacting to a simple cough in everyday situations, reactions are happening everywhere to people of all races because people are concerned.
^I agree. I was the one moving away the other day. When I sat down on a communal table at a fast food place, someone not far from me started coughing. I slowly moved away. :).
@milee30 Agree with you there. I’m asthmatic and am used to people looking funny at me when I wheeze. No racial motivations involved. I have often told people as I pull out my inhaler that I’m not sick just asthmatic.
- -- For the next age groups, the fatality rates increase gradually: For people in their 40s it is 0.4%, in their 50s it is 1.3%, in their 60s it is 3.6% and their 70s it is 8%. --
Considering the above, the question is only how transmissible it turns out to be. (As to whether I should worry more about this year’s flu strain or the topic of the thread.)
From CNN:
15 new cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed in South Koreatoday.
“According to a government news release, 13 of the new cases are from the Daegu area in the country’s southeast. One of the infections is an 11-year-old girl who is the daughter of a previously-confirmed patient. The total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in South Korea is now 46.” (CNN_
2nd death in Hong Kong - 70-year-old old man who was diagnosed with the virus on February 14.
Daily Tallies, all of China & Worldwide
New deaths: 136 for a total of 2,004 in China and 2010 worldwide.
Newly confirmed cases: 1,749 for a total of 74,185 in China and 75,216 +/-worldwide.
For the first time the number of patients who had recovered and been discharged from hospital was greater than the number of new cases reported.
Reports that one of the American evacuees from the Diamond Princess tested positive today and was moved from Travis AFB to a hospital.
^^Note that the data was obtained based on Chinese cases. The populations of China and US have different heath baselines. Some of the big differences are smoking rates and prevalence of TB…
I promise. It was largely racially motivated - based on what was said to him.
WRT baselines for health though, for plenty of Americans that smoke, are obese, have diabetes etc, this infection might actually be more of a problem than for your average 60 yr old Chinese. Your poor sick American at 60 may have no health cover. Your average 70 yr old Chinese might be healthier than your average 70 yr old american.
why do the headlines have to be so awful???
Washington Post: How the Coronavirus Can Kill People
USA Today: Coronavirus - 20 Times More Lethal Than the Flu
Axios: Coronavirus May Be At the Brink of a Pandemic
CNBC: Outlook for the Coronavirus to Spread in U.S.
Fear sells. That is your answer.