Weekend Coronavirus News
A few things to keep you up to date and maybe make you a bit smarter on the subject of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Here is the Johns Hopkins dashboard with data on the virus.
As of this writing, there are:
85,681 cases
39,746 recoveries
2,933 deaths
66 cases in the United States
0 deaths in the United States from the virus
UPDATE: A few hours after posting, the United States experienced its first death from COVID-19
In the United States, of the 66 cases, 7 have fully recovered.
A report is out that 11 people in San Antonio have contracted the virus. The media is so addicted to clickbait that they left out the key part of that story. These are people who were already in quarantine because they’d been repatriated to the United States from areas hit with the virus.
The Washington Post has this op-ed from an American who recovered after contracting COVID-19. He says he would have gone to work if he did not know he had the virus.
The question keeps coming up about influenza comparisons. According to the CDC, about .13% of people who contract the flu will die. Right now, it appears the mortality rate of COVID-19 is 3.4%. If we assume the data from China is not reliable and take it out we are still looking at a mortality rate of around 3%, which is orders of magnitude higher than the flu.
Likewise, from what we know so far, the COVID-19 virus can live on surfaces longer than the flu, making it more easily contracted by people. Ironically, that also means the most effective act of prevention will not be wearing masks, but washing your hands.
Lastly, the most recent data suggests the virus has minimal impact among the young and does the most to impact the elderly and men. In fact, this article from the Imperial College of London suggests this really may be more like an aggressive seasonal flu with most people getting the virus and not knowing it or having minimal symptoms. If this is the case, the mortality rate probably is lower.
What’s the bottom line?
Don’t panic. What makes the virus so troublesome is that it spreads so efficiently within local communities. But washing your hands and avoiding large crowds is a great way to not get the virus.
There are lots of people complaining the media is overhyping this virus. The reality is that they have to raise public awareness because the virus is so easily and efficiently transmitted. But it might not spread to your area and if you get it the odds are very good you will be fine.
Erickson, what have you done?
I did go to the grocery store and made sure to buy a few extra bags of dried beans, rice, soup, chicken stock, pasta sauce, Lysol, frozen chicken and chicken nuggets, and additional flour, sugar, and eggs (the eggs are good till April 2). I didn’t bust the budget, but just made sure to have some extras. Each time I go to the grocery store, I may buy just a few extra canned goods. But I am not hoarding goods and going prepper mode. There really is not a reason to panic and I will use all the groceries I bought over the next few months away.
For Perspective
China has a population of 1 billion people and only 79,000 people in China got the disease (but, again, China’s data is probably not truthful).
Italy has a population of 60 million people and has 889 cases.
South Korea has a population of 50 million people and has 3,150 cases.
Japan has a population of 124 million people and has 234 cases.
The words “so far” do apply in each instance, but the various nations have rapidly responded to minimize impact and that is happening in this country too.
For real perspective
Watch this to the very end.
