The Coronavirus is not new. What's new is this strain of it, with such a long incubation period. If we reject the idea that it was designed in a laboratory, the alternative was that it developed first in an animal. Anyhow, I wouldn't be shocked that a dog in China has been found to have the virus in its system. Every year, we have new strains of the flu, which has killed more people than the Coronavirus. As I understand it, it's the long incubation period that makes the Coronavirus a concern. Like all of the other "pandemics" we've heard about in the past few decades, we should be concerned about the Coronavirus, but most of the hype is political.
Over here there's no media hype but there's quite a bit of social media hype. Media are not acting but reacting to an infodemic on social media channels. Absolutely weird assertions: Garlic, alcohol, mouthwash, and nosewash allegedly help against the virus and many other things. And, yes, there's stockpiling in the affected regions. What is totally counterproductive and what practioners rightly complain about is continual phone calls from people who want to be informed about the virus - by the doctor as if doctors don't have other things to do. The same info is at everybody's fingertips and for the analog generation it's on TV and tele/videotext. Yet callers are blocking medical practices. It seems to be certain that the virus comes from bats. Since a direct transmission from them to humans is unlikely scientists are looking for an intermediate host like with SARS where the culprit was one of the viverrids. As for the intermediate host, snakes seem to be out while pangolins are being scrutinized. In some regions the genom of a virus found in them and that of covid19 are up to 99% in agreement at a patch important for making it infectious. Although it is forbidden, pangolins are eaten.
That sounds as if the dog picked it up from the infected owner and not vice versa. That would be a relief. As for H1N1, yes it was fatal here as well and I was roughly the same age back then.
Let's put things into perspective. This is from a report that I read about a week or so ago. The numbers have probably changed since then, but even so, you can see that the corona virus (which is defined as “common cold”) is not doing anything terrible compared with the regular flu that people get each year. A report published a week ago on livescience has claimed of the coronavirus, dubbed 2019-nCoV, that more than 20,000 illnesses and 427 deaths have been reported in China, as well as more than 200 illnesses and two deaths outside of mainland China. Naturally, that number has increased over the last week. But that's nothing compared with the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza has already caused an estimated 19 million illnesses,180,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths this season in the U.S. alone.
Just to be clear, the corona virus has been around for years and as Yvonne says, one strain is the common cold. It is a new strain, COVID-19 virus, that is causing the current outbreak.
One thing that I have just noticed, is where in the United States people are talking about a potential outbreak. The two main places that I have been reading about are San Francisco and Seattle. An interesting thing is that both of these places are sanctuary cities, and the President has cut off federal support for the sanctuary cities, so claiming to be concerned about a coronavirus epidemic is maybe a way for both states to get some extra funding from the federal government. Another (really terrible) idea that just struck me, is that this is also some of the worst areas for the filth, and homeless people living on the streets, and a virus there could spread immediately, and these people are much less likely to get medical attention. I am hoping that this is not a way to deal with the homeless situation in these places.
Many of the reports of the Coronavirus are intended to make us believe that the Wuhan strain of the virus is worse than it really is. If the article or the report that you are reading refers simply to the Coronavirus, without specifying the Wuhan strain, then they are reporting cases of the common cold as if it were the Wuhan strain.
One thing I have noticed is that the map showing which states have report of the virus is a bit skewed. For instance, Texas is showing 11 cases... but they are all people being quarantined at the Air Force Base in San Antonio and were brought here from a cruise ship or something. So reading some articles would make the reader believe that the 11 cases occurred through contact as a communicable disease when that is NOT the case. Those were brought to Texas... and similarly in CA, where there is a quarantine facility near Sacramento. What I want to know is where has the virus occurred "in the wild" and not been shipped in.
I don't follow all of this stuff because that's what they want us to do - focus on the virus and be scared. However, I read a news report about a case of the Coronavirus in New Hampshire and nothing in the article said that it was the Wuhan (COVID-19) strain. In fact, it said that the strain of the virus was unknown. Well, if it's not the (possibly weaponized) Wuhan strain, then it's a common cold. I am suffering from the Coronavirus right now, but I doubt that it's the Wuhan strain because I haven't eaten Chinese food in months. The people who have caught the Wuhan strain in the United States have been nurses who have treated people who had caught it elsewhere. So far, anyhow. This is an election year and the Democrats and media want it to be a big deal and, as nutty as it sounds to me, they want to blame Trump for it, despite the fact that the US was better prepared for it than any other country on the planet.
It looks like I have survived the Coronavirus. It lasted about three days and, while I'm not entirely over it, I'm on the downhill side of it.
Here's what I find annoying. They have shipped people all around the damn country to "quarantine" them where there is NO coronavirus, and now in a couple of those areas there suddenly IS coronavirus. What the actual hell?? Of the 11 cases reported "in Texas," they are ALL from a cruise ship and are being quarantined at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio. Apparently one woman was released after testing negative and she went shopping, etc. Now she's testing POSITIVE. Thanks a lot, CDC!!!
With only geriatrics like me and people with lowered immune systems suffering any serious illness the big problem is the long term effect on manufacturing. Because we sold our souls to cheap Chinese imports the future looks bleak and possibly disastrous. As for the virus itself, public carelessness will continue so we may as well get used to it and say a prayer for that magic injection.
LOL... that's funny... but did you know.... that many people are confusing the coronavirus Covid19 with Corona beer..hence the following... Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev has warned over the steepest decline in quarterly profit for at least a decade after coronavirus cost it around £132 million in lost profit. The world’s biggest brewing giant, which is behind the Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois brands, forecast first quarter earnings will tumble by about 10% after the virus outbreak saw demand slump in China as it also coincided with the Chinese New Year, sending its shares 8% lower. AB InBev estimates the earnings hit across China after seeing around £221 million of lost sales in the first two months of 2020 alone due to coronavirus – also known as Covid-19. The Belgium-based group said: ‘The impact of the Covid-19 virus outbreak on our business continues to evolve. ‘The outbreak has led to a significant decline in demand in China in both on-premise and in-home channels. Additionally, demand during the Chinese New Year was lower than in previous years as it coincided with the beginning of this outbreak.’ Last month Google said that searches for Corona lager had increased by 1,100 per cent with people looking for ‘beer virus’ and ‘corona beer virus’. There is no link between coronavirus and Corona lager.