No thread about COVID-19 so far? No issue? The coronavirus has reached Europe and keeps spreading. In my country there are signs of panic buying. No breathing masks of any sort are available anywhere although there are only 15 confirmed cases so far. Yet the number of undetected ones is way higher. The responsible minister and leading virologists are warning that things will become much worse. Why don't they close borders and stop tourist traffic right now and completely? Do you trust your medical system to cope with it? We, for sure, don't have enough medical staff and clinics. What is also sure is that we at least need a functioning state not just now but always. No one else can help us. I'm deeply concerned. Will I get infected? Get the right treatment, i.e. a bed in a clinic? What will happen to my dog then? How can I help my family? So many questions and no answers other than shrugs. My brother wanted to meet up with me in an Italian restaurant on Friday night. I said to him "Are you nuts? You can't go to an Italian one right now with so many people being infected in northern Italy and so many travellers to and fro." Just this morning news had it that the first travellers coming back from Italy had infected more people in two federal states where there had been no infections. So I was right. They could have infected people here in my city or maybe it will happen this week or the following. He finally agreed. So we are meeting at my place instead. He still has to go out to work, though, and has a lot of contact with foreigners each single day. So I hope he's not infected. I keep praying. These are the real challenges to mankind apart from climate change. The rest becomes unimportant. Are you a prepper? Is everything still available at your place? Are you gonna use the remaining time to take measures?
Yes, Thomas, we are very concerned here in the U.S., especially since we have international travelers to our country on a daily basis as well as us visiting other nations. Panic is not the answer. Good hygiene and being aware of what is happening near you is most important. If you feel ill at all, see your physician immediately. Eat properly and get the right amount of rest. Medicine is working daily to try and develop a vaccine as well as drugs to combat this. Sadly, some new clusters of viruses, never before seen and spread throughout the globe are causing further alarm. We cannot help but wonder if this is biological warfare. If so, who is responsible. This is a gigantic problem.
My wife and I are fairly isolated but we still have to go to town occasionally. I'm stocking up as much as possible to reduce the number of trips. Every one needs to keep a close watch on where the virus is and just stay home if it is close to your area.
I have been seeing information online, and some of the pictures they show from China are horrible, if they are true. One video showed a person literally being dragged from their vehicle screaming and fighting, and after they grabbed her, she collapsed and looked dead. Someone must have injected her with something, because no virus kills a person in that manner. Other pictures showed the military going to apartment buildings and nailing the doors shut, trapping people inside of the building. There are pictures taken from windows that show people locked inside their apartments, and look like they are begging for help. The death toll will be horrendous if they are just keeping people locked inside of their homes, whether they get the virus or not. Bottles of Lysol and also bleach bottles say that they are effective against the corona virus, which has been around for many years, just in different strains of the influenza. I am concerned about it being transmitted here because the local authorities have been flying in people who are infected, even though President Trump specifically said not to allow that. One news article said that there is a FEMA camp here in Alabama, and they will be transporting inflected people there. The whole idea of people being imprisoned in FEMA camps is scary ! On the other hand, we certainly do not need infected people being able to just go anywhere and infect other people , either. I am thinking that stocking up, like @Sheldon Scott says, might just be a good idea, too. If we do get an epidemic here, stores and transportation will come to a fast halt. As an interesting sidelight, I found this online, and it is from an old Dean Koontz book, written in the early 1980’s. There is also another page in the same book that talks about an epidemic of the corona virus happening in 2020, and it looks like we are right on schedule with his book’s prediction !
We are concerned but haven't made many adjustments to our lives since we are homebodies anyway. I have been having my groceries delivered since flu season started, though it's more of a convenience thing than from fear.
Your attachment speaks volumes, Yvonne. I have maintained from the outset that this is man made and a prelude to germ warfare. We shall see.
One of my neighbors is a biological chemist who owns a large pharmaceutical laboratory in a town near here. His son and grandson now run the operation and they are working on this virus.. Their research has resulted also in significant drugs in the war against AIDS. He's been keeping us posted on a regular basis and advising how to remain healthy.
In December, China and Hong Kong streets were filled day and night with protest marchers (with American flags and Trump signs), and now all of those streets are empty . Makes me wonder what is really going on over there. Since the virus started in a city next to a plant that works with viruses, it really seems like this is not an accidental happening.
If it is what I think it is, this is more than just dirty pool. I remember the Chinese leader threatening Hong Kong big time that if they did not knock it off, there would be dire consequences. This would be a disaster of a monstrous magnitude.
I'd like to know how they plan to deal with a virus. It is common knowledge that viruses aren't controlled with antibiotics and there is no cure for the most common of viruses... a cold. The pharmaceutical companies are probably gleeful with the coming windfall (especially in the USA where they can charge 100x what the rest of the world will pay.) The conspiracy theory of germ warfare does seem to make sense, but I'm not convinced. I do wonder why there isn't simply a world-wide BAN on all travel.
What surprises me is that we're being manipulated into commiserating with China over the plight the country is in, while all but ignoring what seems to be obvious, which is that this virus was created in a lab, and probably intended to be used as a weapon. Why aren't we allowed to be angry with China? Another thing that disgusts, but does not surprise me is that we still haven't closed our borders. If this is truly such a threat, shouldn't we take precautions? Nevertheless, I am inclined to believe that this will turn out to be little more than all of the other pandemic threats have been, which is much ado about nothing. The bird flu is a household name, yet nothing ever came of it. Not long ago, we were all going to die from Ebola, yet only two people have contracted Ebola in the United States, and they were both nurses treating people who had contracted it overseas. There have been a whole string of epidemics and pandemics over the past couple of decades, all of which have turned out to be far less than their public relations teams told us they were going to be. A frightened public is easily manipulated. The Coronavirus may turn out to be more dangerous than the others because it was designed as a weapon, so we certainly shouldn't ignore the threat, but we also shouldn't ignore the history of overblown media hype, or the fact that this is an election year, so there is an agenda to bring down our economy between now and election day. By the way, the CDC official who recently warned that the Coronavirus was going to be a major problem in the United States is the sister of Rod Rosenstein, a Democrat operative who was central in the recent coup attempt.