Germany says they expect 60-70% of their population to become infected. At current rates (3.4% fatality rate), that would lead to around 1.8 million dead.
If only 30% of Germans catch the virus and the lowest working estimate on fatality rate (1%) die, that is a quarter million Germans dead.
Those are the grimmest forecasts I have seen so far, but Germans are typically practical and pragmatic, not hysterical so you can't hand wave that away at this point.
If we treat those as guidelines for the US, Americans can expect between one and eight million dead.
Less apocalyptic but still scary: in a typical year, between 9 and 45 million Americans get the regular flu. If we treat that as the range of possible infected and use the lower 1% estimate for deaths, that's between 90,000-450,000 deaths.
Also alarming would be that there would be several million people in need of intensive care at any given moment during the outbreak, which would be... chaos.
When he said the US was banning travel to and from Europe, that sounded excessive but defensible. When his staff clarified that it would only be foreign nationals prohibited from traveling, it became clear they were sticking with their normal plan: "Let's try more racism!"
All he needed to do was be reassuring, you know, appear low-key, show a calm leadership demeanor; tell the story about the plucky survivor grandma, let it almost choke him up a bit, with a long pause put in there for effect. Be confident and determined, but sorta quietly, like encouraging the family in a hospital ICU waiting room, know what I mean? And really nail the parts about "help is on the way" and "we are one big family".
Instead, that orange-tufted incompetent asshole made everything worse: markets are freaking out, stressed out panicking travelers are rushing to airports to board last flights back to the US, which I'm quite certain will contribute greatly to the spread of the virus in the US, 'cause there's no way all of these people will get tested, and because he acted unilaterally, you can forget about international collaboration and sharing of information, it's pretty much every nation for itself now!
Romania has quarantined exposed people rapidly in a way modeled after what Singapore did (successfully), slowing the spread of the virus. On the other hand, they're quarantining them in a hospital in Cluj near where Mama lives. So... good for the nation, less awesome for 74 year old Manyi.
They've closed schools, shut down mass gatherings, etc.
Trump's travel ban was announced as Europe, but in typical asshole Donnie fashion, is actually only for the Schengen Area. He didn't want to hurt travel to his resorts in Ireland and the UK but didn't want to explicitly say "No travel except to places where I profit" so he went with Schengen as the line.
Romania is not in the Schengen Area, so if we need, we could still fly to Mama and vice versa.
I can't imagine putting her or ourselves on a different continent than our healthcare right now though.
My coworkers are all on board the "It's all hype! It's just the flu!" train and I'm (quite obviously, if you read my posts here) feeling like this is a big deal indeed.
My crew needs an annual pep talk about getting the regular flu shot (which sometimes works sometimes not) but are reading the writing on the wall now and are ready for our marching orders to come down. We all ride the Metro here and that level of human contact is really fucking stressful right now.
I went to the grocery yesterday and without thinking about it, grabbed a cart. Grocery carts, gas pumps, doorknobs - I’ve gotta start thinking about this stuff!
"Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, said he expects 70 million to 150 million people in the U.S. will become infected with COVID-19, NBC News reported Wednesday.
Monahan made the comments during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that included Senate administrative office staff and personnel from both parties, but no senators, according to NBC News."
I am trying not to panic, but my mother has respiratory issues and is all alone now. I work in Montreal's most congested (no pun) grocery store and have people pressed up against me, nose-to-nose 30 hrs a week. I am afraid to visit my mom after a week of work, not knowing whether I contracted something or not.
Also, I am not even that comfortable myself, right now. I got sick around January 26th and have still not fully recovered. That is 47 days that my lungs have been compromised. I feel more vulnerable than I would if I was in full health.
On the one hand, my company is big and flexible, has a ton of resources, and extremely good to its employees. On the other, we are basically infrastructure and they are loathe to dial us back in any way.
They probably will tell us to work at home at some point, but they are resisting it for now.
My coworkers are all on board the "It's all hype! It's just the flu!" train and I'm (quite obviously, if you read my posts here) feeling like this is a big deal indeed.
I am going to lose my fucking shit over these contrarian idiots who think that because more people get the flu and die every year than had died from COVID-19 in the first two months of the outbreak in Wuhan, that this is no big deal.
There is a fine line between not panicking and being a reckless, selfish imbecile who puts others at risk.
I have a co-worker posting shit about how he's not worried, yadda yadda and being a smug prick about it on Facebook, but he doesn't realize that while self-important assholes like him will undoubtedly survive, that his "People are so easily manipulated by media alarmism. I am not changing my ways at all because I am smarter than those who fall for the hype and panic" could easily lead him to come to work with it, transfer it to me, and then a month later I am burying my mom.
The other thing that I don't think people understand is that this is just the newest coronavirus. There will be others. This is not the only time this is going to happen. This may not even be the only time this particular version of the virus comes around. If it's like the 1918 influenza, it could come back in the fall and be worse or next year we could just have a brand new coronavirus. We don't even know.
Avoiding transmitting the virus isn't that complicated: you just need to do what you would normally do if you had the flu. Wash your hands regularly, avoid close contact (no kisses and shaking of hands), don't go out if you have a fever, don't sneeze on people. Matt, if you're that worried about accidentally contaminating your mom, maybe you guys could skype for a few weeks?
One thing everyone should do is get off social media. Sure, staying informed is important. But social media doesn't "inform" anyone about anything: being exposed to rumours, conspiracy theories, fear and human stupidity won't teach you anything useful and it will only make you more anxious, paranoid and negative.
The School District just sent an email announcing iPads are being sent home with kindergarteners through second graders. (Third graders and up already have Chromebooks.) They are preparing a virtual classroom setup in case school buildings are closed.
Schools are still open for now but all extracurriculars and events are canceled and all community use of schools (scout meetings, etc.) are canceled.
Prognoses are changing. The new "optimistic" one (via Harvard virologists) is that "only" 20% of US adults may get COVID-19. At the 1% rate, that's still 400,000 dead.
Comments
The NCAA tournament is proceeding... but without fans at the games.
If only 30% of Germans catch the virus and the lowest working estimate on fatality rate (1%) die, that is a quarter million Germans dead.
Those are the grimmest forecasts I have seen so far, but Germans are typically practical and pragmatic, not hysterical so you can't hand wave that away at this point.
If we treat those as guidelines for the US, Americans can expect between one and eight million dead.
Also alarming would be that there would be several million people in need of intensive care at any given moment during the outbreak, which would be... chaos.
Instead, that orange-tufted incompetent asshole made everything worse: markets are freaking out, stressed out panicking travelers are rushing to airports to board last flights back to the US, which I'm quite certain will contribute greatly to the spread of the virus in the US, 'cause there's no way all of these people will get tested, and because he acted unilaterally, you can forget about international collaboration and sharing of information, it's pretty much every nation for itself now!
Heck of a job, Donnie!
Romania has quarantined exposed people rapidly in a way modeled after what Singapore did (successfully), slowing the spread of the virus. On the other hand, they're quarantining them in a hospital in Cluj near where Mama lives. So... good for the nation, less awesome for 74 year old Manyi.
They've closed schools, shut down mass gatherings, etc.
Trump's travel ban was announced as Europe, but in typical asshole Donnie fashion, is actually only for the Schengen Area. He didn't want to hurt travel to his resorts in Ireland and the UK but didn't want to explicitly say "No travel except to places where I profit" so he went with Schengen as the line.
Romania is not in the Schengen Area, so if we need, we could still fly to Mama and vice versa.
I can't imagine putting her or ourselves on a different continent than our healthcare right now though.
My crew needs an annual pep talk about getting the regular flu shot (which sometimes works sometimes not) but are reading the writing on the wall now and are ready for our marching orders to come down. We all ride the Metro here and that level of human contact is really fucking stressful right now.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/up-to-150-million-americans-are-expected-to-contract-the-coronavirus-congressional-doctor-says.html
"Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, said he expects 70 million to 150 million people in the U.S. will become infected with COVID-19, NBC News reported Wednesday.
Monahan made the comments during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that included Senate administrative office staff and personnel from both parties, but no senators, according to NBC News."
Also, I am not even that comfortable myself, right now. I got sick around January 26th and have still not fully recovered. That is 47 days that my lungs have been compromised. I feel more vulnerable than I would if I was in full health.
They probably will tell us to work at home at some point, but they are resisting it for now.
There is a fine line between not panicking and being a reckless, selfish imbecile who puts others at risk.
I have a co-worker posting shit about how he's not worried, yadda yadda and being a smug prick about it on Facebook, but he doesn't realize that while self-important assholes like him will undoubtedly survive, that his "People are so easily manipulated by media alarmism. I am not changing my ways at all because I am smarter than those who fall for the hype and panic" could easily lead him to come to work with it, transfer it to me, and then a month later I am burying my mom.
Exactly.
One thing everyone should do is get off social media. Sure, staying informed is important. But social media doesn't "inform" anyone about anything: being exposed to rumours, conspiracy theories, fear and human stupidity won't teach you anything useful and it will only make you more anxious, paranoid and negative.
The French page says 13 confirmed cases so far.
Schools are still open for now but all extracurriculars and events are canceled and all community use of schools (scout meetings, etc.) are canceled.