Hard to know what to think isn't it; amid all the noise? I believe there are easily 100,000+ infected with this caveat... most of them simply have the sniffles or no symptoms whatsoever. MOST coronas that infect people, (5 of 7 that can infect us), cause COLDS. That's it, that's all... colds.
In the decades I've been following infectious disease, we've had many scares & so far, none have been catastrophic to any nation or region in the long term. Humans interact with each other & their environment & as such, we catch stuff & usually; survive.
I wouldn't be surprised if the infected, no matter if they're sick or not at this stage, is approaching a million individuals. It's an airborne & droplet infection. Unless you want to put every human into Biosafety Level 4 kit, it is impossible to prevent transmission. People are gonna do what people are gonna do & in too many instances, that means find a way to break quarantine for decent or shitty reasons.
Transmission can be slowed but at this stage, get prepared for a long ride. This 1 is going to stick around until a hefty percentage of humanity has been exposed; at least that's my best guess. Sure, they'll eventually come out with a vaccine but it takes time to do that right & I for one am not planning on rolling up my sleeve for a clinical trial of a hastily developed vaccine.
I'm concerned for any person who has pre-existing health issues but unfortunately, that can be said for any novel or significant virus that surges. Those persons are going to be at higher risk regardless. It's unfortunate this has hit during flu season. That is REALLY going to slow identification of some cases in some areas - labs tend to be too busy this time of year without a novel virus creeping people out.
An unintended consequence that will shortly be announced in a great many western regions if I'm betting right - a lot of elective surgeries are going to be cancelled, patients currently in hospital or soon to be hospitalized for... whatever may find they're punted out of hospital sooner than 1 would wish. Anyone who has a loved one to whom that happens, make bloody sure you pin down anything you or other relatives need to watch for at home in terms of signs of infection or other complications. It's ironic that scares like this often take a significant corollary toll that is rarely measured. It's nevertheless a deeply meaningful consequence for far too many families.
In the decades I've been following infectious disease, we've had many scares & so far, none have been catastrophic to any nation or region in the long term. Humans interact with each other & their environment & as such, we catch stuff & usually; survive.
I wouldn't be surprised if the infected, no matter if they're sick or not at this stage, is approaching a million individuals. It's an airborne & droplet infection. Unless you want to put every human into Biosafety Level 4 kit, it is impossible to prevent transmission. People are gonna do what people are gonna do & in too many instances, that means find a way to break quarantine for decent or shitty reasons.
Transmission can be slowed but at this stage, get prepared for a long ride. This 1 is going to stick around until a hefty percentage of humanity has been exposed; at least that's my best guess. Sure, they'll eventually come out with a vaccine but it takes time to do that right & I for one am not planning on rolling up my sleeve for a clinical trial of a hastily developed vaccine.
I'm concerned for any person who has pre-existing health issues but unfortunately, that can be said for any novel or significant virus that surges. Those persons are going to be at higher risk regardless. It's unfortunate this has hit during flu season. That is REALLY going to slow identification of some cases in some areas - labs tend to be too busy this time of year without a novel virus creeping people out.
An unintended consequence that will shortly be announced in a great many western regions if I'm betting right - a lot of elective surgeries are going to be cancelled, patients currently in hospital or soon to be hospitalized for... whatever may find they're punted out of hospital sooner than 1 would wish. Anyone who has a loved one to whom that happens, make bloody sure you pin down anything you or other relatives need to watch for at home in terms of signs of infection or other complications. It's ironic that scares like this often take a significant corollary toll that is rarely measured. It's nevertheless a deeply meaningful consequence for far too many families.
