Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread

Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by Bombthecat on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @05:12PM (#22539757)

There are still a ton of people who still think that it is just like the flu... Talked to a few people and i basically lost hope that we will handle the right way (until it is too late) i cant wrap my head around it.. Two countries went in lock down... Becuae it is just like the flu? Yeahhhh.... Right.

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Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by tim333 on Wednesday March 11, 2020 @10:33AM (#22546153)

Technically it is like a flu but I don't think people realize how bad flus can be. The 1918 one killed about 2.7% of the population which would be 200 million with the present population. Hopefully covid19 won't be that bad.

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Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by zaroth on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @05:38PM (#22540021)

I totally understand the reaction is totally different from the flu.

Here's my question: If we had real-time dashboards and 24/7 news coverage of every flu case, hospitalization, and flu death... would it look much different? I think it would actually look much worse.

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Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by TeMPOraL on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @05:41PM (#22540047)

Well, yes? When was the last time a flu DDoSed medical systems of two countries to the point people are routinely refused treatment and die in the ICU corridors?

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Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by zaroth on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @10:51PM (#22542499)

The WHO estimates that the 2009 H1N1 "swine flu" killed ~250,000. [1]

Reported case mortality of H1N1 during the pandemic was similarly upwards of ~5% in some countries, [2] although later retrospective studies found that H1N1 was actually less lethal than a typical flu season (0.01-0.08%). [3]

ICU utilization was very significant in some countries, e.g. 30 people per million admitted to the ICU [4]. (Italy is currently at 14 per million.)

Hospitals definitely had to adopt "surge management" although in 2009 it often had as much to due with managing fear and panic as it did with getting people access to ventilators. [5]

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic

[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic_in_India

[3] - https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemi...

[4] - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0908481

[5] -https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/136827-the-next-pandemi...

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Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by dave_b on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @09:28PM (#22542025)

Life Care Center in Washington had 120 residents a week ago. Now 19 of them are dead.[1] Does that sound like "just the flu?"

There's plenty of evidence that this is much worse than the flu. R0 is >2, compared to 1.3. Mortality rate seems to be at least 5x higher. And those are low bounds. And this is all adding to the regular load on hospitals. It has observably overloaded hospital capacity in China and Italy.

[1]: https://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Washington-viru...

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Re:Covid-19 update and guidance to limit spread by lihaciudaniel on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @05:13PM (#22539767)

You're right but it could be people are getting over-reacting and thus causing more panic and more buying. It is more worry some economically speaking than medically.

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