3 ms·

I see you’re still hard at work spreading the falsehood that “it’s just like the flu, unless you’re old or sick”. 1. I find the lack of concern about dramatica

I see you’re still hard at work spreading the falsehood that “it’s just like the flu, unless you’re old or sick”. 1. I find the lack of concern about dramatically higher mortality rates for the old and the sick to be reprehensible. They’re people, even if they’re older or sicker than you. 2. It doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense for China to shut down the economy over something so minor. 3. The hospitalization rate is a serious concern that you’re overlooking. 4. Most importantly, your premise that it’s no more dangerous than the flu for the young and healthy is completely false. The fatality rate for flu for 18-49 year olds in the US is 0.02% [1], and this looks to be at least 20x higher than that for that age group, based on the data we have so far. World health officials, medical experts, epidemiologists, virologists, etc, all seem to be taking this very seriously and are quite concerned. I think I’ll take my cues from them. 1. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2017-2018.htm https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2017-2018.htm

irq11 7y ago
The virus is like the flu unless you’re old or sick. These are facts and you are still wrong. More specifically: 0) In the case of the parent, I was saying that the virus spreads and infects people in the same manner as other upper respiratory viruses. It does, this is a fact, and fatality rates are not relevant. 1) I’ve never said that I have no concern about old or sick people. I said that young healthy people should not panic. You’re simply virtue signaling to stoke fear. 2) It would indeed be concerning if hospitals are overwhelmed. Currently, they are not (anywhere) and therefore, again, people should not panic. 3) Comparing tiny ratios with large error bars and freaking out over a “20x” difference in relative risk is pointless; the risk is still quite low. It also overlooks the far more relevant fact that you’re thousands of times more likely to get the flu than covid-19. At this point, you should not panic. Get the idea? Regardless of your obsessive-compulsive downvoting of factual information, the relative risk to most people is lower than...well, most things in life. That’s why my argument is, and continues to be, that most people, in most places, should not panic.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- senordevnyc 7y ago
  1) No one should panic, period, even if they are old and sick. But just because you're young and healthy doesn't mean you shouldn't be just as concerned because it's less likely to kill you specifically. Do you seriously not have any loved ones or coworkers or friends who are old or sick? Or can you just imagine that other people do? 2) Hospitals are overwhelmed in Wuhan, which is why they're furiously building more and sending thousands of medical staff there from all over China. I genuinely don't understand how you can be unaware of this and be so dogmatic at the same time. 3) The error bars are large, but it's not like they overlap or come remotely close to it. And again, your personal assessment that this mortality rate isn't worth worrying about means nothing to me, especially when virtually every credible expert disagrees. Finally, please drop this lazy "do not panic" rhetoric. No one is panicking, or suggesting panic. The only hysterical person here is you.
  - irq11 7y ago
    All I’ve ever said, in response to your numerous citation-free rebuttals, is that healthy young people are not at great risk (fact), and they should not panic. So I’m glad we agree. I’ve never said “don’t be concerned.” Your other arguments are made up. Wuhan has built a number of facilities, but currently appears to have the epidemic at hand. No other areas have been “overwhelmed”, even within China. Representing medical facilities as “overwhelmed”, at the current time, requires citation from a reputable source. Maybe in some theoretical future world it’s possible that medical facilities around the world will be overrun with sick patients. This is nowhere near the current reality. Overlapping of error bars on fatality rates is irrelevant to my arguments; the absolute risk is much, much lower than the flu, for most people, in most places. Everything you’re arguing here is a scare tactic, twisting kernels of truth to panicked ends.
irq11 7y ago
(Re-posting this to bypass the censor-downvoting that is going on. Factual information needs to be emphasized, and the same few accounts are downvoting everything that doesn’t promote panic.) The virus is like the flu unless you’re old or sick. More specifically: 0) In the case of the parent, I was saying that the virus spreads and infects people in the same manner as other upper respiratory viruses. It does, this is a fact, and fatality rates are not relevant. 1) I’ve never said that I have no concern about old or sick people. I said that young healthy people should not panic. 2) It would indeed be concerning if hospitals are overwhelmed. Currently, they are not (anywhere) and therefore, again, people should not panic. 3) Comparing tiny ratios with large error bars and freaking out over a “20x” difference in relative risk is pointless; the risk is still quite low. It also overlooks the far more relevant fact that you’re thousands of times more likely to get the flu than covid-19. At this point, you should not panic. Get the idea? The relative risk to most people is lower than...well, most things in life. That’s why my argument is, and continues to be, that most people, in most places, should not panic.
- senordevnyc 7y ago
  Please don't pollute HN by just reposting your comments because you don't like that people are downvoting you. Make a better argument.
  - irq11 7y ago
    Please stop downvoting to censor facts you don’t like. I’m reposting only because these are basic facts about the virus, and misinformation is rampant, spread mostly by yourself and the other 3-4 people who are downvoting every comment I make.
irq11 7y ago
The virus is like the flu unless you’re old or sick. More specifically: 0) In the case of the parent, I was saying that the virus spreads and infects people in the same manner as other upper respiratory viruses. It does, this is a fact, and fatality rates are not relevant. 1) I’ve never said that I have no concern about old or sick people. I said that young healthy people should not panic. 2) It would indeed be concerning if hospitals are overwhelmed. Currently, they are not (anywhere) and therefore, again, people should not panic. 3) Comparing tiny ratios with large error bars and freaking out over a “20x” difference in relative risk is pointless; the risk is still quite low. It also overlooks the far more relevant fact that you’re thousands of times more likely to get the flu than covid-19. At this point, you should not panic. Get the idea? The relative risk to most people is lower than...well, most things in life. That’s why my argument is, and continues to be, that most people, in most places, should not panic.

irq11 7y ago

The virus is like the flu unless you’re old or sick. These are facts and you are still wrong. More specifically: 0) In the case of the parent, I was saying that the virus spreads and infects people in the same manner as other upper respiratory viruses. It does, this is a fact, and fatality rates are not relevant. 1) I’ve never said that I have no concern about old or sick people. I said that young healthy people should not panic. You’re simply virtue signaling to stoke fear. 2) It would indeed be concerning if hospitals are overwhelmed. Currently, they are not (anywhere) and therefore, again, people should not panic. 3) Comparing tiny ratios with large error bars and freaking out over a “20x” difference in relative risk is pointless; the risk is still quite low. It also overlooks the far more relevant fact that you’re thousands of times more likely to get the flu than covid-19. At this point, you should not panic. Get the idea? Regardless of your obsessive-compulsive downvoting of factual information, the relative risk to most people is lower than...well, most things in life. That’s why my argument is, and continues to be, that most people, in most places, should not panic.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
senordevnyc 7y ago
1) No one should panic, period, even if they are old and sick. But just because you're young and healthy doesn't mean you shouldn't be just as concerned because it's less likely to kill you specifically. Do you seriously not have any loved ones or coworkers or friends who are old or sick? Or can you just imagine that other people do? 2) Hospitals are overwhelmed in Wuhan, which is why they're furiously building more and sending thousands of medical staff there from all over China. I genuinely don't understand how you can be unaware of this and be so dogmatic at the same time. 3) The error bars are large, but it's not like they overlap or come remotely close to it. And again, your personal assessment that this mortality rate isn't worth worrying about means nothing to me, especially when virtually every credible expert disagrees. Finally, please drop this lazy "do not panic" rhetoric. No one is panicking, or suggesting panic. The only hysterical person here is you.
- irq11 7y ago
  All I’ve ever said, in response to your numerous citation-free rebuttals, is that healthy young people are not at great risk (fact), and they should not panic. So I’m glad we agree. I’ve never said “don’t be concerned.” Your other arguments are made up. Wuhan has built a number of facilities, but currently appears to have the epidemic at hand. No other areas have been “overwhelmed”, even within China. Representing medical facilities as “overwhelmed”, at the current time, requires citation from a reputable source. Maybe in some theoretical future world it’s possible that medical facilities around the world will be overrun with sick patients. This is nowhere near the current reality. Overlapping of error bars on fatality rates is irrelevant to my arguments; the absolute risk is much, much lower than the flu, for most people, in most places. Everything you’re arguing here is a scare tactic, twisting kernels of truth to panicked ends.

irq11 7y ago

(Re-posting this to bypass the censor-downvoting that is going on. Factual information needs to be emphasized, and the same few accounts are downvoting everything that doesn’t promote panic.) The virus is like the flu unless you’re old or sick. More specifically: 0) In the case of the parent, I was saying that the virus spreads and infects people in the same manner as other upper respiratory viruses. It does, this is a fact, and fatality rates are not relevant. 1) I’ve never said that I have no concern about old or sick people. I said that young healthy people should not panic. 2) It would indeed be concerning if hospitals are overwhelmed. Currently, they are not (anywhere) and therefore, again, people should not panic. 3) Comparing tiny ratios with large error bars and freaking out over a “20x” difference in relative risk is pointless; the risk is still quite low. It also overlooks the far more relevant fact that you’re thousands of times more likely to get the flu than covid-19. At this point, you should not panic. Get the idea? The relative risk to most people is lower than...well, most things in life. That’s why my argument is, and continues to be, that most people, in most places, should not panic.

senordevnyc 7y ago
Please don't pollute HN by just reposting your comments because you don't like that people are downvoting you. Make a better argument.
- irq11 7y ago
  Please stop downvoting to censor facts you don’t like. I’m reposting only because these are basic facts about the virus, and misinformation is rampant, spread mostly by yourself and the other 3-4 people who are downvoting every comment I make.

irq11 7y ago

The virus is like the flu unless you’re old or sick. More specifically: 0) In the case of the parent, I was saying that the virus spreads and infects people in the same manner as other upper respiratory viruses. It does, this is a fact, and fatality rates are not relevant. 1) I’ve never said that I have no concern about old or sick people. I said that young healthy people should not panic. 2) It would indeed be concerning if hospitals are overwhelmed. Currently, they are not (anywhere) and therefore, again, people should not panic. 3) Comparing tiny ratios with large error bars and freaking out over a “20x” difference in relative risk is pointless; the risk is still quite low. It also overlooks the far more relevant fact that you’re thousands of times more likely to get the flu than covid-19. At this point, you should not panic. Get the idea? The relative risk to most people is lower than...well, most things in life. That’s why my argument is, and continues to be, that most people, in most places, should not panic.