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"So far" is doing a bit of work, but ignoring that... We know that COVID-19 has a high mortality rate (and a high rate of requiring ICU care). "High" doesn't m

"So far" is doing a bit of work, but ignoring that... We know that COVID-19 has a high mortality rate (and a high rate of requiring ICU care). "High" doesn't mean 50% or higher; it means high compared to influenza or high compared to the capacity the US health system is intended to handle. This article shouldn't be reassuring. Read this line in particular: If I were at home with similar symptoms, I probably would have gone to work as usual. That should scare the fuck out of you.

gammadens 7y ago
Surprised how long he was asymptomatic. That is concerning to me.
lvturner 7y ago
Not really, we've built a culture around pushing ourselves to work even when we are sick. What would be more constructive than being scared is to work positively to end this culture. Edit: to be really explicit, staying at home for several days when you feel sick and even after you think you have recovered should continue, even after the fear of the Coronavirus dies down.
- scarmig 7y ago
  Agreed that that should be a cultural change, and it'd be good for individuals, individual businesses, the economy, and society at large. The fact that that viewpoint is representative of a broader cultural trend is genuinely terrifying, though. Even ignoring people who have to go to work in order to pay for food and housing (no legal requirement to offer paid sick leave!), there will be a very large group of people who believe it's virtuous to toughen up and go to work anyway, even if they feel like death incarnate.
brewdad 7y ago
> So far" is doing a bit of work, but ignoring that... Exactly. He and his wife felt fine when they left the ship after 16 days. Meanwhile, six passengers who had symptoms earlier are dead. The author could easily have his worst days ahead of him and this article does everyone a disservice.
ackbar03 7y ago
um mortality rate is something like 1% ... hardly high
- scarmig 7y ago
  That is very high, both compared to influenza and to what our health care system is able to handle. And when the case load is higher than what the health care system is able to handle, mortality jumps to 2% or higher.
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    Also, caseload straining the healthcare system boosts mortality for other conditions.
- briffle 7y ago
  The regular flu is 0.1%. The 1918 pandemic had a mortality rate of 2%, and killed 50 million people.
  - refurb 7y ago
    In 1918 the world population was 1.8B. If every single person got infected, and the mortality rate was 2%, then that's 36M. Something wrong with your numbers.
    - PostOnce 7y ago
      You're nitpicking for no reason; they're close approximations. maybe it was 2.1% or 1.9% maybe it was 40 million or 60 -- record keeping 1918 globally may not have been exactly computer-perfect. There was a war being recovered from, the world was still poor, and medical science inexact. The GP's point stands, I think.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - 7y ago
1121redblackgo 7y ago
Scaring the fuck out of yourself is the last thing that is going to help you. We all need to do our best, and then...relax into this thing.

gammadens 7y ago

Surprised how long he was asymptomatic. That is concerning to me.

lvturner 7y ago

Not really, we've built a culture around pushing ourselves to work even when we are sick. What would be more constructive than being scared is to work positively to end this culture. Edit: to be really explicit, staying at home for several days when you feel sick and even after you think you have recovered should continue, even after the fear of the Coronavirus dies down.

scarmig 7y ago
Agreed that that should be a cultural change, and it'd be good for individuals, individual businesses, the economy, and society at large. The fact that that viewpoint is representative of a broader cultural trend is genuinely terrifying, though. Even ignoring people who have to go to work in order to pay for food and housing (no legal requirement to offer paid sick leave!), there will be a very large group of people who believe it's virtuous to toughen up and go to work anyway, even if they feel like death incarnate.

brewdad 7y ago

> So far" is doing a bit of work, but ignoring that... Exactly. He and his wife felt fine when they left the ship after 16 days. Meanwhile, six passengers who had symptoms earlier are dead. The author could easily have his worst days ahead of him and this article does everyone a disservice.

ackbar03 7y ago

um mortality rate is something like 1% ... hardly high

scarmig 7y ago
That is very high, both compared to influenza and to what our health care system is able to handle. And when the case load is higher than what the health care system is able to handle, mortality jumps to 2% or higher.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  Also, caseload straining the healthcare system boosts mortality for other conditions.
briffle 7y ago
The regular flu is 0.1%. The 1918 pandemic had a mortality rate of 2%, and killed 50 million people.
- refurb 7y ago
  In 1918 the world population was 1.8B. If every single person got infected, and the mortality rate was 2%, then that's 36M. Something wrong with your numbers.
  - PostOnce 7y ago
    You're nitpicking for no reason; they're close approximations. maybe it was 2.1% or 1.9% maybe it was 40 million or 60 -- record keeping 1918 globally may not have been exactly computer-perfect. There was a war being recovered from, the world was still poor, and medical science inexact. The GP's point stands, I think.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - 7y ago

1121redblackgo 7y ago

Scaring the fuck out of yourself is the last thing that is going to help you. We all need to do our best, and then...relax into this thing.