5 ms·

> while everyone is also thinking about getting a deadly virus every time they leave the house Am I the only person who isn't worried about the coronavirus? I

> while everyone is also thinking about getting a deadly virus every time they leave the house Am I the only person who isn't worried about the coronavirus? I'm not exaggerating when I say it hasn't effected my life at all, except for the effort it took me to write this comment. I live in San Francisco, if it matters.

travisjungroth 7y ago
It hasn’t effected your life so far. It most likely will.
throwaway88483 7y ago
You’re not the only person. The people licking shrines in Iran aren’t worried about coronavirus either.
- a_imho 7y ago
  Or the people bringing it to your country in the first place. Traveling from an infected country is reckless and disrespectful for the lack of better words.
IGotThroughIt 7y ago
It's been said multiple times but I'll repeat in case you've not heard this: it really isn't about contracting the virus since the rate of survival is pretty high but rather more about people panicking and creating shortages. This is coming in full swing. Ports are emptying, fewer and fewer ships are coming from China and east Asia. It might get very very ugly. Buy your supplies early enough and take other measures such as the create the ability to grow your own food if you live in a place where that's possible. I've done both and I'm going to be increasing my stock in the coming week based on the circumstances that present themselves.
mlang23 7y ago
No, you are not alone. I dont care about Coronavirus at all. I dont feel threatened personally, and I consider the media hype completely overblown. There are still a few of us that dont behave like sissies.
- kilroy_jones 7y ago
  Pretty bad attitude to have considering how your carelessness can adversely affect many others.
  - mlang23 7y ago
    What carelessness are you talking about? There is no vaxxination for Coronavirus yet, so what the heck do you think I am supposed to do to show my caring? Running around in circles and adding to the already growing panic? No, thanks, I have better things to do with my time.
  - 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
    If you need to be told to wash your hands and shower, that’s a you problem, not a me problem. This is basic hygiene.
    - mlang23 7y ago
      Thanks I couldn't have said it any better.
    - strstr 7y ago
      This seems non-sequitor? The main infection route is airborne droplets. Sure, washing your hands reduces risk, but it does not solve the problem. Showering is a good idea, but not relevant.
      - mlang23 7y ago
        Well, nothing I do (save for putting myself into voluntary quaratine) will actually help solve the problem, that is the point why I am ranting here. Basic hygiene should be a given. So what exactly is the common man supposed to do to save the world?
        Zombieball 7y ago
        https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-t...
inferiorhuman 7y ago
I'm not exaggerating when I say it hasn't effected my life at all, except for the effort it took me to write this comment. I live in San Francisco, if it matters. San Francisco just reported its first cases today, but there's definitely been panic shopping. The city closed down Lowell today as a precautionary measure (but that leaves nearly 200 campuses open). Even if you don't suffer any health or financial effects (unlikely) you'll still be effected if: - More schools close, even more if parents have to take time off from work en masse - Public transit becomes a big vector and BART or Muni try to shut down or reduce service - People continue to panic shop. NPR had a photo from a Marin Target with shelves bare of disinfectant wipes. Rainbow in the city was almost completely out of canned tomatoes on Monday. - On a federal level, if our idiot president succeeds in closing the Mexican border you'll definitely feel some pain
- rsynnott 7y ago
  > if our idiot president succeeds in closing the Mexican border Wait, is he trying to do that? Why is that his solution to everything?
  - mcv 7y ago
    He just got given a new excuse to close some borders. It would surprise me if he didn't make use of that.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/cdc-director-border-wall-coronavirus-125007 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/cdc-director-border...
cm2187 7y ago
I am not either. I see a disconnect between the numbers published by the WHO and the alarmist reaction of the mainstream media. Earlier this week there was a speech from the director of the WHO on the front page of hn suggesting the virus was less contagious than the flu, I don’t see any mention in any major newspapers. It feels like one of these “facts that don’t fit the narrative will be simply omitted”. I am concerned however about the overreaction to the virus. Like I am not concerned about catching it, but I am having second thoughts about a holiday trip in south Asia I wanted to make next month as I don’t want to find myself jailed for weeks in a military barrack for some unnecessary quarantine. And my biggest concern is the economic impact. Hopefully this thing will go away in 2/3 months as the northern hemisphere gets warmer.
- rsynnott 7y ago
  I mean, "less contagious than the flu" is a bit like saying "less poisonous than cyanide"; the flu is very contagious. If you have something that's less contagious than the flu but much more lethal than the flu, that's pretty scary.
mft_ 7y ago
It's not about you. It's always difficult to determine and conceptualize personal risk, but in this case, maybe even harder: people are caught between the extremes of "I'm healthy, and it's very unlikely to harm me", vs. "this may kill millions of people around the globe unless we get lucky, and/or are very serious about the measures we take to contain it". (Both of these statements are true [for most people] yet seem irreconcilable.) So you staying at home and not getting the virus probably doesn't make much of a difference to you, aside from not feeling crappy for a couple of weeks. But if we all do it, then on a population scale it will make a difference, as it's one of the actions that can contribute towards preventing potentially millions of people dying. You might not feel that you would ever be responsible for transmitting the virus to a vulnerable person who then dies, and that might be true... but again on a population scale, someone is responsible, and that infection could potentially have been prevented by this (and other) measures.
bitL 7y ago
You might be fine, if you are young, you probably won't even notice it, however your older parents or grandparents might pass away two weeks after you meet them while being infectious...
yurlungur 7y ago
I also thought as a relatively young person there's not much to be too worried about. However it turned out permanent and serious lung damage can occur even if the individual recovers from the disease. That certainly changed my perspective a bit. It would serve everyone well to err on the cautious side.
skocznymroczny 7y ago
As with any potential threat, people take it to the extremes. Same with climate change. On one side you have the "I don't really think it's a thing, it isn't influencing me at all" folks, on the other side you have hardcore preppers and "Humanity as we know it will end in few years I can't wait to repopulate the Earth".
rsynnott 7y ago
I'm not hugely _personally_ worried about dying of it; people my age in otherwise good health in developed countries usually don't. I am definitely worried about its impact on others, though, and also its impact on society. Especially as it spreads in the west; for better or for worse, China was far better set up for this than most of the world. Some western countries are still basically denying that it's a problem, which has the potential to make things _much_ worse. For older people, in particular, death rates for over 70s are truly worrying.
eddyg 7y ago
"Precautionary decisions do not scale. Collective safety may require excessive individual risk avoidance, even if it conflicts with an individual's own interests and benefits. It may require an individual to worry about risks that are comparatively insignificant." https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1235663235573067777 https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1235663235573067777

travisjungroth 7y ago

It hasn’t effected your life so far. It most likely will.

throwaway88483 7y ago

You’re not the only person. The people licking shrines in Iran aren’t worried about coronavirus either.

a_imho 7y ago
Or the people bringing it to your country in the first place. Traveling from an infected country is reckless and disrespectful for the lack of better words.

IGotThroughIt 7y ago

It's been said multiple times but I'll repeat in case you've not heard this: it really isn't about contracting the virus since the rate of survival is pretty high but rather more about people panicking and creating shortages. This is coming in full swing. Ports are emptying, fewer and fewer ships are coming from China and east Asia. It might get very very ugly. Buy your supplies early enough and take other measures such as the create the ability to grow your own food if you live in a place where that's possible. I've done both and I'm going to be increasing my stock in the coming week based on the circumstances that present themselves.

mlang23 7y ago

No, you are not alone. I dont care about Coronavirus at all. I dont feel threatened personally, and I consider the media hype completely overblown. There are still a few of us that dont behave like sissies.

kilroy_jones 7y ago
Pretty bad attitude to have considering how your carelessness can adversely affect many others.
- mlang23 7y ago
  What carelessness are you talking about? There is no vaxxination for Coronavirus yet, so what the heck do you think I am supposed to do to show my caring? Running around in circles and adding to the already growing panic? No, thanks, I have better things to do with my time.
- 0x8BADF00D 7y ago
  If you need to be told to wash your hands and shower, that’s a you problem, not a me problem. This is basic hygiene.
  - mlang23 7y ago
    Thanks I couldn't have said it any better.
  - strstr 7y ago
    This seems non-sequitor? The main infection route is airborne droplets. Sure, washing your hands reduces risk, but it does not solve the problem. Showering is a good idea, but not relevant.
    - mlang23 7y ago
      Well, nothing I do (save for putting myself into voluntary quaratine) will actually help solve the problem, that is the point why I am ranting here. Basic hygiene should be a given. So what exactly is the common man supposed to do to save the world?
      - Zombieball 7y ago
        https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-t...

inferiorhuman 7y ago

I'm not exaggerating when I say it hasn't effected my life at all, except for the effort it took me to write this comment. I live in San Francisco, if it matters. San Francisco just reported its first cases today, but there's definitely been panic shopping. The city closed down Lowell today as a precautionary measure (but that leaves nearly 200 campuses open). Even if you don't suffer any health or financial effects (unlikely) you'll still be effected if: - More schools close, even more if parents have to take time off from work en masse - Public transit becomes a big vector and BART or Muni try to shut down or reduce service - People continue to panic shop. NPR had a photo from a Marin Target with shelves bare of disinfectant wipes. Rainbow in the city was almost completely out of canned tomatoes on Monday. - On a federal level, if our idiot president succeeds in closing the Mexican border you'll definitely feel some pain

rsynnott 7y ago
> if our idiot president succeeds in closing the Mexican border Wait, is he trying to do that? Why is that his solution to everything?
- mcv 7y ago
  He just got given a new excuse to close some borders. It would surprise me if he didn't make use of that.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/cdc-director-border-wall-coronavirus-125007 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/cdc-director-border...

cm2187 7y ago

I am not either. I see a disconnect between the numbers published by the WHO and the alarmist reaction of the mainstream media. Earlier this week there was a speech from the director of the WHO on the front page of hn suggesting the virus was less contagious than the flu, I don’t see any mention in any major newspapers. It feels like one of these “facts that don’t fit the narrative will be simply omitted”. I am concerned however about the overreaction to the virus. Like I am not concerned about catching it, but I am having second thoughts about a holiday trip in south Asia I wanted to make next month as I don’t want to find myself jailed for weeks in a military barrack for some unnecessary quarantine. And my biggest concern is the economic impact. Hopefully this thing will go away in 2/3 months as the northern hemisphere gets warmer.

rsynnott 7y ago
I mean, "less contagious than the flu" is a bit like saying "less poisonous than cyanide"; the flu is very contagious. If you have something that's less contagious than the flu but much more lethal than the flu, that's pretty scary.

mft_ 7y ago

It's not about you. It's always difficult to determine and conceptualize personal risk, but in this case, maybe even harder: people are caught between the extremes of "I'm healthy, and it's very unlikely to harm me", vs. "this may kill millions of people around the globe unless we get lucky, and/or are very serious about the measures we take to contain it". (Both of these statements are true [for most people] yet seem irreconcilable.) So you staying at home and not getting the virus probably doesn't make much of a difference to you, aside from not feeling crappy for a couple of weeks. But if we all do it, then on a population scale it will make a difference, as it's one of the actions that can contribute towards preventing potentially millions of people dying. You might not feel that you would ever be responsible for transmitting the virus to a vulnerable person who then dies, and that might be true... but again on a population scale, someone is responsible, and that infection could potentially have been prevented by this (and other) measures.

bitL 7y ago

You might be fine, if you are young, you probably won't even notice it, however your older parents or grandparents might pass away two weeks after you meet them while being infectious...

yurlungur 7y ago

I also thought as a relatively young person there's not much to be too worried about. However it turned out permanent and serious lung damage can occur even if the individual recovers from the disease. That certainly changed my perspective a bit. It would serve everyone well to err on the cautious side.

skocznymroczny 7y ago

As with any potential threat, people take it to the extremes. Same with climate change. On one side you have the "I don't really think it's a thing, it isn't influencing me at all" folks, on the other side you have hardcore preppers and "Humanity as we know it will end in few years I can't wait to repopulate the Earth".

rsynnott 7y ago

I'm not hugely _personally_ worried about dying of it; people my age in otherwise good health in developed countries usually don't. I am definitely worried about its impact on others, though, and also its impact on society. Especially as it spreads in the west; for better or for worse, China was far better set up for this than most of the world. Some western countries are still basically denying that it's a problem, which has the potential to make things _much_ worse. For older people, in particular, death rates for over 70s are truly worrying.

eddyg 7y ago

"Precautionary decisions do not scale. Collective safety may require excessive individual risk avoidance, even if it conflicts with an individual's own interests and benefits. It may require an individual to worry about risks that are comparatively insignificant." https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1235663235573067777 https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1235663235573067777