The "virus" What are your thoughts

In the news, the virus emerging out of China. Sounds deadly!

I am subscribed to State department travel warnings. One was issued tonight.

My wife said it was on the local news in Texas tonight, suspected case in Texas now.

Is this a real concern? or just a media "over hype"

Posting content of State Department notice


Level 4: Do not travel to Hubei province, China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China:

There is an ongoing outbreak of pneumonia first identified in Wuhan, China, caused by a novel (new) coronavirus.In an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, the Chinese authorities have suspended air and rail travel in the area around Wuhan.On January 23, 2020, the Department of State ordered the departure of all non-emergency U.S. personnel and their family members. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Hubei province.

Chinese authorities have imposed strict travel restrictions in the area around Wuhan.Travelers should be aware that the Chinese government could prevent them from entering or exiting parts of Hubei province.Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Warning Level 3 Alert (Avoid Nonessential Travel) due to an ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that can be spread from person to person.

If you must travel to Wuhan, you should:

• Avoid contact with sick people.
• Avoid animals (alive or dead), animal markets, and products that come from animals (such as uncooked meat).
• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
• Older adults and travelers with underlying health issues may be at risk for more severe disease and should discuss travel to Wuhan with their healthcare provider.

If you traveled to Wuhan in the last 14 days and feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, you should:

• Seek medical care right away. Before you go to a doctor¿s office or emergency room, call ahead and tell them about your recent travel and your symptoms.
• Avoid contact with others.
• Not travel while sick.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

Please see https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/watch/novel-coronavirus-china and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/novel-coronavirus-2019.html for further updates.

Exercise increased caution in China due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws and special restrictions on dual U.S.-Chinese citizens:

The Chinese government has asserted broad authority to prohibit U.S. citizens from leaving China by using ¿exit bans," sometimes keeping U.S. citizens in China for years. The Chinese government uses exit bans coercively:

• to compel U.S. citizens to participate in Chinese government investigations,
• to lure individuals back to China from abroad, and
• to aid Chinese authorities in resolving civil disputes in favor of Chinese parties.

In most cases, U.S. citizens only become aware of the exit ban when they attempt to depart China, and there is no method to find out how long the ban may continue. U.S. citizens under exit bans have been harassed and threatened.

U.S. citizens may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime. U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to ¿state security." Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government.

Extra security measures, such as security checks and increased levels of police presence, are common in the Xinjiang Uighur and Tibet Autonomous Regions. Authorities may impose curfews and travel restrictions on short notice.

The Chinese government does not recognize dual nationality. U.S.-Chinese citizens and U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage may be subject to additional scrutiny and harassment, and the Chinese government may prevent the U.S. Embassy from providing consular services. Read the Safety and Security section on the country information page.

If you decide to travel to China:

• Enter China on your U.S. passport with a valid Chinese visa and keep it with you.
• If you are arrested or detained, ask police or prison officials to notify the U.S. Embassy or the nearest consulate immediately.
• If you plan to enter North Korea, read the North Korea Travel Advisory.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the U.S. Embassy on Twitter, WeChat, and Weibo.
• Review the Crime and Safety Reports for China.
• Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler¿s Checklist.

Last Update: Reissued with updates to the Travel Advisory Level: Level 4 for Hubei province.

Remember when the bird flu was supposed to take over the world...

A pandemic to reduce their population maybe? At 1.386 Billion people in one spot disease is always a possibility to reduce the population

My thoughts? I’d rather not get it.

The facts are the facts......So, there is reason for concern. Esp. in light of the fact that world travel is so prevalent.

The infectious disease community is on alert and trying to get ahead of it....But, what will happen is anyone's guess. One problem is people's normal behavior isn't conducive to stopping the spread...Way too early to know and I'm not sure they've determined how fast it's being transmitted.

I think that it is only hype if you react irrationally to it, or if you dont.seek out your own reputable sources for information.

I fly every week. I'm on a plane right now. Because of the media I know that there is the a virus that has symptoms that are similar to a.cold, but had proven to be more serious. I've listened to a couple of interviews with credible medical professionals. Their message is to be aware but not alarmed. I dont generally travel internationally but I fly though international hubs every week. So Im washing my hands a little more often, being more aware not to touch my face with my hands, and will be a bit more aware.if I am near people who seem to be international travelers who seem to have symptoms. If you are on a plane you are always around someone who is sneezing or coughing, doesn't matter where or what.time of year. There were a couple of people at PHL with face masks on tonight, didnt see any at CLT. Beyond that just normal life on the road.

If you are in your living room in texas.or des moines or Sarasota and just go to your job every day and then to the grocery store, probably not much to worry about. Turn off the TV and read a book. If I was travelling to China I might be more concerned.

I guess my most standards my air travel quantity would be considered at the higher level. 120-140 flights per year.

Sitting in a hotel in Chicago tonight. Will go O'Hare to DFW tomorrow. Standard week.

Has made me pause - I admit.

Some of depends on how the CDC responds. I recall the African Ebola scare a couple of years ago when they were bringing a lot of the infected patients into the US for treatment. That was not a popular move. We (public safety) had special training classes on dealing with Ebola it was so concerning.
I guess if the CDC wants to start bringing the most severe cases of this new virus home to us, it would change the concern.

CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 13 million flu illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 6,600 deaths from flu.

Based on the above there is an overreaction to the corona virus which is reportedly less serious than SARS. One confirmed case of corona in the US so far. 850 cases worldwide and 24 deaths. Like with the flu most of the deaths were elderly or frail people.

That there is no vaccine for corona is a concern but not a reason to panic. The flu vaccine this year was largely ineffective. Both my wife and son got the flu despite having gotten the vaccine.

Stay away from airplanes (sorry guys, they are like Petri dishes) and hospital emergency rooms.

China has a history of seriously under-reporting the severity of new outbreaks. They also don't quarantine fast enough. We saw it with swine flu, where they lost 40% of their pig population. We saw it with SARS. There is some evidence that they have been following the same pattern with this one.

Given this historical and consistent lack of timely response, that fact that they are now locking down whole regions in China, it makes me very concerned about the scope and severity of the virus. Given what we CAN see, how much worse it is actually?

Timeflys said:

Stay away from airplanes (sorry guys, they are like Petri dishes) and hospital emergency rooms.

Click to expand...

So true, I can vouch for that!!

I'm on the fence. Yes, I do believe the media is habitual at sensationalizing everything, especially if it involves a tragedy. However, it's good in my opinion to prepare, at least a little.

I've always wanted to have some food storage for natural disasters etc. I don't consider myself a "prepper". To be clear I do not mean to use the word prepper as a derogatory term either. To each their own. The Admiral use to give me grief about wanting to buy food storage. That was until the ebola thing.

When ebola came to the US, my wife's outlook changed. I was more concerned about a natural disaster like a tornado. We decided to purchase dry food storage or mre's along with water, TP, soap etc. It was actually kind of fun. I'd ask her, 'if there was an outbreak, other than food and water, what would you need to go to the store for?' (to avoid public places) That's when, soap, TP, toothpaste, etc. came into play. We have about 3 months worth of supplies that should last 25 years. I told her, as it gets toward end of life, maybe we'll have a larger Sea Ray and we can eat the mre's while cruising if we never have to use them.

So, I'm "kinda" that guy of 'it's better to have it and not need it, versus needing it and not having it'.

I think @b_arrington has a point. China is slow on information outside their nation. But the reality is, most countries are. Further, since people don't walk around with a forehead label when they are infected, it's pretty challenging to determine who might be a vector. It is spread similarly to any other virus, like the flu. Ask yourself, how good are we at stopping the spread of the flu?

First, we have horrible behavioral practices when it comes to personal protections. Second, people don't seem to care when the infect others. Case in point when people send their children to school sick so they don't have to stay home with them, or they go to work sick because they don't want to take a sick day when they can use it for vacation or get paid for it when they retire.

My advice, having studied IH at the Schools of Public Health at Harvard and Johns Hopkins, is simply avoid people....While I chuckle a little when I say that, there is truth to it....Short of wearing a ULPA respirator mask (and in truth, even that should be fit tested) you are taking a certain amount of risk if you go into areas where the virus could be.

In this day of airline travel, I would say, that could be just about anywhere. I don't know the time between when a person is infected and when they start developing symptoms and when they start shedding.

Usually the peak time of shedding is when you start manifesting symptoms. So if people simply stayed home when they started feeling bad, we likely wouldn't have pandemics or epidemics....

I'm due to travel to Shenzhen for business at the end of February. I'm likely going to cancel that trip, not worth the risk.

OllieC said:

I'm on the fence. .....
When ebola came to the US, my wife's outlook changed....

We have about 3 months worth of supplies that should last 25 years. I told her, as it gets toward end of life, maybe we'll have a larger Sea Ray and we can eat the mre's while cruising if we never have to use them.

Click to expand...

The good thing about Ebola was that the hot zones would burn out since the hemorrhagic virus was so fast, and frankly the virus was so deadly. But, now since we go into these zones and even flew the level 4 biohazard to the US, the CDC seems determined to put us at risk. Since I've studied hemorrhagic viruses, gone to lectures and met and spoke with Dr. Fauci and my Ex wife worked directly under the head of the CDC, I don't trust a thing that comes out of DHHS.....They are very clinical and love to discuss efficacy and data, but I wouldn't want to be in a foxhole with them, if you know what I mean. Further, I would use your own judgement when it comes to personal protection as I would speculate that one of their primary objectives is to stop a panic, so read between the lines.

If you really want to have some fun, read about how prepared the hospitals and the first responders were when the Ebola scare happened. They didn't even have face masks, let alone respirators... Actually, if you want some more fun, you should read up on the secondary infections of carriers. "Curing" Ebola doesn't necessarily "cure" them nor make them unable to shed the virus later. It's hard to find the data on it, as patients and even the world health leaders want to down play it....The patients they flew back and "cured" in the US have become sick again....

Anyway, I need to go back to building my asteroid protection silo, so that's enough for now.

LOL!! Boat Guy....I don't want to have that much fun - but maybe I should?

I hope the Coronavirus doesn't make it to the Minneapolis boat show tomorrow.