Coronovirus is starting to scare me

amother

Gold

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 6:14 pm

Through Corona Virus HaShem seems to be teaching us all that we DO NOT run the world. If we forget this, and get scared, we will do silly things, like overstock on toilet paper and purell. This will hurt all of us because

-It's not nice to live in a society where everyone is greedy
-Spending excess time shopping means you are more likely to come in contact with the virus and/or spread it to others
-If regular people who are unlikely to get very sick even if they catch the disease take all the masks and purell and so on, then the people who do need it because they are elderly or immunocompromise d won't have access to that they need again putting themselves, and everyone around them, at greater risk.

So don't be scared! Focus on helping and protecting others, not just yourself. Then we will all be happier

amother

Pewter ↓

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 6:40 pm

Just to give you some perspective: Israel is taking extreme measures. For one person who MAY have come in contact with the coronavirus, many many people need to go in quarantine.
Here is an excerpt from Mara from Kosheron abudget.com:

Our travel regulations in Israel seem to be some of the strictest that I’ve seen or read about anywhere (much to the consternation of the several EU governments!).

Starting from the first ban of travelers coming from China on February 1st, Israel has, as of March 4th, banned entry to foreigners from China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Austria andSwitzerland. (As well as any foreign national who has been to Iran in the 14 days prior to coming to Israel.)

Note: Connecting passengers through China, South Korea and Italy — even if you do not leave the airport — will also be barred from entering Israel. If you connect through the other above countries, you may still (as of March 4th) enter Israel, as long as you have not left the airport. (This seems like something that is may change, so definitely check before you fly.)

Additionally, all Israelis returning from any of these countries have been ordered to enter a 14-day home quarantine, whether or not they are showing any symptoms of illness. If G-d forbid, they should become ill while in quarantine, they call Magen David Adom (911), which comes to their home to test for Coronavirus, and transfer them to hospital quarantine, if necessary.

With the most recent expansion of the ban yesterday — on foreigners from France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland — Israel has added a caveat that non-citizens will be barred from entry unless they can prove their ability to self-quarantine in Israel.

It is unclear to me how one would “prove” this ability, and I have to assume that anyone without an address (a home, not a hotel) here would have an especially difficult time.

In addition, Israel has advised all citizens not to travel abroad unless absolutely necessary. It has banned foreign travel for government officials and cancelled several joint military exercises with foreign countries.

Israel has also imposed a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine on any Israeli returning from anywhere abroad if they have attended an international conference. (My husband is supposed to go to Istanbul for a conference in 10 days — I’m guessing that won’t be happening.)

In addition to doing everything it can to prevent “importation” of the disease, Israel is also aggressively working to contain community spread.

Primary among these measures is self-quarantine orders for anyone who has come in contact (even if not directly nor for a prolonged time) with someone who has tested positive for Coronavirus.

For example, an Israeli returned from Italy before the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine was in place. He manages a toy store, and went back to work upon his return. He became sick 4 days later, went home and was tested for Coronavirus. He was positive.

At that point, the Ministry of Health ordered anyone in contact with the store manager to self-quarantine for 14 days; but it was too late for those who had already been exposed, including a teenager who worked at the store, and a store customer, who is a vice principal at an elementary school — both of whom have also subsequently tested positive for the virus.

Before the teenager knew he had been exposed, or was even showing any symptoms of illness, he continued leading his normal life — which included attending a Macabbi Tel Aviv soccer match. Once he became ill and tested positive, everyone who sat in his section at the game was ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days.

I mention this one example to show how from “only” 15 people diagnosed with the virus in Israel (as of last night) it can lead to, as some reports have indicated, up to 100,000 people under self-quarantine orders.

amother

Jetblack

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 7:16 pm

I think with more knowledge about something there is less fear.
Some things we know so far:

Most people who get this virus are completely fine (over 80 percent). The reason there is all this quarinteen is because it's spreading fast and people need to keep it contained for...
People who have compromised immune systems, elderly, etc, are at risk. So it is not an issue if someone gets sick, but if I have it and give it to someone who is this status, that is an issue...

Tons of people are walking around with this virus right now. They are now testing more people so are getting more positive tests. If you walked around and tested people with the flu, then they would be tested positive for the flu... When you hear something like "two more people confirmed in x area..." it sounds scary but it's more like "duh." Again they are trying to keep it as contained as possible.

Thousands of people die from the flu, but we have a flu vaccine and know more about the flu. They are still learning about this virus...

Kids are not so much at risk. The few kids that have gotten sick were very mild cases (and they were very few children).

So take away right now. Please don't panic If you are generally healthy and have young kids-You are not at risk. But, it's important to try to be mindful of your hygiene and if you do know of people at risk, to advise them to stay out of public places and away from sick people... It is possible we will be in quaranteened, but this is the governemnets way of figuring all this out and it doesn't mean the world is ending.

And of course this is all up to hashem. I don't think it's an overhype, but there is no need (and no use) panicking. But hopefully here is some reasurance in the facts. you know there were many elderly people 90 plus years old who got better? (even an 101 year old).

Ihatepotatoes ↓

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 7:38 pm

tweety1 wrote:

https://vosizneias.com/2020/03/05/up-to-80000-israelis-currently-quarantined-over-possible-coronavirus-exposure/
I'm starting to really get scared.

So here's the thing. As others mentioned above, the fact that they are quarantining the way they are is scary, but it should help you to take the long look here. 80% of those who would test positive are going to resolve on their own. That is essentially most people who get it. Like the flu, some percentage of those who get it have to be hospitalized, with some of those, especially immuno-compromised or those with respiratory issues at risk of death, again like the flu. One reason this seems worse than flu is the speed at which it is getting transmitted and the lack of a vaccination for it. Today, you likely came in contact with many people who would test positive for flu, but either because you took a shot or because your body already has antibodies to fight it the effect will be negligible. Next year, I'd think Coronavirus will be viewed exactly like the flu- If you are symptomatic and don't feel well, don't go to work. It's only now, when it's a novel thing that these precautions are being taken. Just as no one thinks that a flu patient in a shul necessitates shutting down the entire shul, so to this virus. The question is now, what happens if you are told to quarantine. I'd say listen, because it still is serious, and as much as possible it's an imperative to slow the spread for the benifit of the sick and elderly. Now, it's impossible to stop it entirely, one person going to relatives in a different city on purim, whose husband davens in Frankels for mincha and has had exposure, who then transmits it to his daughter who goes to BYA.... But it is what it is. Practice good hygiene, daven you and klal yisroel should be safe, and do chessed..

amother

Wine

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 7:48 pm

Ihatepotatoes wrote:

Here's the real thing. It's not the flu. At most one out of a thousand people who get the flu die, many years less than that. At least two out of a hundred (possibly three or even more) who get sick with coronavirus die. It's true that 80 out of a hundred won't get very sick, but two out of a hundred dying is much worse than one out of a thousand. The risk of death does increase in older people but I for one am not less worried because the people who are most likely to die ar over 50.

amother

Cobalt

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 8:01 pm

https://www.dailywire.com/news.....-well

As the media continues to spread panic about the coronavirus, one emergency room doctor is warning people not to get too carried away.

Speaking on “America’s Newsroom” this week, Dr. James Phillips, operational medicine fellowship director at George Washington University, said that most people who contract the coronavirus will “do just fine.”

“Most of us are going to get this virus. It’s undeniable,” said Phillips. “You won’t find a single expert out there who is saying that this is going to be contained. “And, the more we learn about it, the more we see that the spread is going to be global and, for the most part, that’s OK because the data we know from China shows that roughly 98 to 99 percent of us are going to do very, very well.”

Phillips said that the main danger with coronavirus is how it affects the lower respiratory system, which presents itself as pneumonia. He called on everyone to just take a deep breath and calm down.

“The way that this virus tends to make people sick is really by giving people pneumonia. So, a lower respiratory illness as opposed to most colds that cause upper respiratory infections,” said Phillips. “The problem with pneumonia is pneumonia itself can be deadly. Everyone should take a deep breath.”

Here are some global statistics on the coronavirus from Fox News:

Thus far, there are over 95,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and over 3,300 deaths worldwide. Of those cases, there are at least 129 cases and 11 deaths recorded in the United States. Washington state has been hit especially hard by the virus, with nine deaths at a nursing home near Seattle. The death rate is about 3.4 percent.

Most of those taken by the COVID-19 virus are older, infirmed, or those with weak immune systems and Phillips conceded that there is a “certain percentage” of Americans who are “going to get more sick than others.”

Dr. Drew Pinsky has also called on people to calm down amid the coronavirus threat and charged the media with talking too much about it.

“We are not overreacting; the press is overreacting, and it makes me furious. The press should not be reporting medical stories as though they know how to report it,” Dr. Drew said on Daily Beast Live. “If we have a pandemic, I won’t know how to tell that we’re actually having a pandemic because everything is an emergency. People that are infectious disease specialists, the CDC, the epidemiologist[s], need to take this very seriously. The press needs to shut up because you’re more likely to die of influenza right now.”

“Let me frame it this way: we have in the United States 24 million cases of flu-like illness, 180,000 hospitalizations, 16,000 dead from influenza. Why is that not being reported? Why isn’t the message: get your flu shot? We have zero deaths from coronavirus, we have almost no cases,” he continued. “It’s coming here. That community transmitted case you purported on from UC Davis, that means that it’s far milder than we know it is and there are people walking around out there with the virus that don’t even know they have it, it’s so mild. So, it’s going to be much more widespread than we knew, it’s going to be much milder than we knew, the 1.7 % fatality rate is going to fall.”

↑ Ihatepotatoes

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 8:04 pm

amother [ Wine ] wrote:

I was comparing it in the sense that they are both viruses with similarities and similar - if not exact- mortality rates. in China, the death rate for Covid-19 is 0.4% for the age group 40 to 49; and just 0.2% for people ages 10 to 39. while that's higher than the flu, it's not that much higher. The issue here is the uncertainty. We know hat we're dealing with in regards to flu, not so much Coronavirus.

amother

Maroon

Thu, Mar 05 2020, 8:54 pm

amother [ Emerald ] wrote:

What about going into public libraries I mean u have a lot of non Jews and Jews there and parks?? We just have to have emunah and bitachon

What is the difference Jews and non Jews? In the ny area it’s the Jews to be worried about.

amother [ Jetblack ] wrote:

Many of us amothers with young children already fall into the risk ages.
Many of us have older parents that are constantly exposed to our kids.
Many of us have children with auto immune diseases - there are so many in the frum community.

A child could be contagious and no one would know. Some of the patients that tested positive in NY are asymptomatic.
That is scary for many of us.