Quote from: Luca;1124318My father is 79 with a previous cancer and a heart condition. My mother is 71.
According to you, I'm "fearmongering".
According to me, you're insane.

You give in to fear, then you might as well already be dead.

I take the proper precautions. According to the CDC.

And if you think wearing a mask can protect you from the virus, you are dreaming.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1124319You give in to fear, then you might as well already be dead.

I take the proper precautions. According to the CDC.

And if you think wearing a mask can protect you from the virus, you are dreaming.

Well actually I agree with you on the mask. That's the point. According to my country's health authorities, the only successful precaution is to not meet people.

OK Folks

The problem with this particular pandemic are

It deadlier than normal flu and colds. And it deadliness rise as the older you are up to 16% for people 70 or older. Overall it is averaging 2% to 4% along with 16% serious cases requiring emergency care. Well over the threshold to overwhelm medical service if there enough cases. The point of taking drastic measure now is keep the peak below this point. If the number of cases grows beyond this point only only do death from the virus spike upward but also from other causes as well as medical services become limited.

In the United States serious testing only has begun in the past week and still ramping up. So we don't know how far the virus has spread. Based on the experiences of Western Europe likely we are week behind them in particular Italy.

This is compounded by the relatively long latency of the disease showing visible symptoms yet the infected individual is capable of infecting others.

The media and official response are not overblown. It is crucial so that our medical system doesn't get overwhelmed and even more deaths occur.

As for the panic buying, it happens and this is the first serious pandemic in two generation. During and prior to the 1950s, people what to do with contagious diseases was a common experience. But since then one by one by the major infectious diseases were brought under control. There was a reason why the discoverers of the polio vaccine was thrown a ticker tape parade.

While panic doesn't help, adopting a "who cares" attitude or dismissing reports as overblown doesn't help either.

Keep up on what the CDC is saying and limit your contact with other people as reasonably as you can.

I could be wrong, but I get the impression more than a few of the 'it's just the flu you stupid libs' crowd are members of one or more of the vulnerable populations: over 60, obese, smokers.

Even if you don't give a shit about the hundreds of thousands likely to die from this thing if it isn't contained, maybe stop and consider that health care capacity is going to be beyond maxed for the next 12+ months. Better hope you or your loved ones don't suffer from a heart attack, gallstones, pneumonia, or appendicitis in the next year or so.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1124317Fearmongering doesn't work on me. I won't give up on life simply because of a remote chance of death.

We face death everyday because of other viruses. This is not new.

Of course you won't give up. And why should you have to give up anything at all or put up with even a minor inconvenience just because it might save someone else's life. Selfish and stupid.

According to a nurse who visited my mom today, there is going to be a three-week home quarantine enacted for the county I am in. No travel anywhere.

I still have to get up, shower, get dressed, and go to work. Pandemic or no, life does indeed go on.

Taking reasonable precautions to not spread the virus? Sure. Scaring the fuck out of the population because it is a lead news story? Nope. There is an excluded middle here that does not involve the panic we have been seeing.

I'd suggest more people be like R. Talsorian Games and make one of their more popular games a free download for the rest of this month. Teenagers From Outer Space is great fun and perfect for being trapped at home with the rugrats.

Quote from: Haffrung;1124324I could be wrong, but I get the impression more than a few of the 'it's just the flu you stupid libs' crowd are members of one or more of the vulnerable populations: over 60, obese, smokers.

Even if you don't give a shit about the hundreds of thousands likely to die from this thing if it isn't contained, maybe stop and consider that health care capacity is going to be beyond maxed for the next 12+ months. Better hope you or your loved ones don't suffer from a heart attack, gallstones, pneumonia, or appendicitis in the next year or so.

Looking at what's happening in Italy, where they have now had to ration care, you can only hope it doesn't happen in any other places. As much as the idiocy on display here amazes me, I'd hate to hear that a forum member won a Darwin Award.

Quote from: jeff37923;1124367Taking reasonable precautions to not spread the virus? Sure. Scaring the fuck out of the population because it is a lead news story? Nope. There is an excluded middle here that does not involve the panic we have been seeing.

This. Holy shit people. COVID-19 is not the end of the world. Not falling for the ad-click motivated hysteria is good. Not contributing to the social contagion of fear is useful. Refusing to take low-impact measures to reduce risk is just silly. If it were 1975 and your gaming choices were "meet in person" or "don't game", that'd be one thing. But it's 20 fucking 20, use the damn internet, ye pig-headed plague-bearing werevermin.

Our forefathers who lived through (for example) the 1918 flu would surely think we're idiots in refusing to leverage our fancy ass technology as much as we can.

XOXO,

Your internet friend,

-Insubordinate Polyhedral

Quote from: Bren;1124326Of course you won't give up. And why should you have to give up anything at all or put up with even a minor inconvenience just because it might save someone else's life. Selfish and stupid.

That a serious consideration with this virus, the long onset period means if you are infected you will be putting others at risk. And it unlikely would know about it until the symptoms manifest. For this we are not our own isolated islands.

Quote from: insubordinate polyhedral;1124371Our forefathers who lived through (for example) the 1918 flu would surely think we're idiots in refusing to leverage our fancy ass technology as much as we can.

Exactly, don't lose your head but if there another options for hanging out using the internet or devices, then use it for the next few weeks.

Quote from: insubordinate polyhedral;1124371Our forefathers who lived through (for example) the 1918 flu would surely think we're idiots in refusing to leverage our fancy ass technology as much as we can.

Gotta quote this. The reason coronavirus is less of a threat is because we've got the technology to eventually develop a vaccine, self-quarrantine with a minimum of disruption, and track and diagnose this even when people aren't showing symptoms.

In case anyone is living under a rock, the US is doing a voluntary self-quarantine of 15 days. Apparently, this is how long it will take to get the health care system ready to roll and handle the virus. Might be time for some Roll 20 gaming, gentlemen.

Quote from: jeff37923;1124367I still have to get up, shower, get dressed, and go to work. Pandemic or no, life does indeed go on.

Depending on where you live, you may not be going to work for much longer. You'll either be working remotely from home, or out of work.

Quote from: jeff37923;1124367Scaring the fuck out of the population because it is a lead news story? Nope. There is an excluded middle here that does not involve the panic we have been seeing.

Italians weren't taking the pandemic threat seriously two weeks ago. Now they're fucked.

Panic isn't good. But if people need to be scared to get them to change their daily habits enough to suppress the transmission of the virus, then so be it. Better than the acute care system collapsing.

Quote from: Haffrung;1124383Depending on where you live, you may not be going to work for much longer. You'll either be working remotely from home, or out of work.

Entertainment and dining establishments are closing down (some for good, they can't afford the loss), but the grocery stores here in WA are hiring literally on the spot.