Coronavirus _ worried?

[Mel Fulks]

OK, I'm curious what beer company and what's the story?

CORONA beer. I'm betting sales are down. Would not be the first time some like named product took a hit.

[Mel Fulks]

Just looked it up. Sales are way down.

[mike stenson]

CORONA beer. I'm betting sales are down. Would not be the first time some like named product took a hit.

So, because people are stupid.

[Doug Garson]

CORONA beer. I'm betting sales are down. Would not be the first time some like named product took a hit.

OK, but not a big mistake by the health pros, just an unfortunate choice of names by the company and as Mike said the reaction of a bunch of stupid people relating the name of a beer to an unrelated virus.

[Mel Fulks]

The beer people had the name first. Of course the health pros are at fault. Naming stuff is a BIG deal.

[Jim Koepke]

OK, I'm curious what beer company and what's the story?

CORONA beer. I'm betting sales are down. Would not be the first time some like named product took a hit.

Prevent Corona Virus.jpg

Down the drain.

jtk

[Doug Dawson]

Normally I would step back, but this is important and can get dangerous with misinformation.

We are only gathering data now on who is most vulnerable. This is not necessarily true of COVID-19. It's dangerous. Period. Full stop.

My information comes from the New York Times, which has had strong ongoing coverage of this since the beginning. If they are wrong, so be it, it wouldn't be the first time. (Hello Judith Miller.) But don't spread panic.

[William Chain]

I work in NIH and NSF funded laboratories. The NYT has what is publicly disseminated, and a lot of it isn't coming from US govt sources and from the ridiculous edicts being handed down now, the data will be politically influenced and/or otherwise distorted. The data just isn't thick enough yet to say anything other than the usual platitudes. The data surely looks like those in older age brackets are more vulnerable (which ...yeh...) but the brackets at this point are as focused as ages 30-79. That isn't exactly great yet.

And for the record, the masks everyone is buying don't do much. They just don't. I always chuckle when I see folks running down the street with those on.

My information comes from the New York Times, which has had strong ongoing coverage of this since the beginning. If they are wrong, so be it, it wouldn't be the first time. (Hello Judith Miller.) But don't spread panic.

[Frederick Skelly]

I try to keep in mind that the news media often fans the flames. I mean, they have a vested interest in creating a certain level of fear. People watch/read more and they sell more ads, etc.

With that said, there are several well known pandemics that killed millions. The spanish flu near the end of WW-I killed many millions worldwide. And there was the swine flu 50 years later. So pandemics do happen.

I'm taking reasonable precautions - washing hands more frequently, staying off of airplanes for now, etc. That's prudent and easy, so why not?

[Doug Dawson]

I try to keep in mind that the news media often fans the flames. I mean, they have a vested interest in creating a certain level of fear. People watch/read more and they sell more ads, etc.

With that said, there are several well known pandemics that killed millions. The spanish flu near the end of WW-I killed many millions worldwide. And there was the swine flu 50 years later. So pandemics do happen.

It depends on what news media you're looking at. Some of them are more biased/sensationalist than others.

On the spanish flu, Gina Kolata wrote an excellent book on this 20 years ago, called "Flu", that nicely sums up that situation, and refers to other resources for deeper research on the part of the reader.

[Doug Dawson]

I work in NIH and NSF funded laboratories. The NYT has what is publicly disseminated

Let this not be perceived as implying that the NYT is publishing the press releases of interested parties. :^) Their investigative prowess is formidable, and this is a huge story.

If you have inside information, they do have a tip line on their homepage.

[Peter Kelly]

That is incorrect. A number of the dead were young healthy people. For example, the thirty something year old physician trying to treat patients in Wuhan.

Liu Zhiming, 51, director of Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan, Li Wenliang, 33, ophthalmologist and coronavirus whistleblower at Wuhan Central Hospital to name a couple.

Both were reported to be in decent health prior to contracting the virus.

[John K Jordan]

Are you starting to worry about Coronavirus yet?

I don't worry but I do have concerns. One concern is a trip planned to Italy in a couple of months. According to our contacts there and the news reports some of our long-planned destinations in Northern Italy are already under lockdown. There are apparently about 400 known cases in Italy now and a dozen deaths. This morning's news indicates seven additional European counties have now reported cases, some involving people who had been to Italy.

If I had a working crystal ball maybe I could decide if I should cancel now and just lose a few thousand dollars already spent. I'm seriously considering staying home. This would even involved close contact with crowds of international travelers at the airports and customs.

Depending on the situation in a few months I can imagine being denied reentry to the US or enduring an extended quarantine on return. Or becoming a statistic.

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

I'm in the same boat. Was planning a trip to Barcelona. Think I may eat the loss.

NYTimes "The Daily" had a great podcast this AM about the relative severity of COVID vs previous recent virus epidemics.

[John K Jordan]

Updates:

There are now 528 cases reported in Italy, up about 100 from yesterday, and two more deaths, 14 total.

An Italian regional governor has gone into self-isolation after a staff member was diagnosed with the disease.

My Lovely Bride follows the Rick Steves forum and reports from those with feet on the ground. I'll find out in a bit what she learns today.

The US State Department issued a Travel Advisory yesterday (Wednesday) suggesting to use caution when traveling to Italy. It does not YET recommend to avoid travel to Italy. I'm not totally reassured.

JKJ