[ikk157]

@perryoo11  I've merged your new Corona Virus thread with the Corona Virus thread of @xdude that already existed.

I'm completely baffled by the Corona Virus myself.  They call it a double virus because some say it's a mediapedemic as well with all of the attention it is being given by the media.   When I checked Wikipedia Canada Canada has had 45 cases since January, with most of the cases recovered.  Yet when one looks at Europe there are so many fatalities.  Like what is the difference between the zero fatalities in Canada - how does that happen?  Vs Europe that must be going through greater challenges.  Particularly Italy, and now it looks as though the Netherlands is also getting many cases.

In South Africa, where I am presently, we've had our first case last week.  He traveled from Italy.  He was in a group of 10 who are all getting tested and were under self-quarantine including his wife and 2 children.  He seems to be doing OK and was taken into hospital.  His wife has just been tested positive, so has just started to get the flu.  And there's a third person in the same group who also was tested positive.  

My big worry is when the numbers get too big for the resources that are available to treat the cases, as right now the system can cope with isolated cases, but if there's a flood of cases like in Wuhan China for example, and they can't give proper attention to individual cases, then that will make it into a huge problem.  In South Africa communities live in congested housing (vs in the West where there is lots of space between individuals), like whole families in single rooms - it's almost impossible to isolate themselves in self-quarantine.  It's very difficult to keep distances from one another in the equally congested transport systems, like mini-buses that are always overloaded.

The advice from the SA Government is not to panic.  Not to buy Face masks as face masks don't help - particularly the ones that one gets from pharmacies. Their recommendation is to wash one's hands and stay out of sneeze range.  Also to sneeze carefully.  And once flu symptoms are felt to self-isolate oneself and dial a Corona Virus number.

We haven't seen any problem with the economy yet from the Corona Virus (plenty of other problems though), but there was supposed to be a really big congress in Port Elizabeth next weekend that has been cancelled because people had to travel in from overseas.  I'm not quite sure what the protocols are at the airports, but family of mine came from Italy and went right through customs without any problems - just shortly before the first case was noted.  So far air travel seems to be OK inwards, except for airlines who decided to reduce flights. That no doubt is going to have a negative effect on tourism.

In general when I talk to people here their greatest fear, more than the Corona Virus, are to get quarantined.  Once one is quarantined, you are totally trapped.

This entire coronavirus situation is very confusing to be honest.

To begin with, it’s hard to compare the statistics of fatalities and recoveries if each country as they all registered their first cases at different times. And hence the virus has been affecting each one of them for a different period of time. 

As for the way it’s being dealt with, I absolutely HATE it when coronavirus patients are being self quarantined. That literally brings up many issues. One being that other people living in the same house may also get infected. And don’t get me started with those who disobey their quarantine instructions and go out in public.

We can’t compare the coronavirus to other disease outbreaks either. This is because of the length of time that it has existed for compared to the other diseases. Along with the differences in regions it affected.