Eleven million people live in Wuhan, China, more than New York or London. And the Chinese government locked it down. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) produced a chilling view of the ground zero coronavirus. This documentary provides incredible insight into how this virus arose and what it does to the human social fabric.
ABC’s ability to produce this journalism in near real-time amazes me.
I watched this documentary yesterday and it deeply troubles me. In my life, I’ve always found that the truth, no matter how unsettling or bitter, has served me well.
Are you prepared for the possible devastating effects this virus may have on our society? I hesitate to raise too strong of an alarm; I don’t want to appear like some worry-wart who over-reacts.
As people with diabetes, we are especially vulnerable at this time.
But I think we can all take action now to protect ourselves. I am making and executing plans to allow me to isolate myself from the general population for at least a few weeks. It’s time to get your house in order and your blood glucose closer to normal levels.
I hope I’m wrong about what I fear may happen here but I still choose to prepare, nonetheless. I wish everyone good health and good fortune in the face of this serious threat.
If you are emotionally fragile, you may want to consider avoiding this video.
It’s either this, nuclear war, or global warming. Take your pick and worry about that one the most. I don’t worry about any of them, frankly. Well, a little bit about catching a disease but I’m always like that–a bit of a germophobe.
I would like to see our TV and Newspaper’s would tell the whole story of each case. Things like how many people only had a mild case and would recover.
I’m definitely concerned, and it has edged into anxiety at times.
I have made preparations, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better. I could spend two weeks or more in my apartment without a problem as long as there was power and water. Living in an apartment building, I’m sure that puts me at higher risk if an outbreak were to occur and travel through the building.
I’m more worried about my parents than I am about myself. They’re in their 60s and a care home in their neighbourhood is the site of an outbreak. I think sooner or later these outbreaks will be more widespread in communities and that will make it harder and harder to avoid.
I’m also worried about long-term economic impacts.
There’s an interesting site about the coronavirus that has statistics and is continually updated, for those interested in that type of thing.
Here’s the latest YouTube video of a UK doctor who I find comforting. Dr. John Campbell has a good command of the facts and presents them in a calm and reassuring manner. He’s been posting daily.
@Jen, I understand your concern for your parent’s health. I have older siblings in the their 70s, some of whose health is fragile. I worry about them.
Each of us need to focus on preventing, or even delaying, catching this virus. If enough of us do this we can help to prevent overwhelming our health care system.
Don, the numbers I’ve read is that 80% of the population who get infected have a mild case, 15% more serious, and 5% who need medical support and may not survive.
I got these numbers from a UK doctor, John Campbell, who has been posting daily YouTube videos. See the link I posted above.
On their face, these numbers seem innocent enough. But, if one million people in the US become infected (<1% of the population), that means that 50,000 will need help at the hospital. Can the US health care system deal with this?
I could not have learned near what I have about medicine and healthcare were it not for is (somewhat boring but thorough and instructive) videos on the basic concepts.
What is most irritating to me at this point is the run on supplies and the huge hit the market has taken. Even Costco can’t keep up with the “preppers”. They should institute a limit. Because it is a membership chain, they could keep track of how much you have bought recently and prevent you from returning the next day to horde more TP, etc. Selfish people!!
Thank you,Terry. I have looked at the video and find it quite interesting, yet not alarming. The world is woefully unprepared for these events and as much as we all wish this could be a great teaching moment and prepare for a future virus which will happen, most likely when this one is put behind us everyone will have a huge sigh of relief and very few people and countries will become proactive for similar outbreaks in the future.
I have a rather unique perspective as I have 67 factories in China including 2 in Wuhan and a ship is arriving in port Tuesday containing container load goods from Wuhan shipped in late January after the outbreak. We have been receiving containers from our other factories in China on a weekly basis without any health issues. The port authorities notified us several weeks ago that containers may be held at any time for quarantine but so far none have been held. Our air shipments from China of all mail and packages are handled with great care as we get them in a matter of hours rather than weeks.
As far as preparations go, many of our managers and engineers from China visit our US headquarters from time to time and we stopped them from coming shortly after the virus started in an abundance of caution. We have not stopped our staff from India yet, however, have advised them that we don’t recommend travel at this time. Given I am over 70 and diabetic, hence in a high-risk category, I do not plan any visits to China until this virus is contained which currently looks 3-4 months away at this time. I spend 3-4 hours a day, 7 days a week reviewing not only production and shipping goals and requirements with our managers in China but also the daily status of the virus in each city where our factories are located. I am also an executive on a major eCommerce advisory board here in the US where we have a live weekly review where the major eCommerce players in the US review the status and updates on the virus and both short term and long-term ramifications to our companies, domestic and global economy.
The US in my opinion is overreacting, in an abundance of caution, which is OK but I have not gone shopping for any extra food, water or supplies. We have very few cases in MA and even if eventually we get a few 1000’s that will be small compared to our state population. I wish everyone great health, and caution, but panic is not in order even for those at risk. Keep hands clean, as well as doorknobs, levers, shopping cart handles, public bathroom doors and faucets. Stay safe – This too shall pass.
I think it is a wise idea to have a couple of weeks worth of supplies, we actually always do, except for fresh produce. We have added that to be 4 weeks worth of things like paper towels etc. We have plenty of food and always do that will last a while.
The thing is the best way to not catch it is not to get into contact with it. For some that’s not possible and for the young probably not as necessary. But I’d rather just hole up for a little while and not worry about it. I can easily do so with no issues. I really despise ever being sick.
I see the biggest problem is an overwhelmed medical system if a bunch of people get sick at once. The key to how sick you get seems to be age and/or a compromised immune system.
So everyone stay safe as they see fit and keep their Bg’s under control as much as possible!
Public health services know that they cannot stop this infection or for that matter any other airborne infection, their only hope is to slow it down.
There are two best outcomes for this disease, ideally transmission will be slowed till a vaccine can be developed. Or transmission will be slowed enough that this disease will run its course without overwhelming health services, eventually herd immunity will slow the disease, causalities will be less than an out of control epidemic.
I’m watching the original video, and yes, I find it disturbing.
I’ve also spent the day talking to friends in other states, including California and also where I live, DC, and finding that their anxiety levels are much higher than mine. They asked why I thought that was, I replied that maybe in healthcare it could be that you have a sense of camraderie and we are all in this together. I realize that could all change on a dime.
There is more I don’t know than I do know. I enlarge that concept also to mean, I am seeing more panic or at least anxiety than I am finding real evidence to panic. (Again, this could change on a dime.) What a couple of people I know are doing is staying at home and then spending more time than they normally would online, and I think that is ratcheting up their anxiety level.
Expanding on this there are two things we need to do to increase our survival chances.
Be part of the slowing game, access your risk and do your part to slow the spread. Listen to what public health officials have to say, not what politicians and the media pundits have to say. Politicians are trying to win votes, media pundits are trying to increase ratings, both do so by creating panic, the last thing we need right now.
Increase your chances of survival if you do get it, be the best diabetic you can be, the difference between your best control and good enough control just may be the difference. We are stronger when our control is better. I know that I have cranked it up a notch.
I watched a video last night in which my sister was hugging people at a very crowded political event. I thought about how she is hugging people and I am keeping my distance from people. She lives in a state where only two people have the virus, and I live hours away from Seattle.
Also I have been ill since I was eight and my life has been full of stress because of different illnesses in my immediate family. My sister has been extremely healthy all of her life. We see life much differently. It makes sense that I am more anxious about this virus than she is.
This is getting out of hand: my EX wife, (yes I said my EX wife) called me today while my wife of over 20 years and I were enjoying a walk along the ocean in Santa Cruz today, to tell me that she heard a warning that those with compromised immune systems should stay at home. Sigh. She said she’s staying home (she is about my age–71 but I don’t know if she qualifies as being immune compromised). I told her I can’t see staying at home because of the new virus. My wife joked that my ex must have forgotten that we got divorced in 1997. I think she must be bored, sitting at home in the burned-out town of Paradise, CA, where her house is one of about 10% of the buildings that escaped the destructive fire that ravaged the town in 2018. She has called me more times since the fire, than in the previous 24 years. All her neighbors’ homes were destroyed. Maybe she needs to get Netflix. LOL.
I like this sentiment, Gary, since this viral outbreak is a challenge to us all. Our individual success whether completely avoiding infection or delaying it and materially slowing it down will not only benefit us as individuals but society as well.
Helpful tip to prevent spreading germs… wipe down your cell phone with an Alcohol swab a couple times a day… phoned are disgusting… fingers constantly rubbing all over them after touching everything in site then putting them to your face… definitely an easy thing to do to improve general cleanliness… they also make wipes specifically for this if you don’t want to use alcohol
Some of the people freaking out about this new virus are the same ones who don’t wear a seat belt or will walk across a busy street while looking down at their cell phones. SMH.
