[NFHale]

Damn...

You mean to tell me I spent ALL WEEKEND loading mags for nothing????

[DannyTN]

Psychology today had their brains eaten a long time ago.

[grey_whiskers]

When was the last time these things happened?
ALL. AT. THE. SAME. TIME.

1) China has restricted the movements of over 50 million people during Chinese New Year

2) China has instituted temperature screenings at 237 train stations (maybe 287, I lost the link). (South China Morning Post)

3) The President / Communist Party General Secretary of China openly called this a (his words) grave situation (over the weekend) and says that the spread is accelerating

4) The Director of the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins openly says we should be making national and international plans for the event that this cannot be contained; and talks about multiple crash research programs into vaccines where “money is no object”

5) The Lancet publishes an article saying that R0 (# of people infected by each carrier) is 2.8 (the Spanish Flu of 1918 was only 1.8)

6) A PhD who taught at Harvard School of Public Health for 15 years says that R0 is 3.5

7) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services holds a joint press conference in DC, along with the Director of the Institute for Allergies and Infections Diseases, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, and the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease ....for something that only has had 5 cases without symptoms in the US?

8) Local authorities all over the US start pulling people suspected of infection off of planes and putting them in isolated hospital rooms, and institute contact tracing?

9) British Airways shuts down ALL flights into and out of China

10) Taiwan announced mandatory ankle location bracelets for people coming out the affected area, and say if anyone leaves home they will be subject to MANDATORY involuntary quarantine, and fine one traveler $10,000 for lying about his condition?

[ClearCase_guy]

I’m still planning on head shots.

[metmom]

Yes, that certainly explains the Chinese government’s reaction.

[grey_whiskers]

Oh, here's another.

South Korea police authorized to arrest coronavirus patients

[PistolPaknMama]

One preliminary report placed the median age of death as 75

I swear I read this morning a list of deaths that showed the ages and most were in their 30s to 50s. Did I imagine that?

[kaehurowing]

The number of confirmed #coronavirus cases in mainland China has risen to 7,158. The number of people it killed now stands at 170 as of Wednesday night - South China Morning Post

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Sadly, in spite of this thread, some will continue to go bat-shit crazy over this.

Keep loading mags if it makes you feel better I guess.

[kaehurowing]

The article writer is obviously an expert in infectious diseases.

---

Robert Bartholomew, Ph.D., is an American born medical sociologist, writer, journalist, human rights advocate.

In Print: American Intolerance: Our Dark History of Demonizing Immigrants
Online: Robert Bartholomew The Sociologist

[null and void]

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[Vermont Lt]

You only get worked up if you allow yourself to get worked up.

Yesterday I read a thread where someone was suggesting that “the powers that be” sent a sane person into Sandy Hook to slaughter little children.

Today I am reading post written by people who think this is a scam to cover up the failing Chinese economy, and to motivate the US to force vaccinations on us.

These are just two examples of the simple minded being subject to the drama of social media.

The individual has to make a choice: Are they going to educate themselves about the situation? Does the conspiracy du jour sound feasible? Is it something from a novel or movie, or does the explanation make sense?

Many people react to memes that fill in an ignorance gap. And when these memes are challenged the supporting reasons become more absurd.

It’s possible to discuss these things. They are usually crazy enough or scary enough...they don’t need to be manipulated by dark forces to make them more so.

[MarMema]

Can’t even finish reading it...so many inaccuracies.

[KarlInOhio]

It’s time to take a deep breath

That's the last thing to do. I'm only exhaling until this epidemic passes.

[Crucial]

It’s very early and this is a very liberal magazine so what they say is irrelevant.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Yet.

[vpintheak]

Wow. Go figure that a dictatorship wants to exert more control over the people. Shocked I tell you.
This latest scare, is exactly that.

[trebb]

Glad to see this article - the scare stories been spreading faster than the virus.