kungfoodude

That's a lot of "what ifs" in that paragraph. We will see what happens. Also, high death rates don't seem to slow down other viruses. There are more factors that play into the spread than simply killing off the hosts. That's a little bit of an oversimplification but I get what you are trying to say.

Well I just spent a week in Tampa sharing glasses, cans and bottles of beer with hundreds of beer nerds quite a few of which flew to the area, so I will let you know....

I literally never go in the Tinderbox and almost always avoid any sort of political discussions on here because they are completely pointless. Almost no minds have ever been changed arguing on the internet. I've seen people's minds/opinions be changed by constructive discourse in person or just simply access to people of different mindsets. That tends to break down common misconceptions and creates a much more conducive environment to actually have some sort of middle ground. No matter what your place on the political spectrum is, the most harm that is possible to due to your cause(aside from engaging in RL extremist acts) is to engage in arguing on the internet. It is the most toxic possible breeding ground for extreme behavior and ideology. It is not the fault of any sort of forum or format but it is the simple fact of having anonymous or semi-anonymous places in which there is no context, no visual cues, no space for empathy and a complete lack of the simplest of human filters, don't be an asshole to people. I will argue sports all day long because it doesn't have real world consequences(yet). People rarely get so entrenched in their fanhood that they are inflamed and/or coerced into actual violent acts. Unfortunately political and religious ideology have that actual real world consequence. Although it is a small minority, it is very noticeable the toxic manner in which people react being in these "feedback loops." I see it in normally reasonable people that immerse themselves in this sort of thing. And that is why I no longer(or try very hard to avoid) argue politics and religion on the internet.

Wait....what?? When have I ever engaged in either of those discussions? You sure you don't have me mixed up with someone else?

Yes, it is a real risk. But that is why I continue to spread the statistics that I do and try and reason with people(moreso in person). We can't overload this already stressed healthcare system with people panicking about this virus. Additionally, we need to be taking the proactive measures that other countries are and setting up testing basically EVERYWHERE. That will keep a lot of BS out of the hospitals and it will put people's minds at ease. You are correct that this could spiral out of control very easily.

And this is why I keep harping on the statistics and keep saying to be calm and reasonable. I absolutely DESPISE to agree with anything our current leader said but when he relayed that message from the grocery industry about not hoarding, he was 100% correct. If you freak out and act like it's the end of the world, that panic spreads much faster than this disease does. Reference other panic incidents recently(gas shortages due to Katrina come to mind). Logically there is not a reason to panic at the moment. There are ample reasons to be aware, be cautious and use common sense.

Catastrophic in what way? In the largest single loss of life in the US due to an epidemic(roughly 500k in 1918 to Spanish flu). That was roughly 0.4% of the US population(which the math works roughly out the same at the 1.5 mil deaths @ a population of 327.2 mil). We didn't collapse as a country. It would be horrible, without question. But it only will destroy the country if we DO panic and lose our minds. If we tank the economy and start acting like animals, it will get far worse. And no, the death rate is higher in Italy because of the demographics. Italy has a very large older population and that is the overwhelming majority of the deaths. Again, this is why I keep saying look at the statistics from these countries. The statistics are going to give you an idea of what to expect here.

I'll just add him to the ignore list. I only kept him around because I like to see him freak out and defend UNC without using any logic. I won't engage further.

1% of 150 million people is not significant to me. There are roughly 8 billion people on this planet. Anything shy of about 10-15% mortality rate I do not find PERSONALLY significant(this is my personal opinion and I am very sure not shared by many). Especially when that rate does not happen in my demographic. People are also flocking to ICU's because they are very scared about this pandemic. Even people without this virus at all are because they are SCARED. Why do you think I am preaching to be reasonable? I have a stuffed up nose and a little bit of a scratchy throat, should I book it down to the ER to get tested because it's coronavirus or maybe look at the vehicle outside covered in pollen and just take an educated guess which is more likely the cause? I am also hoping that I am right, I personally BELIEVE I will be correct and I don't want to see spikes in mortality rates. I don't believe our healthcare system is on the verge of collapsing, although it could be if undue panic spreads(and why in the world would people flock to one of the highest risk areas for infection like THE HOSPITAL??). Why do you think I keep preaching the need for being levelheaded? If panic spreads rapidly then you really are going to see widespread issues with the healthcare system. As it turns out(yet most Americans refuse to believe), we DON'T have a great healthcare system in this country. Again, be CAUTIOUS, don't be STUPID, but don't PANIC either. Neither of those two is going to be helpful.

As were SARS and MERS. As are new flu strains. This isn't supernatural, it happens and it will happen again.

Well we could discuss UNC's last place ACC finish. At least you should have some insight into that.

I don't have to have a medical degree to literally read the information from the CDC and WHO. I am guessing you need that degree to make sense of simple instructions/information? Why doesn't that surprise me.

It just started? You mean like.....when it was discovered roughly 2.5 months ago? SARS lasted about 7 months. MERS lasted about 7 months. Already trucking towards the halfway point if those are anything similar(which SARS appears to be). It is more transmissible than SARS or MERS(based on initial information from China) but FAR less deadly. Take the time to look at the mortality rates of all of these diseases. COV19, SARS, MERS, influenza(pick your variety) they all tend to have SIMILAR spikes in mortality to the SAME general demographics(which some obvious variations). So, if you are in a high risk demographic, you should be very worried. If you are NOT in a high risk demographic, you should be very CAUTIOUS. See the difference?

I am just saying that people are freaking out for little reason. We are more than welcome to revisit this in the future when I am proven to be correct. My father is in his late 60's and has heart problems. My advice to him, full fuging lockdown. Stay the fug home and away from everyone. He's right in the demographic for people that are going to experience a much higher mortality rate. I, on the other hand, am in my 30's, have no heart disease issues but perhaps have an elevated risk due to a period of smoking some years ago. I am going to go about my daily life, being mindful to wash my hands regularly(like I always do anyway) and not touch my face(which I will be much more mindful of). You know, the things that the WHO and CDC have said to do. I'm also not planning on licking any doorknobs in airports, invading people's personal space to talk directly into their mouths, you know.....just reasonable and sensible things.

So then influenza is a far greater threat than COVID-19? Because the worldwide annual estimates for influenza deaths are 250-700k per year. I assume that means that is worse than COVID-19 by your logic, right?

That's also not looking at the rates compared to the countries specific demographics. That's not really the best way to look at that data to compare it.

I believe your knowledge of sexually infectious diseases is probably pretty broad. Or at least the direct experiences with dealing with them.

The fact that politics has somehow managed to worm it's way into a pandemic discussion at all just shows how completely broken this country is. To be sure, there are valid political considerations and there are GLARINGLY obvious blunders but the fact that we cannot disconnect from this "MY TEAM VERSUS YOUR TEAM" mentality over something so bi-partisan as a serious public health issue is completely and totally damning.

Why am I not surprised that you are just as ignorant in this subject as you are every sports related subject here? Stunning.

You sure about that? The truth is, we won't know the full picture until this pandemic starts to die down and after a long period of actual study. Could it end up being a higher mortality rate than MERS or SARS? Maybe. But one thing is clear, it is not trending in that direction. One thing that helps is that this is not the first coronavirus outbreak in the past decade.

Oh really? So the 22 million cases of H1N1 in 2009 and the 3900 deaths in the US alone are THAT distant of a memory?

No. It will not be. We have seen two other coronavirus outbreaks in recent memory(SARS, MERS). In 3-4 years this will be a distant memory and we will be on to our new "pandemic" scare. These are going to be more frequent because the rate of global travel is so high. That's just the price of that luxury.

I think drawing a direct line from this pandemic to global warming doesn't particularly help the case for people trying to educate on climate change. Climate change is a very real and very substantial threat to humanity. It is likely not at all a very serious threat to overall life on this planet, however, which has proven to be extremely resilient. If there is a link from THIS virus to climate change, that will emerge over time and after serious study. I bristle at the need to say everything is "climate change" based on speculation and not hard research. It doesn't do credit to a cause I very much believe in(that being the very real dangers of climate change in the long term).

AIDS was unknown to us, as was Ebola or Hanta virus. We will adapt and survive, even if scores perish. That's just life. To paraphrase the great philosopher Lil' Dicky, "We go hard on Earth."

Italy also experiences high mortality rates due to influenza because they have a very aging population, the second largest portion of their population is 65 and older. When you dig a little deeper into the story, it's pretty clear why Italy is having these issues.