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08 March 2020

And Then There Were None


8 comments:

  1. I'm glad you survived your Costco experience.
    I don't understand the toilet paper hoarding either. I also never understood people in Roanoke,VA with snow predictions. They'd overwhelm local grocery stores and have 2 carts fulled with mostly bread and milk. I think it was the only time many went shopping, and they were the ones living on milk and bread. Maybe they had eggs hidden under the bread...

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    1. We have the same thing here with snow predictions. I don’t get bread and milk either. Neither keeps well, especially with power outages. Me, I’d lean more toward canned food.

      I did some research and apparently it’s a panic reaction. Odd choice of goods for the larder. 😳

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  2. I enjoyed reading this. And the current panic reminds me of WW1 and the Spanish Influenza epidemic, where millions died; but now, a century later, most everyone has had the flu and in general are immune, except for those weak and vulnerable. The “end state” to all this panic is eventually we’ll all mostly have had it and will build up immunity. Anyway, thank you and stay well.

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    1. More a resistance. You never get the same cold twice after all.

      I think a lot of the panic is about control. People don’t want to get in a bad state, so hence the TP phenomenon. I think the need to do something has sparked this one on.

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  3. Oh jeez, I forgot to stock up on whiskey ...
    Contrary to Joe's comment, flu strains mutate from year to year, so we do NOT have immunity to the current year's influenza simply because we've had the flu in the past. The typical strain of flu kills about 0.1% of its victims. The new coronavirus seems to kill about 2%. So the panic is not irrational.

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    1. Whisky will sterilize you’re insides Richard.

      You are correct, most viruses mutate and flu is a tricky one. CDC does its best to guess right and for the most part they get it. But, as you said, the strains mutate. In fact, the flu we had this autumn has already mutated away from the vaccine’s effectiveness. Now we’re dealing with that. On top of that, along comes COVID confound us even more.

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  4. Panic is irrational by definition. And the 2% figure is suspect, and may be far lower, because no one knows yet the true number of people infected, many of whom may be asymptomatic or nearly so (the denominator to the numerator that represents the number of deaths). As of yet, only severe cases can be accurately identified.

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    1. True enough. Some may present with upper respiratory symptoms. Right now we are focusing on cough, fever and shortness of breath.

      In time this will sort itself out, but right now we are expectant. I think in the near future it’s going to hit the fan. My hope is that by then we’ll have a better plan and a means to deal with all of this.

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