I’m pretty concerned. It has a two week incubation period.
On a scale of 1-10, right now, about 0. Like, I’ve honestly not independently thought about it. Only when I see it show up in threads here or hear a passing mention on the radio do I think about it. And that’s for about as long as I am reading or hearing about it, and then I go think about dinner or what to watch on Youtube.
I was a little concerned this weekend when I realized that I am ill-prepared for a prolonged illness. So I went to Target and bought a bunch of “sick people food”. It will also double as a “shelter in place” kit just in case the virus causes my city to shut down.
I am not too concerned about it, though. Not because I have any doubts about the reports, but because I am the kind of person who only gets worried about stuff when the “stuff” is literally staring me at me in the face.
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Same as pulykamell. Zero.
Media coverage makes everything sounds much worse than it really is. Negativity attracts eyeballs & clicks.
Zero. Right now it’s looking a lot like the SARS scare which didn’t effect mean at all. I’m glad to see the appropriate people taking action but it doesn’t change how I do things.
It’s definitely alarming to see the increase in coronavirus, and I’m not looking forward to traveling to Arizona next week (I tend to be prone to random accidents and illnesses, like stingray lancings, eclapmsia, etc.); however, it’s really whatever affects you personally, right?
I’m more concerned about influenza at this point. Both my kids’ schools have had so many issues with the influenza b strain that I’m surprised they haven’t threatened to close schools in the district temporarily. We’ve already received several mass emails from the school nurses advising us that there has been a huge increase in cases this year.
Not at all. Each couple of years seems to have a new pandemic scare that doesn’t go anywhere. I’m willing to give credit to the hard working science and medical professionals who nip it in the bud so I’m not saying it’s all media hype, but the fact remains that I’m been completely unaffected by the last umpteen diseases to make headlines.
I was extremely worried about SARS, and I still have part of the case of face masks I bought in case it came to my city.
I’m only slightly worried about this one. I still have the face masks, after all. 
Mostly I’m less worried because the China and the international medical community seem to have successfully contained SARS and MERS. I’m shocked that they did that, but the evidence is pretty compelling. But I’m still a little worried. Something as communicable as the common cold that kills a large fraction of its victims seems like it could cause a massive pandemic, and even if I were to survive that, it would be pretty damn problematic to my life.
If someone is concerned about this new virus, there is something they can do that will dramatically lessen their chance of getting sick or even dying.
Get vaccinated against influenza!
Not particularly. Certainly the transmission and death rate numbers look scary, but those numbers always look scary at the start of a new outbreak. If you don’t know there’s a newly emerged respiratory virus going around and you get a minor case, you’re probably not going to seek medical attention, because the most common ailments are minor respiratory infections, and they almost always just go away. That makes the early death rate look high because total cases are underreported. And of course once people know about it they start taking precautions like avoiding public places and wearing masks when they must, which reduces the spread.
I don’t think getting a second flu shot this winter is likely to do me any good…I already wear a seat belt when I drive, too.
I’m really not. It spreads quickly and seems pretty contagious, but last I heard, it hasn’t killed very many people (I think in the 20’s? All in China, and I believe all or almost all were elderly or very young). Obviously those deaths are still a tragedy, but the flu kills many, many more every single year, and apart from getting my annual vaccine, I don’t spend any time worrying about the flu.
The media is making this out to be akin to small pox, and it’s far from being anywhere near that bad. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be concerned about it at all, but I don’t think it’s worth worrying about too much unless you’re actually in China.
I say that as a coworker who lives in China is visiting, and has been for a week and a half. I’m still not especially concerned because A) he’s been here a week and a half already, B) he’s not from where the epicenter of the disease is, and C) I’m 31 and in very good health, myself. Even IF I should somehow come down with coronavirus, I have a very good chance of fighting it off.
I really think it’s an overreaction. Far more people die of flu every year. Your chances of contracting this virus, if you’re in America, are just about zero. Even in China, your chances are still statistically low. Here in Texas all kinds of events have been canceled and it just seems an overreaction.
A little…since I have respiratory issues, if I get it, I’m pretty fucked.
On the other hand, my chances of getting it are pretty low, so…not very.
(I’ve already gotten my flu shot for the year, so I should be good on that front, too.)
Nitpick: as of 29 Jan 2020, 133 confirmed deaths (all in Mainland China). China hasn’t released detailed information about all of the dead, but it seems most are older but not necessarily very elderly men, so people in their 50s and 60s, often with comorbidities such as diabetes or heart disease. As of last Friday, the youngest victim was 36; this doesn’t seem to be a disease of the very young.
ETA: based on current information, the fatality rate is between two and three percent, which is multiple orders of magnitude higher than the fatality rate for seasonal influenza.
Concerned? Zero
Interested? Maybe a 6 out of 10.
Concerned? Maybe a 1
At my business, we have ships arrive from China every single week. Some of my coworkers interact directly with the crew, so there is at least an identifiable vector for this virus to get to me.
I’m an ER doc so I’m keeping track of it for professional purposes. Both general media reports and the provider information bulletins sent out by our infection control folks. The college students are back this week and I predict that any Asian international students who come down with a cold in the next month will be referred to the ED by student health for further evaluation. Personally I’m not concerned about getting it. I’ll continue to wash my hands at work. I’ll probably be more diligent about wearing a mask when entering the room of a coughing patient and remembering not to touch my face. Which I probably should have been doing anyway since it’s flu season.
good point. The flu shot will prevent about 25-40% of the bugs out there but I don’t think this Corona aboutbreak is one of the bugs it protects against.
I’m not at all worried about catching it, but I’m paying attention to the news, as this could affect my travel plans in April.