When the world is out to get you paranoia is a smart way of thinking…
Sunday to Wednesday I have a conference to attend…but I’m thinking of staying home because of the killer pneumonia (maybe the war too…).
I’m going to be traveling to Stansted, which doesn’t serve the orient (I think…), but I’m wondering how contagious this thing will be. I’m fairly healthy, but I have been known to get respiratory illnesses. Any preventative measures I should take?
-Tcat
The only reported case in the UK so far is in Manchester, not London.
Of course there is plenty of communication between London and the Far East so there’s no guarantee that further cases may emerge between now and your conference, but I don’t see why you would be at greater risk here than you would be in the Czech Republic. I believe some cases have been reported in Germany too.
You’re right that there are no direct connections between Stansted and either Hong Kong or Vietnam.
Killer pneumonia? Have I missed something?
The killer bug originated in China (or Hong Kong). It is as likely to spring up in London as anywhere else, so unless you live in a cave somewhere, you aren’t going to be increasing your likelyhood of infection by anything significant.
They seem to feel that it isn’t particularly easy to communicate the disease, and I’d agree that your chances in London aren’t any worse than most other places.
Offhand, I’d guess that you’re far more likely to be killed in a traffic accident on the way to the airport than you are to contract, and die from, this new strain of pneumonia (if that’s what it turns out to be).
Most people are very poor judges of relative risk. They willingly engage in high-risk activities, like driving a car, which kills about 42.000 people a year in the U.S. alone, yet freak out when a handful of people, out of a world population of billions, die from some disease!
You could ask for your doctor’s opinion, but the info. in this thread appears good. I’d go to the conference.
Agree with the others. Go!
Just got back from London two days ago, and am feeling healthy, aside from sore shoulders from shoveling snow.
Read the post that is right above yours, Tomcat
Tomcat’s post is the OP – there isn’t a post above his.
Just for the sake of accuracy, there was a brief item on the news just now claiming that a case has been found in London. It’s a man who made a one hour stopover in Hong Kong who is currently being held in an isolation unit at a London hospital. I’d suggest that there’s good reason to avoid unnecessary flights to Hong Kong just now, but I don’t feel at risk because I’m in London.
Presumably there are also flights from Hong Kong to the US - so there may be infected people flying into America at this very moment (not that I’m trying to scare you!) Why should London be more risky than New York or LA? I say come (the weather’s lovely at the moment)