Zoomer wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 11:54 am
My work jolly to Panama has been cancelled because of this mofo.
Sympathies. Same thing happened to me with my work trip to Tanzania (not because of anything happening there but because it was a joint mission with China). That was three weeks ago, too.
Hasn’t stopped half my team swanning off to Benin and Kenya though
Unless you have pre-existing conditions and/or are elderly the prognosis for this is fairly mild. It’s not ebola. In health systems like the UK and the US, where Primary care is strong and secondary care facilities are extensive and decent quality, there is not a huge amount to be worried about in terms of serious illness. And I’m saying that as an asthmatic (so pre-existing). Even the ability to detect and confirm cases is limited by the health system’s capabilities because the diagnosis requires lab-based, molecular methods (PCR).
Its spread into systems and countries where healthcare and lab capacity is weak is the real concern as then the mortality rate is likely to be MUCH higher than seen in China. From finding suspected cases, diagnosing them accurately, being able to support treatment of severe cases, and even autopsic capacity to clearly understand causes of death. It will be a struggle - and it’s almost definitely already in more places that have ‘found’ it - I suspect most have no incentive to publicise they have cases given the impact felt by China and Asian economies.
Knowing it’s coming and getting ready for it with response plans is really important.