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The new coronavirus is still making headlines.
People continue to panic and fear. Sharing bloggers/vloggers' conspiracy theories and fear-mongering on social media doesn't help.
I don't mean to trivialise it, but experts keep telling that the known flu virus is more common and much more deadly than the new coronavirus, yet, this message doesn't seem getting through. Instead, panic and fear continue to spread.
Why do you think that is? Is there any psychology behind it? Is it human nature to (secretly) relish bad events, be thrilled by them, exaggerate them, etc.? Is it the novelty of the coronavirus many people find exciting and therefore can't help talking about it? I find it odd how the coronavirus has been making big headlines every single day.

Naomi 8 Feb 24
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0

Black hat theory, are the mass media and social media platforms hyping the COVID 19 in an effort to crash the economy? Intent being to deprive the incumbent President of that stepping stone to reelection and/or to benefit those who can dump excess $$ into the market low and ride up on another bubble when the furor dies down.

1

Here's a few fun statistics

Flu shot anyone

To be fair, we've only just begun our trip down this Chinese Rabbit Hole.

We know virtually nothing reliable from Chinese research, Pinhead Religious sects are reportedly purposefully infecting people in S. Korea, (elsewhere too perhaps?) This virus seems to not mind warmer climates, and our media can be trusted less than my farts.

Strap in, it looks to be a bumpy ride ahead.

1

HIV virus is even deadlier but people don't drop dead of HIV infection as easily as they do with Corona, why? Becaus Corona is air borne, and has a 2 to 4 weeks incubation period.

2

I get irritated by the losers who take photos from China (even videos) and put new headlines on them, like, “China kills 25,000 infected people” and etc. A Chinese lady posted about her concerns of the virus and her government. As sad as it was, it shouldn’t surprise us her misery - she is living in a communist country! Of course she has every reason to be concerned! I can’t stand the click-bait and viral-hungry idiots who fill our quest for knowledge with rubbish, causing us to calm the fears of those who believe the lies as well. Has the human race gone mad? Click Like and Share if you agree!

Hello. I definitely share your sentiment.

1

We don't even know the whole truth. I would trust a fart more than any numbers or observations coming from China.

Nice to see Teh Interwebz loaded with hand wringing though.

0

The CoronaVirus is a pandemic now, the best thing to do is prepare. It is a very real story and by default a very political one as well. Bad news always spreads faster than good, this will for a time displace the anti-Trump media stories. Media blame and shaming will ramp up lagging behind an actual exponential rise in infections. Establish media and social media have been consistent hot beds of conspiracy theories, why would they take a break for the CoronaVirus? I expect opportunistic scapegoating and the usual click-bait by the established media. But there are many great options for fantastic useful info if your discriminating.

The WHO is excessively bureaucratic, risk adverse, politically correct, not functionally responsible therefore by default not leading. It appears political correctness compromises the WHO's ability to recommend sound quarantine measures. When the WHO makes a recommendation it seems its already in effect.

Authorities claim to be ready and in control but in fact are not.

UK and Australian health service are not actually preparing for this but they claim they are prepared.

USA's CDC say they are beginning the process of making preparations.

China's CCP has put great effort to save face. Draconian measures are being taken inside of China along with scapegoating local officials.

By default China is in an economic recession as it's in a quarantine and has stopped human actively. A worldwide recession is inevitable.

This is not like the flu, its is worse, it is a disservice to say its just another flu because it's not. It appears a lot more will die from this new virus when it has run its course. Panic is good if it spurs real effective preparations. When it comes where you live a lot of people are going to seem to get sick all around the same time. The issue will be when your local hospitals get overwhelmed and are not be able to provide effective treatment. Hospitals may not inform you they are operationally ineffective. Doctors will be exhausted and vulnerable to this virus. As everyone is going flat out on making a vaccine so it maybe ready in 18 months. There is already a case of reinfection so this virus may be with us for many years.

Dr. John Campbell is excellent up to date useful medical info,

ADV Podcasts and sepenza china on what has been happening on the ground in China, this is unfiltered by the CCP.

On reddit r/Coronavirus can provide usefull info

[reddit.com]

This virus is crazy contagious. In a room if someone who has it coughs everyone is getting it. It’s like the worst flu ever, a real butt kicker, it really affects your lungs, lots of phlegm. But most likely you will recover after about two weeks or so.

Mortality guess:

10-19 0.2%
20-29 0.2%
30-39 0.2%
40-49 0.4%
50-59 1.3%
60-69 3.6%
70-79 8.0%
80+ 14.8%

The numbers of infection are known to be way low, no one is denying that.

Hello.

"Established media and social media have been consistent hot beds of conspiracy theories, why would they take a break for the CoronaVirus?"
Say most people know this, why do many people share conspiracy theories, misleading information, etc. which the established media and social media constantly spew out? What kind of mentality is it? Do they enjoy being a bit of a stirrer? Do they enjoy spreading a bit of gosship? Do they genuinely have concerns so they think they're being helpful by sharing information which they believe genuine?

"UK and Australian health service are not actually preparing for this but they claim they are prepared."
I can't speak for Australia. The UK NHS says on its website that all NHS surgeries and hospitals are extremely well-prepared for outbreaks of infectious deseases. I wouldn't be surprised if their information was deliberately "toned down" on the severity of COVID-19; governments and authorities have a duty to protect the general public.
How is the US goverment getting prepared for the outbreak of COVID-19? I heard on one news channel that in America, even people caught the coronavirus, they wouldn't go and see their doctors because consultation fees and medical fees are very expensive. They would rather believe that they just caught a bad cold and carry on with their everyday lives. 😱😱😱 (Because I don't know how true this information is, I'm not sharing it with my friends and family on social media.)

Thanks for the info btw. It's interesting. 🙂

I do think people enjoy and genuinely like the conspiracy theories, even if they know there BS. And there are so many conspiracy theories out there now, the variations seem endless. Some of them are just comedy, like claiming Obama was actually Osama bin Laden.

[dailymotion.com]

The toxic ones usually seem to involve scapegoating, the left seems to have an awful lot of this. René Girard's book "The Scapegoat" is a good reference. I also think Peter Thiel is right, politics are in a bull market right now.

Dr. John Campbell is a doc in the NHS and he says they have made no preparations. He has colleges in Australia and they have indicated the same. This makes sense. I see no reason why the NHS would be ready. If it's lying it is not good, it will erode public trust. They should get on with making real preparations so docs will have the needed resources when the time comes. The US CDC says they are making preparation but I do not know if anything has happen on the ground yet or what any actual plans are.

The US system is a patchwork. The fee thing is just spin, its a fake narrative. When people get sick they will go to hospital.

The politically correct open borders dogma will be forgotten when people start getting sick in numbers.

.

1

I don't know if this helps or harms, however, my wife and I departed Toronto by air to California yesterday. At the airport there appeared to be a tight line of people that resembled the small intestines of a human, two thousand souls at least, all without masks. Not a mask was seen on any workers in the airport, in the airplane or in the airport in California. It was as though the corona virus was a non event. Perhaps because of the small numbers infected here in North America that no one is paying attention except in the Asian community who are seen with masks if someone has a common cold. Business in the Asian restaurants and shopping malls is also down significantly as a result of "human nature"?

Hello. I think that geographical distance plays a roll. So far, there hasn't been much panic in the UK, either, although it has been reported that some Chinese residents were targeted and some nasty things were said to them. Some people are hopelessly stupid.
This is the latest update uploaded by the UK NHS (about 1 hour ago).
[nhs.uk]
It provides public health advice so as to keep the coronavirus at bay just like the flu virus. Anyone who's been to Asia is advised to see a doctor.

Keep a sharp eye out for changes, mask wearing will be an honest real-time indicator.

Medical professionals are saying that if you are not sick, and wear a mask, you are more likely to expose yourself than not. Reason being that people tend to fiddle with their masks, thereby doing the one thing that you should never do in these situations, touch your face. If you are sick, mask up. Otherwise, wash your hands before touching food or your face.

@FarmhandMO Unfortunately simple is too much for educated people today.

1

There seems to be multiple themes overlaid on each other. There’s the usual media hype around every new virus that appears: “This is the big one.” SARS, bird flu, swine flu... drama sells. Then there’s the (still) anecdotal evidence that this may well be more virulent and dangerous than its predecessors. Factor in the Level 4 bioweapons lab purported to be located in Wuhan Province. (The Stand, anyone?) And of course, any sign of a genuine crisis would likely tank the stock market, and if you think the vultures and ghouls of the political elite wouldn’t look on that as a beneficial side-effect, I have to break the news to you: there is no Santa Claus or Easter bunny either.

This story has multiple legs, and we’ll be hearing about it for a long time.

Hello. "Drama sells". That's true. So do conspiracy theories and fear-mongering. As for economy and politics,when China sneezes, the world catches a cold. The 2019 coronavirus is taking its toll on Asia economy.

I'm offended that Santa doesn't exist. 😂 🤣

@Edgework @Naomi "Santa doesn't exist" - Prove it!

There are certainly a lot of people that still vote for him.

1

[cnbc.com]

Anyone who argues that a flu virus is more deadly than the Coronavirus, without providing supplemental information, is being disingenuous. "The A-bombs dropped on Japan weren't that deadly because most Japanese (the ones outside of the explosions) survived" argument.

It is currently documented that 1 out of 20 people who get the coronavirus die. The flu kills 1 out of 1000. It is suspected that the information is not correct because China is a liar. But, to predict one way or the other is speculation for sheep.

The reason why incident rates are low is because the WHO is working to contain the virus.

Hello. This is a psychology & sociloly page, so... I might be interested in talking about facts and stats regafding the 2019 coronavirus in the statistics group though. 🙂

Tha's OK, Haraldson. Thanks for your input and the info, anyway.

@Naomi
Wait ... because this is a PsySoc Page ... Facts and Stats don’t matter? Aren’t welcome?
Is that how that works? This is supposed to be a debate based on “thoughts” and “feelings”?
No wonder I thought those “professionals” I got dragged to as a kid were weird ...

I would be interested in talking about stats under a differnt post more closely. What's wrong with that?! I'm so stupid that I can only talk about one subject at a time.

It may be that high in China but this is the USA we don't allow diseases to exterminate our citizens to save face.

More like .02% mortality rate for COVID 19, not anywhere 1/20

@FarmhandMO "In South Korea, 11 patients have died from the virus out of 977 cases" [nbcnews.com]

I think South Korean numbers at 1%, would parallel another western country's experiece. Not 5% but certainly a bit more dangerous than the flu.

0

It's human nature to panic..when people see the death numbers every morning for corona and not the flu what do you think is going to panic them. One of the reasons Vietnam was so hard on people was the nightly death count. If you don't tell people what's happening they don't panic, ignorance is sometimes bliss.

Yep - Influenza (seasonal Flu killed over 1.000 today. in a week it's overtaken coronas virus year. But this one is a mystery Flu we know. It's the fear of the unknown, and the telling the numbers - When did you last see a "Today Flu killed ..... People" report???

Try worldometers.info

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