General > General Technical Chat
Working From Home - Impacts of Coronavirus
james_s:
--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on March 08, 2020, 11:14:44 am ---since no-one is going to think "Oh, looks like I might have this killer virus - guess I'll just take an aspirin and stay in bed for a bit." What with the lurid headlines - even though they may not be deserved - if you think you've got it you're going to want it seen to.
--- End quote ---
Actually that's precisely what I would do. Why would I go to the hospital to try to get tested? If I'm sick the last thing I want to do is go out somewhere and there's no cure for a viral infection other than rest and hydration. Also with all the sick people going to the hospital trying to get tested that's the last place I want to be, if I didn't have it already then that's a good way to pick it up. I'm quite sure I caught that swine flu that went around several years ago, I felt terrible, any flu feels terrible. I spent about 4 days in bed, had a bad fever for the first 24 hours or so then after a few days I started feeling a lot better. The headlines are a great reason NOT to go out and get tested, it's chaos out there and large numbers of people are consuming limited medical resources that are needed for those who are truly at risk. I'm still relatively young and healthy, the virus is not likely to kill me.
I loathe going to the hospital under the best of circumstances, and given our crazy medical system even though I have reasonably good insurance it's always a crapshoot that can result in a bill of several hundred to several thousand dollars. It doesn't take many times of going in and having the doctor say "here's a prescription for some stronger Tylenol (or some other placebo I don't really need), now go home and get some rest until you recover" followed by an expensive bill, to condition one to just skip the ordeal entirely the next time.
SeanB:
Talking of the virus, my next desk colleague has his wife working at the same building, just one floor below the local person diagnosed with the virus.
Just coincidence that last night I went to bed at 6PM, headache, high fever and flu like symptoms. Don't really have to worry though, I already have at least 200 masks in stock, and a 20l supply of bleach as well, plus a 2 month supply of cat food for the furry horror.
PlainName:
--- Quote ---I'm still relatively young and healthy, the virus is not likely to kill me.
--- End quote ---
Indeed. The issue, I think, is that you might pass it on to someone who is not so healthy. A bit like the MMR vaccine thing where measles is getting to be a problem again, when it didn't used to be, because fewer people are getting vaccinated and thus get it easily then pass it on to their peers.
Regarding coronavirus, maybe something like the chickenpox parties would achieve something. There, people partied with someone already suffering chickenpox in the hope they'd catch it and get it over and done with, and henceforth be protected, in manageable numbers.
And in some ways this is going to be like Y2K: a potentially serious issue but some big efforts made to contain it so nothing really bad happens, and then people say well, what's the fuss? It wasn't anything.
BravoV:
--- Quote from: SeanB on March 08, 2020, 06:53:49 pm ---Talking of the virus, my next desk colleague has his wife working at the same building, just one floor below the local person diagnosed with the virus.
Just coincidence that last night I went to bed at 6PM, headache, high fever and flu like symptoms. Don't really have to worry though, I already have at least 200 masks in stock, and a 20l supply of bleach as well, plus a 2 month supply of cat food for the furry horror.
--- End quote ---
Damn :( , wishing you to get well soon.
james_s:
--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on March 08, 2020, 07:37:29 pm ---Indeed. The issue, I think, is that you might pass it on to someone who is not so healthy. A bit like the MMR vaccine thing where measles is getting to be a problem again, when it didn't used to be, because fewer people are getting vaccinated and thus get it easily then pass it on to their peers.
--- End quote ---
Yes, but what good would it do for me to go get tested, possibly either exposing more people while I'm contagious or being exposed to other diseases versus staying home to rest and recover? Generally speaking, if you've got any kind of cold or flu-like symptoms the best thing you can do is stay home and rest. That is likely the best route to recovery and the best way to prevent spreading it to someone else. I don't care if it's this coronavirus or some plain old boring flu, that's irrelevant because either way you could spread it to someone who could die from it or at the very least be greatly inconvenienced. I don't really grasp what getting tested does for you unless you suspect you were exposed and are not yet experiencing symptoms. If you already have symptoms then it's too late to worry about getting tested, you already know you're sick with something.
The ridiculous thing about Y2k was also that it was massively overblown and overhyped. There were a few potential issues it could have caused, but most of them were simply inconveniences. I recall people fretting about the ECUs in cars and various industrial control devices that contain computers but have no awareness of the date. I lost count of the number of times I explained to people that if you don't set the date on something, it's not going to be affected by Y2k, often to get a blank stare and skepticism. People just didn't get it, it was obvious to me from the start that nothing catastrophic was going to happen, I was never even the slightest bit concerned.
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