Quote Originally Posted by DELTAprime View Post
Am I the only person not panicking over this stupid virus? I have family members that seem to think the world is ending.
You're not the only one. But it is difficult when every media organisation is trying to outdo each other to cover every aspect of the virus, and headlines are all doom and gloom... when we need them to be focussing on good news stories during times like these. They can still have updates on the virus, but not be the majority of the news bulletin and the morning breakfast shows. How are people who are even a little bit worried, let alone the paranoid or hypochondriacs, supposed to go about with their day, looking after kids, earning a living, driving safely, etc.

The excessive over-buying of some items also seems unnecessary, but people are getting these end of the world messages from the people in charge, which just encourages them to stock up on things that they don't really need a huge supply of.
It is possible that there will be some disruption of certain products as factories and transport gets affected by people who start self-isolating over the next few weeks, but people will still continue to work for as long as they can, because they need the money.... and, as infected people recover, they'll be wanting to get back to work straight away, because they also need the money.

With a vaccine not possible before the end of the year, we have at least 9 months of social disruption, limitations, and for many people, isolation... if people want to try to hold out for the vaccine next year, and that's going to impact on the emotional welfare of people, as well as the living standards, as money starts running out and they have to go on welfare. These measures are necessary to minimise the spread for hospitals to keep up with a slower infection rate, and protect the most vulnerable who need the vaccine to survive... it's just going to be a long 9 months for the majority of people who won't end up being more sick than when having a regular cold or flu.

I was planning to go job hunting after I came back from the Melbourne Toyfair, but now it is too risky, as we could see up to a million people lose their job by the end of the year from this.
I know that a lot of people (mostly elderly) can't risk this as an option, but I'd rather catch it now, have a few days at home with the flu (since I should be young enough to not have anything worse than flu symptoms), and then get back to living without the worry of catching it, or being forced to avoid doing ordinary activities, like go to work.

My worksite bosses are still trying to figure out what best to do, to keep the warehouse operating, as it just takes one positive test result to shut down schools, sporting events, TV studios and various other businesses that can close for at least a couple of weeks. As such, the bosses don't seem to be taking it seriously, spreading wrong information about how the virus can be transmitted, and what can be done to prevent the spread (they are having us use anti-bacterial spray instead of bleach or alcohol based solutions as per the government websites... and claiming that having just 30 minutes gap between shifts would be enough time for the virus to die off on surfaces).