(13 Mar 2020, 12:31 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I really do feel like the whole situation is being sensationalised by the media. I'm not saying that it's something that we need to ignore, only that it's really not as bad as the media are making it out to be.The majority of cases are like flu but the pattern seems to be that after the days or so, most people recover but a significant minority of people don't and instead develop an inflammatory response not unlike pneumonia. That is what is hospitalising and killing people. You or I may be fine, if we catch it, but my parents probably wouldn't be and a lot of the kids at my youngest's school probably wouldn't be.
I have a friend (I know, hard to believe!) who until December worked with a major cruise line and a couple of our friends are currently on ships that have confirmed cases of Coronavirus onboard. The general consensus from them is that (at the minute at least) they are no worse than if they had the flu, not collapsing in the street like the media want us to believe
Obviously, those with pre-existing medical conditions are more likely to receive more ill-effects from it, but all of these 'precautions' that we are needing to take are things that you should be doing anyway!
Italy has more than 3 times as many high dependency beds than we do and there are hospitals where, if you're even over 60, you won't be getting breathing assistance if you need it because they don't have the capacity.