Talk:2275: Coronavirus Name

Covid-19 is more dangerous than the flu and has already killed more people. And any death rate that starts with 0.00 and then has a number other than zero can only be called "basically zero" if you value human life very little. 162.158.94.132 21:49, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

addendum: this seems to depend on what source you use for the chinese yearly flu death rate. number of deaths is either much higher or somewhat lower.162.158.91.123 21:53, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

It's Trump taking point that the coronavirus is a hoax and no worse than the flu. 162.158.74.213 22:14, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

At the very least, the fact the virus has over 90,000 confirmed cases makes it a significant disease. 172.69.34.246 22:28, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

It doesn't seem like the point of the comic is to comment on the severity of the virus. Seems more on-topic to say things that are objectively true, like "Many people are concerned about the virus" rather than discussing disputed stats.162.158.106.132 22:58, 2 March 2020 (UTC) Patb

I agree, and suggest we remove the line with stats entirely. It isn't relevant to the comic, and having it refer to "current estimates" means someone will have to keep updating it when new estimates are made. 172.69.54.57 08:17, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

A running total here wouldn't be necessary, there is at least one web site especially for that (or a page for Covid-19 on a general disease outbreak tracking site). To me it looks like this virus is about equally dangerous as flu, except that this virus is only in about 70 countries and counting, so if it isn't in yours yet (as far as you know) then you are not yet in danger (as far as you know). Also, flu kills a lot of people, numerically, every year, and if this virus kills an equal number of people, every year, there are twice as many people dead, total. (ish) So it's worth trying to stop this virus from existing, while we might still do that. Robert Carnegie [email protected] 162.158.159.76 13:40, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

If the Godzilla movies have taught me anything, it's that giant insects aren't a problem biologists can solve anyways. That's more of a "nuclear paleontology" sort of job. GreatWyrmGold (talk) 01:43, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

It is legitimately difficult to tell if Ponytail's use of the word 'catchy' as a descriptor for 'coronavirus' is an intentional or unintentional pun. Either way, it's very opportune. 108.162.221.239 03:55, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

The current chapter of Wilde Life (a totally unrelated webcomic) as a giant spider interacting with two of the main characters, starting here. Nutster (talk) 05:05, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

I think they missed a trick with the naming. CORVID-19 would have reminded everyone of H5N1 'bird flu', and we could just blame the crows. Kill a magpie to avoid infection! 162.158.158.253 10:53, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

What? How is CORVID-19 supposed to remind anyone of H5N1 or bird flu? --Lupo (talk) 13:20, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Corvidae is the family including crows, ravens, jays, magpies; so, CORVID~=bird. Not sure how many people would make that connection, but I think that's what the previous poster was getting at.

(Please sign your posts!)

Yeah really dodged a bullet on those rhinoviri. 172.69.22.44 11:36, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Is it relevant to mention that some spiders grow larger in cities? https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105480 ProphetZarquon (talk) 15:39, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

I'm not really wanting to catch COVID-19. I'm holding out for COVID-19b, which is going to be better beta-tested. (But by the time COVID-19c comes out, it's just going to be a bandwagon of planned obsolescence by then - I'd rather stick with what I've got until the next significent release version and keep a close eye on the advanced reviews and what other vendors are innovating.) 162.158.34.46 16:15, 3 March 2020 (UTC)