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)

Let's inject a little sanity here: Trump's "talking point" about it being no on par with the flu is, for once, correct. Most people who are infected have mild symptoms, or none at all. In fact, that's how it's suddenly turned out that the spread is so much greater than previously reported: Because most people never even know they have it. Given this, the mortality rate is a tiny fraction of what was previously reported, perhaps 0.3% instead of 3%. And it was only ostensibly 3% in a primitive region where some people still have dirt floors, and almost nobody is willing to deal with their socialized health care system except in an emergency. Therefore most of the infected were not showing up for treatment, only those in serious trouble. In fact, the vast majority of those who have died are elderly or immunocompromised, exactly the same group who are killed in the tens of thousands each year by the flu, in the US. So no, this has been a tempest in a teapot, stirred up by the unscientific CDC in order to pad their budget, the way they do periodically with a new fake pandemic threat. SARS, West Nile, bird flu, h1n1, and ebola...no competent epidemiologist would ever seriously have expected those to become a threat in the US, or anywhere else outside of primitive regions. But the CDC has continued to redouble their unearned budget on this fraudulent fearmongering. As I learned when consulting for such ilk in DC, "Fear Equals Funding". Oh, and no, 90,000 cases only make it a "significant disease" in the way that another coronavirus, the common cold, is significant. It's not significantly dangerous. In fact, it really is just a strong kind of common cold. « Kazvorpal (talk) 21:32, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

While it doesn't seem to be more lethal than flu (or in general having more severe symptoms), either it's more contagious or the fact it's contagious for weeks before symptoms makes it spread easier. In this sense it's more serious threat - imagine for example if ALL employees of nuclear power plant would be infected leaving noone capable of caring of the reactor. That said, it seems that panic is currently more dangerous than the virus itself. -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:14, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

The 2% death rate in the explantion is outdated. Here (in Chinese) is the compiled data for all China. As of March 3rd, the death rate calculated by (death toll)/(confirmed infected patients) is 3.7% for all China and 4.6% for Wuhan city (the epicenter). The number for Wuhan is likely to grow in the following days, too. 162.158.190.86 20:11, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

The mortality rate in China is only relevant if one lives in an area with a primitive socialized health care system. As with SARS, it won't turn out to have a significant death rate among people infected in the US who are not elderly or immunocompromised. Perhaps, in fact, a zero death rate outside of that high risk group. « Kazvorpal (talk) 21:32, 3 March 2020 (UTC) @kazvorpal your comment is inappropriate for several reasons, including "primitive" and deprecating socialized medicine. Since there've already been deaths among the small group of known cases in the USA, it's way too early to calculate mortality rates here. Cellocgw (talk) 16:24, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

Though you're right in that there is sophistication in the system (potentially), while the US famously has a situation so broken that "almost nobody is willing to deal with their non-socialized health care system except in an emergency" either. I think if the meaning was "a health system which is primitively socialised(/ist)" I could accept the utterer's original intent, though I don't actually know enough about the the practicalities of the Chinese system to know how it actually transpires in individual off-the-street transactions. I live within the somewhat social UK one, and directly see its problems, but I've been done well by it myself despite it being notably sabotaged by various politicians on the scene by forcing some changes or refusing to implement others. I haven't myself experienced the strange US one, even during my visits there, but I've had such info as a live online chat (early 1990s, via IRC, for reference) with someone who daren't go to a doctor/A&E for a clearly in-progress medical issue - if it wasn't even a real thing (as cynics might suggest may have happened in the text-only pre-Eternal September entirely pseudonymical medium) it must have had a grounding on experience and yet it totally blew my mind that something that would cost a few GBP (in medical supplies) and literally a few minutes of a doctor's time (underpaid, arguably) could instead potentially end up as billed for USDthousands either directly or as private insurance overheads. Still, this is an old (and perpetual) politically-biased discussion that has had few actual new arguments added to any side for years, and will doubtless rumble on as long as it can - I think we should all realise that all the systems are bad, we just fundementally disagree about which particular ones are least bad. 141.101.98.148 19:53, 4 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.162.158.187.91 13:13, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

I think "SARS-CoV-2: Electric Boogaloo" has a nice ring to it although a little wordy for everyday use. 198.41.238.116 08:16, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

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)

This is only 3 years too early to be a reference to the spiders in Colorado https://xkcd.com/1688/ especially with Megan holding bio-hazardous material. 162.158.62.33

Assorted catchier names: a)Corona-chan (works for every disease with a girl name, Ebola, Zika, Lassa, Malaria, Cholera, Yersinia...Ask 4chan), b) My Corona (OK, a bit 1970-ish), c) Coronjob (for conspiracy buffs). (Personally, I'm less afraid of getting infected than getting, showing no symptoms as always and killing half of my environment...) 172.69.54.9 09:36, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, "My Corona" got largely superceded by the fad for "e-Corona", except for some niches, and then along came "iCorona" and changed everything. Though there was also the short-lived Corona Millenium Edition. (It didn't stay bad. Corona XP became the highpoint. And if you did't like that, you might as well just go back to Corona Bob.) 162.158.154.43 16:59, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

I think that it's worth noting that this comic came out the day after the American Super Tuesday primaries.--172.69.71.64 15:42, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

But it didn't. This comic came out the day before the primaries, and is completely unrelated to them. 172.68.211.28 02:28, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

Shoulda called it Coronavirus-2019. 162.158.34.210 22:51, 4 March 2020 (UTC)