The simple answer is yes and no.
Yes, people appear to be panicking over toilet roll and dried pasta in the UK when they should not be. On Saturday, when we visited my mother we were not able to get into Costco as people were stocking up there. Saying that, stocking up now means that there will still be supplies when COVID19 hits the UK properly.
And sadly, it will. At the moment, the strategy of containment is working to delay the spread of this virus as much as reasonably possible. But it will spread. The number of confirmed cases appears to be doubling every day and the NHS is doing the best it can to cope with this.
The government is listening to it when it comes to preparing for this, and the NHS will do the best it can to cope. But I do not think any healthcare system in temperate zones will be able to cope with this, until summer hits. While the NHS was better prepared when it faced Swine Flu in terms of finances and staffing levels, this illness is more fatal.
And this is where some people are being complacent on the internet. Yes, flu kills. Yes, Swine Flu did not kill as many as expected (thanks to immunisation and the use of the drugs that are available). But there is no vaccine against COVID19 and only one drug appears to have any potential against this. The death rate may not be as high as the 3% reported in some newspapers, and we have South Korea to thank for this information as they have been screening lots of people for COVID19, not just those with symptoms.
But this is more fatal, and this has been noted by the deaths of those in China who have been treating patients with this condition.
And working in healthcare, yes, I am worried that I will join that list. But I am more concerned about how this will affect my wife. My kids hopefully should not be affected by it too much.
On the bright side, at least I am not in the USA where I would be landed with a huge bill if I am concerned that I have this.
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