How concerned are you all? There seems to be a disconnect between the alarm level between scientists/the investors I meet with who manage billions of dollars, vs. everyone I talk to casually. The first group is pretty alarmed, while the second group is like "eh, this will die down." An article in The Atlantic yesterday predicted that 40-70% of the world will end up getting it within the next year.
I'm not worried about dying of it, but I do think it could much more significantly disrupt travel and business, all of our 401(k)s etc., vs. how most people are thinking about it. It seems different than past scares because of how easy and frequent travel is now, and how long the incubation period is, with some people infecting others for weeks without knowing they have it.
I think it is going to go global, and we will all get it. I am not super concerned about getting it given that it seems to cause issues more in the older generations. I am more concerned about our parents getting it.
I am also concerned about traveling and quarantines. Eventually, I think it will not be quarantinable and they will just let it go like influenza. I think there will be a vaccine, but it will take time to develop.
We did our big trip already (to Hawaii) before the virus was active, and we don't have any travel plans involving airplane travel. We do have a few road trips planned, and that is it, and I am happy about that. If there were to be a quarantine, I would not want to be in a foreign country, and I would prefer to be in my own house especially with kids.
I'm trying not to think about it too much, since I leave for an international trip in a week and a half. I've researched the travel warnings and state department recommendations. We're not going anywhere that's high risk at all. I'm just really, really, really hoping that nothing crazy happens while we are gone, given the volume of travelers I'm in charge of. At this point there's nothing I can do but hope for the best, honestly. If it were a cruise, you'd bet that I'd be trying to figure out how to cancel it after seeing those horror stories. But this one is flights coming and going from all over the US, so I don't see it having a massive, group-wide impact.
I just keep doing the math and it doesn't seem that scary so there is a disconnect for me on the alarm. Of course when I think about bird flu, H1N1, SARS, something else, Ebola, it was always very alarmist without any real affect on my life. It does scare me when I hear about the younger doctor's dying from it, so I think maybe we are not getting the entire story?
I do worry about it in terms of an economic slow down, investments, etc... It seems like anything can send them spiraling.
I'm trying not to think about it too much, since I leave for an international trip in a week and a half. I've researched the travel warnings and state department recommendations. We're not going anywhere that's high risk at all. I'm just really, really, really hoping that nothing crazy happens while we are gone, given the volume of travelers I'm in charge of. At this point there's nothing I can do but hope for the best, honestly. If it were a cruise, you'd bet that I'd be trying to figure out how to cancel it after seeing those horror stories. But this one is flights coming and going from all over the US, so I don't see it having a massive, group-wide impact.
You couldn't pay me a million dollars to get on a cruise ship right now.
I'm trying not to think about it too much, since I leave for an international trip in a week and a half. I've researched the travel warnings and state department recommendations. We're not going anywhere that's high risk at all. I'm just really, really, really hoping that nothing crazy happens while we are gone, given the volume of travelers I'm in charge of. At this point there's nothing I can do but hope for the best, honestly. If it were a cruise, you'd bet that I'd be trying to figure out how to cancel it after seeing those horror stories. But this one is flights coming and going from all over the US, so I don't see it having a massive, group-wide impact.
You couldn't pay me a million dollars to get on a cruise ship right now.
DH's two cousins and their wives just left on a cruise. I would never get on a cruise ship under normal circumstances due to the regular outbreaks of norovirus and I hate the idea of being on something for days at a time that I can't get off of.
Yup, I was never into cruises that much before, definitely not into them now.
We've thought about a cruise, but everywhere I have went, I think I would cry if they told me at the end of the day to leave a beautiful place and get back on the boat. I think I would be tempted to tell them to leave me here, I'll find my way back. Now maybe a River Cruise through Europe or somewhere on the Mediterranean, because that seems like and efficient way to cover a lot of territory that I may not otherwise see.
I’m not super concerned. I do think it will be much more widespread soon, but still not super concerned. It sounds like it mainly is very serious for people over 80 and people who live in cities with major pollution and a high percentage of smokers. DH likes to be prepared so we are always prepared in case of widespread shortages/outages so that probably helps me feel calm about potential quarantines or the more likely panic and runs on supplies that could happen.
We are going to both Asia (Japan) and on a cruise this summer and I’m still not concerned.
ETA: I do think it could have consequences for the global economy, but I don’t think they will be terribly long term and it seems as we’ve been heading for some sort of slowdown for awhile now so I don’t think it would be all that surprising.
I am.. not that worried about the virus itself personally, but more for the non-virus side effects. Our investments and retirement accounts are definitely getting pummled. My mom is 72 and has about 39 underlying health conditions, including really bad asthma - I can't imagine her faring well if she were to get it.
That said, we had dinner with a nurse (it was my first time meeting him personally, couldn't say if he's reactionist by nature or not) and he said he's prepared for it to be a very big deal. And that even people who wear the proper type face mask don't wear them properly, and that for my DH, even a face mask wouldn't help since his facial hair grows too fast. And now I look at people wearing face masks and judge them.
mrsGreeko, markets have definitely been priced for perfection for awhile and are due for a correction. The major investor I met with today noted that a market recovery from the effects of a pandemic is "unlikely to be a V-shaped recovery" like the kind we're used to (like after the global financial crisis). The concerns that I'm hearing is that it could linger for a really long time.
k3am, that is kind of what I'm thinking about - that the nurse is much more concerned than the average person. Like I was reading the newspapers today at lunch. Every single headline on the front page of the Wall Street Journal is virus-related. Not a single headline on the cover of the LA Times was virus-related. There just seems to be a major disconnect.
sdlaura, I think it's because we've had so many cases of the "next big virus that could be worse than XYZ" that have.. just kind of fizzled out and not been that bad.
Right now, coronavirus is nowhere near as deadly as the common flu. And for most of us non experts who like to make our own conclusions, no ones going to take it very seriously until it appears to be more serious.
That being said, the consipriacy theorist in me thinks that if there's any merit to speculations that China has greatly underestimated both the scale of infection and death totals, it would be a very different story.
Post by sandandsea on Feb 25, 2020 17:23:26 GMT -5
I guess I’m not seeing how it’s significantly different than the ones that came before it and will come next. We are doing a cruise this summer and I have zero qualms about it but I wouldnt go to China right now. I’m not alarmist and don’t like what it’s doing to markets but figure we will just ride it out. The death rate is under 2%. I think the vaccines are going to human trial in a few weeks which I’m counting on helping and we (by which I mean others who are much smarter than I) will figure something out.
Until then I’m washing hands, using sanitizer, and realize it’s likely we will all get eventually it but will also survive it.
I’m concerned about the fact that everything we use is made in China. Like literally every antibiotic is made there. 90% of Made in the USA goods have Chinese components. Every generic drug is made there. West Coast ports have seen a good-sized hit. I was reading that in Australia the entire rock lobster harvest had to be stopped early because that’s usual sent to China for lunar New Year, which was affected by the outbreak. So financiallly if China doesn’t open factories soon, we will be in trouble.
But the virus itself? Not that worried and do think we will all get it. I was on a plane today. I’m on planes all the time. I’ve had a cold for a week and part of me wondered if it was Coronavirus, but my state doesn’t test for it and doesn’t consider it a possibility if you haven’t been to China and haven’t had contact with an infected person.
mommyatty, yeah, I fly weekly still for work and I’m pregnant. I hope I’m done traveling by the time it spreads further in the US. Just because I’m pregnant, not really because I’m super afraid of getting the virus. My last flight is scheduled for May 1, when I’m 34 weeks.
In terms of other considerations - I actually did look into doing a home birth, just in case the virus is prevalent in hospitals here in a few months/if medical resources and staff are overtaxed. I’ve always thought about doing one anyway because I’ve had three relatively easy and very quick births. But it would be much more expensive out of pocket than a hospital birth, since we have an HMO. So we’re going to wait and see how things shape up.
Post by covergirl82 on Feb 26, 2020 7:57:14 GMT -5
I agree with others that I'm more concerned about the impact to the economy and availability of goods than I am about the virus itself. Almost everyone in the kids' school just had flu B (both my kids had it, DD had it twice), and I haven't heard of any students who had to go to the hospital as a result of it.
I'm more concerned for any impact to our spring break trip (beginning of April), because if there are any city quarantines here in the US, or if WDW closes, we won't be able to go. We bought "cancel for any reason" trip insurance, so at least we would still get to go at some point, but we'd all be super bummed, as we've been looking forward to this trip for almost a year.
Post by ilovelucyvv on Feb 26, 2020 13:17:05 GMT -5
H and I travel on planes for work vey frequently- to include last week, this week, next week- but overall I don’t live my life worrying about the possibility of something bad happening.
H and I travel on planes for work vey frequently- to include last week, this week, next week- but overall I don’t live my life worrying about the possibility of something bad happening.
I'm here. My H, DD, and both sets of our parents are getting on a cruise ship on Sunday. We will practice good hygiene, wash hands frequently, etc just as we would on any other cruise. Yes, the thought of being quarantined totally sucks, but we can't stop living our lives. Now, we did have a trip to China/Japan booked in June that we cancelled and are doing Mexico instead, but we hope to do the China/Japan itinerary next year provided this all dies down by then.
Funny enough, shortly after reading this thread, my boss called a meeting to discuss coronavirus preparedness. We’re not a public health agency.
Outcomes of the meeting: 1. Agreement to order more hand sanitizer and tissues ASAP and confirm building janitorial will be wiping down door handles and elevator buttons more frequently. 2. HR & Communications to work on WFH guidelines in case of (a) school district closure, (b) public transit shutdown, or (c) city declaration of public health emergency.
I think it might all be overkill but I guess I’m glad for the preemptive permission to stay home.
Post by covergirl82 on Feb 28, 2020 8:28:11 GMT -5
DH works for the health insurance company that is part of a health system (the company I recently left), and the Emergency Preparedness department sent out a communication yesterday related to coronavirus. They listed it as low risk/low severity for the US, and shared that the recommendation is to follow the normal diligence for illness prevention (e.g., good hand hygiene, don't touch your face/eyes/mouth, cover your coughs and sneezes, stay home when you're sick, etc.).
I do think it's good that some companies are putting plans in place for employees to WFH or shift schedules in case schools are closed or there is some disruption to normal life. If the plan isn't needed for this situation, there could be a similar situation in the future for which it may be needed.
I work in public health, but in health education, not in the preparedness. We do have an epidemiologist and preparedness department. We had our first email on it as a staff yesterday. The epi and her staff have been meeting regularly for weeks. We have a plan for widespread pandemic/epidemic type scenario. Of course how it will play out may be different from what is planned. Right now we are recommending following flu procedures of good hygiene and that is the extent of it.
Post by dixeedeluxe on Feb 28, 2020 11:18:55 GMT -5
I'm going to stock up on Hot Pockets or something in case the supply chain is disrupted. We don't keep much food in the house so we could run out quickly. I could see retail having to shut down for a bit due to sick workers.
I'm also going to refill what meds I can.
I don't think any of that is alarmist.
Ironically, this is my last day of 2-day-a-week telework. I'm sick as a dog, but I'm able to work from home today! Where I am, illness is not a valid reason for episodic telework.
C25K...it works Seaside 5K...........40:45(2012) Turkey Trot..........41:30(2012)/37:08(2013)/37:40(2014) St Pat's 5K..........39:27(2013)/38:48(2014)/35:12(2015) Belair Town Run......38:09(2013)/36:27(2014) Back To Football 5K..37:36(2013)/43:44(2015) Balt Run Fest 5K.....34:59(2013)/41:50(2014)/35:54(2015)
Our school district posted something but it was more a reminder to stay home when you are sick and practice good hygiene. Also they were working on adding custodial staff to clean the school more often. DD's school's daytime custodian person has so much stuff on her plate and the night custodian cleans bathrooms each day but rotates vacuuming quads and the office/library. If teachers want their rooms cleaned each day they have to do it themselves. DD's teacher does desks/classroom cleans every Friday and gets her students to help clean their own space and she does the common areas each day. So I really do hope the district gets more janitorial staff to clean the schools.
The public library put out a post on social media reminding the public on what news/info is a reliable source for updates.
On a corona-related note, anyone panicking looking at their investments?? Yikes...
I absolutely refuse to look. I’m pretending none of this shit is happening.
Same. I figured I've got plenty of time before I need my retirement money, so whatever happens, happens. It should rebound by the time I have to do anything with it, right? I've got decades to play with here...
I'm not looking at mine either. I got an email from my investment advisor basically saying that this is temporary don't make any rash decisions things will balance out. I've already have talked 3 clients off the edge who asked how much money they would owe if they sold everything because they are freaking out that is has dropped so much. These are the same ones that freak anytime the market has a huge drop though.
I haven’t looked at the actual portfolios in a few days, but watching the markets is killing me. I am a moderately risky investor (in all equities but no margin trading or commodities or anything like that). Some of our portfolio is education money. We may need it sooner than planned.
Also, we are starting with a new investment manager, and my 401k rollover has to happen by physical check. I don’t want to cash out if there is going to be a bit of a recovery in a few weeks.
Post by traveltheworld on Feb 28, 2020 15:01:46 GMT -5
I'm on day 6 of my cruise and just checked the news on wifi for the first time. Previous to that I've only checked my emails. I'm surprised but not surprised. I was wondering when the investment community was going to start the panic and sell off and was surprised that it didn't happen earlier. But I'm surprised at the rate of sell off. I mostly see this as a buying opportunity once things calm down a bit. The short term portfolio loss is heavy, but given that we don't need to liquidate, I'm not concerned about it.
For the day to day, I'm not worried. We are on a cruise, so obviously we are not terribly concerned about travel. I'll probably avoid extensive leisure travel for the next few months, but other than that, I don't see anything else we'd do differently.