O/T:- Are we over-reacting to COVD19?

[jackal2]

I don't care about the media. Why are you obsessed with the media? Do you think the Chinese government's reaction was dictated by pressure from the media? Bear in mind the Chinese government and the Chinese media are one and the same. Please address this gaping logical crevice in your argument before writing anything else about the media.

Well I thought it was obvious but I perhaps should have been specific. I am of course referring to the Western/European and especially the UK media's approach rather than the Chinese media who are obviously a completely different entity. I haven't seen their coverage. I do take yours and sidders' point that not all western 'meejia' are equal offenders, but some are definitely placing sensationalism above sensible reporting and information.

Your posts are so full of contradictions it's getting hard to debate with you. You've just written that you are not arguing a point when in the previous paragraph you tried to argue precisely that point. I'm running out of ways to explain this to you, but I'll try one more.

Well I actually think it's your posts that are full of contradictions, but neither of us should be judge and jury in our own court.

350 deaths in Italy today, up from 200 yesterday. Almost a 100% increase in a country where the vast majority of people are at home 24/7. I hope the penny drops soon.

We know the type and trajectory of the illness and Italy is some way ahead of the UK, so prepare for similar figures here in due course, but this does not mean the measures being taken are wrong or that panicking or totally isolating ourselves will save more people. It means this virus will kill a significant number of people within a certain timeframe, only eased or delayed to a certain degree by any measures we take to control it. That's what viruses do. To put it bluntly, sh*t happens.

Only when the final death toll from COVID-19 is known will we truly be able to reflect on its relative scale as a pandemic compared with the likes of these, and its impact on the overall population relative to other causes of death.

For the time being the best thing to do is follow the advice of our public health experts in a calm, rational manner.