Well, travelling against FO advice would invalidate your insurance for a start.

If there was a full blown pandemic you'd probably find a lot of countries would refuse to take visitors anyway.

The only positive at the moment is that should the virus not be brought under control then the efforts to find and manufacture  vaccine will be redoubled.  

Studies show that reducing your own personal transmissibility is one of the most effective ways to slow down the virus. We know that it's difficult to catch the virus if you are not in close contact or in a confined close space with someone who has symptons (yes asymotomatics can transfer but it's probably more difficult).

I've easily reduced the number of casual contacts I've had by an order of magnitude with minimal disruption in my own life and I've been easily able to sustain it for about a month now.

One worrying development is that some people are testing positive after recovery. So people are potentially infectous after recovery too although I would have thought it would require very close contact if it's possible at all.

The WHO daily conference is worth watching unless you believe in conspiracy theories or would sooner trust TWO's self styled experts. 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1rmxPAjwLAgKN

Why are you so certain you have Covid-19?  

My day to day routine doesn't involve we coming into close contact with anyone in a confined space so even if an epidemic broke out in this country I will be fine    

Although I have had this nagging cough for a couple of weeks now, ever since this Chinese guy was in my shop, in fact 

On which topic:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51591091

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern at the number of coronavirus cases with no clear link to China or other confirmed cases.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's comments follow Iran's announcement of two more deaths, bringing the total there to four.

The window of opportunity to contain the virus was "narrowing", he said.

Iranian health officials said the virus may already be in "all Iran's cities"."

• the trouble is that Iran has a dictatorship, but not an all powerful and efficient one like China. Iran also is a poor country with inadequate healthcare systems outside of the capital.

It is going to be certain that there are cases in Pakistan next door as well, but their chaos is Iran's times two.

I still can’t be sure that I haven’t been infected, or that I won’t get infected at work or when I’m shopping. If it happens, so be it. 

Not only that - and 'times two' is an understatement - but you have the Taliban's attitude from the dark ages as well.  It's next to impossible to provide healthcare in the remoter parts.

Iran is a bit of a mystery, isn't it.  Someone or something must have brought it into the country but who/what/how/when are all unknowns.

By far the greatest risk lies in Africa and particularly sub-Saharan Africa.  I referenced the WHO concerns about Congo earlier.

You’re right - this is all about quantifying risk. Human nature suggests we aren’t very good at it. 

Yes you could go to Thailand and be infected or quarantined by Covid 19. But I’d suggest you’d be more likely to die in a road traffic accident over there.

19 more US cases all  but one former passengers on the cruise ship. 

Just had an em from an Italian relative saying a curfew has been declared in Codogno and the army have been ordered to shoot on sight. It's all been hushed up at the moment.

Presumably you are exagerrating. Serious measures are being implemented however:

https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/national/18253535.italy-sees-coronavirus-cases-quadruple-emerging-cluster/

 Yes of course I was posting complete horsesh1t to see if I could make a stand out post in a thread where the competition is very strong. 

Good idea, but Id like to be blasted into space and found by aliens centuries in the future

You have friends?

I genuinely can't see any "horsesh1t" posts today. We've taken a big step towards a pandemic today not sure how you and some others can't see that.

I'm not sure what point you are making. I can't recall either saying 1) the virus isn't serious 2) a pandemic will not happen.  

The genie does finally seem to be out of the bottle. Some countries have no chance of dealing with it and then it can only spread. Singapore appears to have been successful, but how many countries have the organisational skills, wealth and control to do what they did? Also, Singapore is geographically small - we can see what happens when clusters appear in much larger countries. Today is probably the watershed for this particular contagion.

Don't worry, I suspect we'd see a change in attitude if someone's son, daughter, mother, father or grandparent is killed by the disease. Only when it affects their little circle do a lot of people sit up and take note.

The human brain is hard wired not to think about death, so I guess it's not surprising some people bury their heads when situations like this likely pandemic unfold.

I'll use an example. If the death rate is 1% as widely touted, you could expect circa 400,000 people to die if 2/3 of the UK is infected with this virus. Naturally the brain thinks 'oh it's only 400,000, what are the odds I'll fall into that figure'. Yet if the National Lottery were making 400,000 millionaires you'd fancy your chances.

what was it they were saying about travel to China only a few weeks ago?

He's got a partner Beast. I think you said you'd not had sex for 20 years, which would explain a lot 

Mind you could reduce the chances of coronavirus 

So who is posting the horsesh1t posts then? Look none of us know how this will play out but an extraordinary event is starting to unfold in front of our eyes. Fascinating and disturbing in equal measure.