Anyone else is obsessed with Covid-19 news and statistics?

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The thing is, I often have relatively short but very intense interests (I call them current obsessions), which last anywhere between a few days and a year. In the past I had things like ship disasters, the pantone scale, different types of chili peppers, eyeshadow palettes, etc. Now I can't stop reading the latest news and statistics about Covid-19, and it doesn't help that it is everywhere, so even when I try to distract myself often I end up finding more stuff about Covid-19. I feel like my brain has been hijacked, any tips how to stop this?

Hmmm...

A) Don't fight it. Not only go with it, but exploit it to do a blog. Or a vlog on You tube. About the very subject. It IS timely after all. You will prolly loose interest in about a year, which will be about the same time the disease runs its course, and either goes away, or becomes endemic, and stops being headline news.

B) Fight it by finding a counter irritant. Something similar. Like baseball statistics. Study up on baseball stats. It might something about numbers that attracts you

C) Learn to count cards in blackjack. And then make some money in Vegas.

The coronavirus news isn't necessarily something I'm obsessed with, but it is something I'm following quite intensely.

There are many things, however, that count or have counted as obsessions of mine, along the lines of what you state. Some examples include:

- Darts (between the ages of about eight and fourteen I was absolutely fascinated by just about everything related to it. Statistics, players, history etc)
- Football/soccer (same as above, but to a slightly lesser extent and over a shorter period of time)
- Television quiz programmes (will go through periods of looking them up online, watching both new and old episodes etc)
- Food (usually watching certain cookery channels on YouTube regularly for a period of time)
- People (becoming fascinated, usually in a romantic sense, by certain people. Can be people I know, people I don't know, people who have died, people who are fictional or people who only exist within my mind)
- Beer (recently I've had quite an interest in beer and watching and reading reviews of various types of beer)
- Television programmes, songs and movies (specifically, I can often watch a single television programme, listen to a single song or watch a single movie again and again without becoming bored)
- Elections (have a general interest in psephology and can read election results, often the same ones, over and over again while still being fascinated)
- Video games (both playing and researching. For example, there are several video walkthroughs of Halo: Combat Evolved, a favourite of my childhood, that I've watched on multiple occasions)

Yes, but it's part of my job. I work in a major hospital emergency department and I have to be prepared for what will probably be the hardest year I've ever seen. Disseminating information to patients and less experienced staff requires being up to date with the latest information.

Yesterday, I couldn't get an update on the number of cases in my county. It was driving me crazy. When I finally saw the number today, it claimed the number stayed at 20 yesterday. Strange, since it was climbing fast for days before yesterday. So, I have the same obsession. I am trying to find distractions to keep me away from it though.

Edit, I just got an updated number for yesterday, 28.

I'm reading about all the events being cancelled in my local area, around the country and the world. I really don't want a life of enforced isolation. I know it will pass, but too much time inside will drive me nuts.

I found these stats interesting:

In just the United States alone regarding regular flu; annually there are as many as:

45,000,000 cases.

810,000 hospitalizations.

61,000 deaths.


"While the impact of flu varies, it places a substantial burden on the health of people in the United States each year. CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010."

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html

Yes, been obsessed with coronavirus stats/figures for a few weeks now. It's fascinating. The thread "Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus" in News and Current Events is brilliant for "feeding" it! viewtopic.php?t=384318#p8437272

It's interesting because:

Its fatality rate seems to be significantly determined by how a country reacts to it, from 0.6% - 0.9% ( already much more than seasonal influenza ) in South Korea etc to 2% - 3% in several European countries and the USA to 5% in Iran and 7% in Italy.

And the percentage rate of deaths in cases that have had an outcome, ( which is about half of all cases so far ), is currently 7%, after standing at 6% for weeks. This is very close to the percentage of ( still active ) cases currently classed as severe/critical, which is 8%. Almost as if most people that catch it badly enough to need intensive care die of it.

And it spreads exponentially, which makes for some wonderfully stunning growths in numbers ( see grain of rice on chess board phenomenon, one on first square, two on second, four on third ... more rice than grown in whole kingdom by last square ... )

The doubling rate/frequency in most European countries at the moment is around 2.5 - 3 days. In the UK the number of deaths just doubled in under 2 days/little more than 24 hours.

And it's causing stock markets to plunge and economies to crash/teeter/topple/collapse/shake. And highlighting or exposing even more idiocies and incompetencies than usual. It's the best kind of reality TV!

It's totally cool. ...

Disclaimer: I have an old parent and an existing health condition etc, so not invulnerable, nor totally uncaring.

NB. Oh yes, sorry, to answer your second question, how to stop it; I'm not trying. I think that you should take it seriously.

Self-isolate, practice social distancing as much as you can. Stock up on enough protein rich food for 2 months. Wash your hands ... I think that people on the Autism Spectrum can be awesome "canaries", scenting danger earlier than NTs.

b]45,000,000 cases.

810,000 hospitalizations.

61,000 deaths.[/b]

That's the regular old endemic seasonal flu in the USA.

So far with Corvid in the US it's:2628 cases, and 50 deaths.

With the regular flu the death rate is one eighth of one percent, with Corvid-19 in the US its two percent.

So if Corvid 19 got as common as regular flu there would be close to a million deaths (instead of just 61 thousand).

Or...

Would there be?

The bad news is that Corvid-19 may be FAR more widespread than we think. Or that's how it looks to me.

The reason being that a large chunk of the people who get it don't have any symptoms, or have mild symptoms, so they don't get counted.


The good news is if that's the case then the ratio of those who get it to those who die of it maybe different from what we think. If you're sick enough to die you get counted, but if you're not sick enough to be even be counted as being sick then you don't get counted at all. So the actual ratio of the infected to those who die may have a bigger denominator under the same size numerator than we are aware of. If its the same number of deaths but out of bigger infected population than we know about then ...that would be the good news...that its less deadly than we think.

The world average is about four percent from the official figures. Nations range from two percent to five percent. But oddly enough there is ONE exception:Germany. Germany has 4282 cases and all of 8 deaths. That's a death rate of one fifth of one percent. Far less than any other country. And only slightly worse than the regular seasonal flu rate of one eighth of one percent. Am curious about why Germany's rate is so low.

I've been wondering about that too, natural plastic! Whether it's because they have 29 intensive care hospital beds for every 1000 people instead of just 11 per 1000 as in Italy, or just 6.6 in the UK, and are managing to hold onto people longer or more effectively. Or whether it's genetic resilience or environmental resilience. Yes, a definite mystery!

it doesn't matter whether or not i'm obsessed, i still can't get away from it

I'm also obsessed with Covid-19. I like seeing all the statistics from all the countries in the world. I also like to look at Covid-19 maps as well.

None of us can.

Yes, it's important to take the Corona-Virus seriously, yet not too seriously; that is learning how to put the Corona-Virus in the proper perspectives can be challenging - important challenges we can learn to handle!

For example, let's learn to share important supplies in order to curb panic buying, and those long queues at stores e.g, let's break-up the lots of supplies bought in bulk quantities for sharing.

From the perspectives of AS/HFA, the mentions in the media of social-distancing, self-quarantines, and basic hygiene practices at first yielded subconscious second-looks i.e., double-takes.

I sense that lessons from AS/HFA more often than not, will increasingly prove useful -- that is that sixth-sense in avoiding crowds, applying important online/Internet resources, and being resourceful (to minimize visits to stores), and reassessing the people in our lives e.g, who to trust.

YES! I have become completely obsessed with Covid-19. It has grown exponentially in Louisiana (we currently have 114 confirmed cases and 2 deaths). When asking to work from home due to several high-risk conditions, I pretty much wrote my boss a research paper and included stats, graphs, and a map of cases in our state. I loved it. This virus allows me to research from home without being surrounded by people, use my breaks to plant vegetable seeds in my garden, and keep up-to-date on the latest Covid-19 news .

I feel concerned and would like timely and factual updates on the current situation. Listening to the news (KNX-1070) on my way to and from work is enough, with maybe a quick peek at the six o'clock news on TV. But, obsessive about SARS-CoViD-19? No, not at all. I'm obsessed about the Traveller table-top RPG ... I'm obsessed about amateur radio ... I'm obsessed about astronomy ... I'm even a little obsessed about creating the perfect pizza ... but the precautions I have been taking all along to stay healthy already encompass the same precautions everyone else is advised to take against the virus.