Coronavirus Terrorism

[Airbrush]

I haven't heard about this in the news, but think about it.  A team of 10 terrorists, voluntarily (or not), get Coronavirus.  Then they go to the country they hate and sneak around spreading their virus everywhere DISCREETLY.

Also, what about "misery likes company?"  When some unhinged person gets the Coronavirus, they think "Well I have it, now everybody else should suffer thru this with me."  Therefore that one person, who hates society in general, does their best to spread Coronavirus everywhere !

Is anyone starting to think Stephen Hawking was right that humanity (in the normal sense) has about 100 years left?

Edited March 12, 2020 by Airbrush

[iNow]

For most people, they'll just feel ill for 2 weeks and then recover (unless they're elderly or facing some chronic health issue). I find the premise somewhat weak.

[Sensei]

There is a couple known examples of people who started on purpose infecting people with HIV. They knew that they have it and still continued having sex without protection with unaware partners.

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Sensei

[Casio]

AIRBRUSH has a point. I work with one bloke to seems to give the impression that he hates people for some reasons or another. In a passing conversation a few days ago he did say if he got this virus that he would pass it to other people. As sick as that is I believe him, his mindset is deranged in some ways. As far as I'm concerned if I suspect anyone I work with of having this virus, they don't need to worry about passing it on or calling 111, I'll do it for them whether they agree or not. 

[Phi for All]

As if there aren't enough things. You're speculating on something far-fetched that hasn't happened, and concluding humanity dies out within a century? 

[CharonY]

Also there are more folks spreading it around due to lack of knowledge or care. There are quite a few students, for example who said that they want to travel to hotspots due since the prices are now low. They do not care much about infection since they think they are in low risk group. 

As such the folks in OP are probably not contributing much. 

[Airbrush]

15 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

As if there aren't enough things. You're speculating on something far-fetched that hasn't happened, and concluding humanity dies out within a century? 

That is Stephen Hawking's "prediction."

"Professor Hawking thinks the human species will have to populate a new planet within 100 years if it is to survive," the BBC said …."With climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious."

"Earth's cataclysmic end may be hastened by humankind, which will continue to devour the planet's resources at unsustainable rates..."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/environment/ct-stephen-hawking-escape-earth-20170505-story.html

"In recent years, he’s warned about how super artificial intelligence (AI) would end humankind and how contacting extraterrestrial life would go bonkers for humanity. Then in November of last year, he said we have 1,000 years to leave Earth. Now, he’s cut it down to 100"

https://futurism.com/stephen-hawking-humanity-only-has-100-years-left-on-earth-before-doomsday

Not to mention nuclear exchanges, super volcanoes, gamma ray bursts, etc.

Sorry, I'm getting too far off subject, of people intentionally spreading a virus.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Airbrush

[Curious layman]

I don't think it's that far fetched to be honest. Alot more effective than a suicide bombing. Easier to get it into a country than a bomb. Think of a 'lone wolf', catch coronavirus and just go around leaving your germs everywhere. 

Dont think it would be as easy or as effective as it sounds, but it does makes me wonder. 

100 years till the end of humanity is a being a bit pessimistic though.

[CharonY]

Well, if you wanted to actually kill someone with the coronavirus you'd have to try to sneak into homes for the elderly to be efficient. Assuming you get in contact with 100 folks above 80 you may have caused somewhere between 8-14 fatalities. You could contribute to overall spread, but if it is already spreading as it is now, it is unclear whether it would amount to more. 

But to do so, you will have to spend significant time with each person as casual contact seems to inefficient. So in other words you may have made the situation worse, but it is unclear how much you contributed. That, is typically just the opposite of what most lone wolf types have in mind. Part of their motivation is some distorted desire for notoriety and striking fear into folks. A "regular" mass shooting or other attack is likely to be more satisfying to them. 

On top, this is only likely going to work during an ongoing outbreak as there is a decent likelihood for vaccines eventually and/or most folks will develop immunity (due to infection). So all they are doing is accelerating things perhaps a little bit.

Perhaps worse than any of that, poor public health responses are likely to create more fatalities than any level of deliberate act of terrorism is going to achieve. Think about that for a minute. Let's say hypothetically that testing for the virus is going to cost more than you can afford and you have the choice between going to work or lose the job, what do yo do? You cannot self-quarantine since you live paycheck to paycheck and have no food stocked up because of that. How many are in that situation compared to say ten deliberate spreaders? Now combine that with a slow roll out of tests even if they are affordable.

 

[swansont]

1 hour ago, Airbrush said:

I haven't heard about this in the news, but think about it.  A team of 10 terrorists, voluntarily (or not), get Coronavirus.  Then they go to the country they hate and sneak around spreading their virus everywhere DISCREETLY.

Sounds like the plot of a direct-to-DVD movie. Perhaps one that’s supposed to be a comedy, because the “terrorists” are incompetent 

Why would you choose such an ineffective method of killing people?

[Curious layman]

14 minutes ago, swansont said:

Sounds like the plot of a direct-to-DVD movie. Perhaps one that’s supposed to be a comedy, because the “terrorists” are incompetent 

A bit off topic, but Tom Hanks would be the perfect lead. Apparently him and his wife have tested positive. Hope he recoverers, He's one of your greatest actors.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Curious layman

[CharonY]

53 minutes ago, swansont said:

Sounds like the plot of a direct-to-DVD movie. Perhaps one that’s supposed to be a comedy, because the “terrorists” are incompetent 

The plot revolves around a group of highly trained professionals who break into homes of elderly folks and aggressively cough into their faces for a few minutes. In a heartwarming twist one of their presumptuous victims confuses the terrorist with their grandchild to whom she had lost contact. After a furious intermezzo consisting of baking and copious amount tea the terrorist realizes that deep inside he is just longing for the love of a family. Meanwhile  the grandparent realizes that the nightly visitor in stealth suit is indeed not her grandchild (the climbing hook on the balcony being a crucial hint- as well as a flashback highlight that the real grandchild had a fear of heights). But she enjoys the moment too much to care.Tragically, this human moment is also what ultimately resulted in successful infection. The terrorist becomes guilt-ridden when it becomes clear that the lonely grandma is not long for this world and he tries to reach her a last time to say his farewells. Meanwhile, his terrorist buddies consider him a traitor and try to stop him resulting in a highly choreographed fight scene involving lots of offensive coughing and running noses in slow-mo (the filmmakers did not consult experts as per usual and did not realize that this is not part of the symptoms). Finally, he survives all these ordeals and reaches the grandma, who turns out to be a special CDC/Homeland security agent in disguise (Jason Stratham) who have been delaying a rollout of coronavirus testing in favour of sting operations to catch corona-terrorists.

PS: can anyone tell that I really, really do not want to read those student reports?

 

[MigL]

If you get tired of marking student papers, you have a future as a screenwriter.

Recently read statistics that 0.2% of infected people under 40 yrs age have died.
But for those 80 yrs and up the fatality rate is over 20%.

Meanwhile I have a sniffling, sore throat  cold, due to the constant temperature changes this time of year ( and not dressing appropriately ), and I can't go out lest people think I have the COVID-19 scourge.

[Raider5678]

49 minutes ago, MigL said:

Meanwhile I have a sniffling, sore throat  cold, due to the constant temperature changes this time of year ( and not dressing appropriately ), and I can't go out lest people think I have the COVID-19 scourge.

Yeah, tell me about it. My brother got back from Egypt and everyone was freaking out he had the corona since he started getting sick.

Turns out it was just Influenza. 

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Raider5678

[MigL]

11 minutes ago, Raider5678 said:

Turns out it was just Influenza. 

Isn't COVID-19 also a type of influenza ( caused by a different viral strain ) ?

I can always tell when something is coming on. My tonsils ( never removed ) always swell slightly.

Edited March 12, 2020 by MigL

[Raider5678]

9 minutes ago, MigL said:

Isn't COVID-19 also a type of influenza ( caused by a different viral strain ) ?

I didn't think so. I thought Influenza was the name of the virus that causes the flu.

[MigL]

I would assume flu is short for inFLUenza.
And there have been many types of influenzas through the years.

My mistake...
There are three types of influenza virus ( virii ? ).
You are right.

Edited March 12, 2020 by MigL

[studiot]

There are types and subtypes.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/types.htm

Edited March 12, 2020 by studiot

[StringJunky]

5 minutes ago, MigL said:

I would assume flu is short for inFLUenza.
And there have been many types of influenzas through the years.

My mistake...
There are three types of influenza virus ( virii ? ).
You are right.

I don't think it matters whether you say 'virus' meaning singular or plural but you can say 'viruses' for plural. Never seen 'virii'  A single specimen of a virus is called a 'virion'

[MigL]

Thanks Stringy.

[CharonY]

18 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

I don't think it matters whether you say 'virus' meaning singular or plural but you can say 'viruses' for plural. Never seen 'virii'  A single specimen of a virus is called a 'virion'

Technically the virion refers to a whole virus particle. Practically it is the same as a single (complete) virus but it is typically used in structural context. 

Also just to be sure: the causative agent of flu are influenza viruses. These include members of  Swine and bird flu for example belong all to the group of influenza viruses (classification are provided in Studiot's link).

COVID-19 is a specific disease caused by the strain SARS-COV2, which belongs to the family of coronaviruses. Other notable diseases associated with members of this family include SARS and MERS.

 

[swansont]

2 hours ago, CharonY said:

The plot revolves around a group of highly trained professionals who break into homes of elderly folks and aggressively cough into their faces for a few minutes. In a heartwarming twist one of their presumptuous victims confuses the terrorist with their grandchild to whom she had lost contact. After a furious intermezzo consisting of baking and copious amount tea the terrorist realizes that deep inside he is just longing for the love of a family. Meanwhile  the grandparent realizes that the nightly visitor in stealth suit is indeed not her grandchild (the climbing hook on the balcony being a crucial hint- as well as a flashback highlight that the real grandchild had a fear of heights). But she enjoys the moment too much to care.Tragically, this human moment is also what ultimately resulted in successful infection. The terrorist becomes guilt-ridden when it becomes clear that the lonely grandma is not long for this world and he tries to reach her a last time to say his farewells. Meanwhile, his terrorist buddies consider him a traitor and try to stop him resulting in a highly choreographed fight scene involving lots of offensive coughing and running noses in slow-mo (the filmmakers did not consult experts as per usual and did not realize that this is not part of the symptoms). Finally, he survives all these ordeals and reaches the grandma, who turns out to be a special CDC/Homeland security agent in disguise (Jason Stratham) who have been delaying a rollout of coronavirus testing in favour of sting operations to catch corona-terrorists.

PS: can anyone tell that I really, really do not want to read those student reports?

 

We can go that way. I had been thinking a comedic level of incompetence, where the protagonists inadvertently infect the people at the top of the terrorist organization, and think that drinking Corona beer (it’s the Corona virus, dude!) makes them more dangerous

They fail to kill anyone at their target, which is supposed to be an old folks home but they end up at a military base with a similar name (they’re drunk on Corona), and nobody dies because they salute rather than shake hands and are young and healthy.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Aren't corona viruses a common cause of a common cold?

[MigL]

I thought the common cold was rhinovirus.
But don't they all have the same symptoms ?

[iNow]

11 minutes ago, MigL said:

don't they all have the same symptoms ?

Their Venns overlap, but not 100%