So 3 staff had gotten sick that flu season. Staff who work with infectious diseases and probably get every cough and cold checked out just in case. Seems pretty baseline average to me.
There's no discussion of how many people work at the lab, how many staff visited hospital the year before that, whether it is in fact common for those staff to visit hospital when they have seasonal flu, or any other factors that would put this in any sort of context at all.
It took WHO over a year to be able to enter China. And what did they do? Release a memo denying laboratory theory without any evidence. No bat, nor intermediate has been found (not the case with SARS/MERS). Sure there is no evidence on lab theory either. The Chinese army has been running that lab since this started.
I work with infectious disease lab workers, and this isn't correct. None of them get every cold checked out just in case. Labs have no procedure for that. If anything, it's the opposite as they are confident of their immune system.
That would be unusual. Given the proximity to the covid19 outbreak, there's a high probability that's the first known cases of covid19 - if confirmed.
...but even still, 3 admitted to hospital for flu symptoms in that demographic is very high, statistically - even if literally ALL employees caught the seasonal flu at the same time.
People in China routinely go to hospitals for colds. It's cheap, and it makes you feel better, so why not.
Its already incredibly common for average Chinese people to go to a hospital for a cold, and I'd expect someone working in a virology lab would be even more likely to do so.
And no its not a couple hundred. 600 people work at that lab. So 3 people with seasonal illness out of 600 at one time is incredibly unremarkable.
Maybe you're right, let's see how it plays out.
Yes, but these were three staff who work with infectious diseases and so would not be expected to use hospital resources frivolously. In fact, they would be considered shirkers to do so for a cold. If a doctor at a hospital needs an aspirin he merely takes it - he doesn't check into the hospital, take a bed, etc.
Yes, but these were three staff who work with infectious diseases and so would not be expected to use hospital resources frivolously. In fact, they would be considered shirkers to do so for a cold. If a doctor at a hospital needs an aspirin he merely takes it - he doesn't check into the hospital, take a bed, etc.
Again, I don't think you understand the context. There is no claim they took a bed or took any resources beyond going to see a someone, not even necessarily a doctor, and then leaving, perhaps for as little as 30 minutes.
I don't see that they're necessarily using any resources in a detrimental way, I'd expect that if they were this practice would be curbed. It is China after all.
As for the cultural attitudes over doing this in Chinese virology labs, neither of us has any data for it to be any different from the general population. Personally if I had such a job and I was in a country where such a thing was normal I would do it.
Don't forget, for example, social pressure from friends and family.
But looking at the sibling comment, you'd have to be right about it being ordinary not for general citizens but for experts in infectious disease - which is unlikely. Those kinds of people don't seek treatment for a virus unless it's serious. They already know there is no treatment. I even know that and don't seek treatment, and I'm no expert.
Those are exactly the things a Chinese hospital will administer.
If you were presenting to a hospital with Covid beyond what you might feel for a flu, you would be reporting difficulty breathing or loss of smell and taste.
However, they had symptoms consistent with seasonal illness.
So it's pretty obvious that the typical Chinese reaction is the best fit.
You can assume they were seriously sick with COVID beyond anything a flu or cold is likely to do. We know that this means either anosmia, difficulty breathing, and low blood oxygenation, with viral pneumonia visible on X-Ray.
None of these symptoms that characterize COVID serious enough to require medical attention, more than what one would expect from a bad flu or a bad cold, are compatible with the report citing symptoms consistent with seasonal illness.
There are two other possibilities.
One is that they had seasonal illnesses that were serious enough to require some medical attention, but not COVID. This is consistent with the report, and not implausible. This is just as possible whether they have similar attitudes towards medical attention for seasonal illness as other staff.
The other is that they had seasonal illnesses that were not very serious, but sought medical attention anyways. This is expected to happen if virology staff have similar attitudes towards the issue as the rest of Chinese society.
No matter which way you slice it, there is no indication they had COVID. Even if you remain ambivalent on their behaviour.