Hundreds lined up outside Costco stores on both coasts to buy food, water and other essentials amid Coronavirus fears as 2nd death in U.S. is confirmed.
Americans as far away as Hawaii were in panic mode, stripping store shelves bare of water and bread. Costco stores in Washington state, where the first Coronavirus death was reported last week, purchased every pallet of water and toilet paper.
@WFANTrades
Costco.
In Brooklyn.
8:58 this morning.
It opens at 9.
As if the damn apocalypse will be upon us by this afternoon.
?? pic.twitter.com/ut9Nblv8eV— Sitesh Shah (@SSWfan) February 29, 2020
9am at Costco in San Jose.
Workers were baffled by the lines and said it's only like this at Christmas.
Water is now gone, as is Theraflu and other basic necessities.All I wanted to get was dog food. ???? #coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/7SdTRKTqbB
— theRzaSays…VOTE! (@theRza2u) February 29, 2020
A YouTube video showed hundreds of people standing in the freezing cold outside a Costco store at 9 a.m. in Brooklyn, NY, on Saturday.
Another video shows panic shoppers grabbing economy size rolls of toilet paper off shelves at a Costco store in Seattle, Washington.
WATCH: Lines wrap around a Seattle Costco as local health officials announce 2 more cases of #COVID19 in the vicinity, raising the total number to 6 confirmed cases in King County according to the Seattle Times pic.twitter.com/xgHSdt7soo
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) March 2, 2020
President Trump urged people to remain calm on Friday, but his words fell on deaf ears.
Despite earlier reports of hundreds of deaths in China alone, the Wuhan coronavirus (aka Covid-19) has not turned out to be the deadly pathogen that some experts had predicted.
The typical flu virus, for which there is a vaccine, has killed over 14,000 people so far in the U.S. alone.
19 million Americans have been sickened by the flu and 40,000 are expected to die by the time flu season is over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Yet no one is panicking over catching the flu.
Honey, let's go down to Costco before it gets busy with corona virus shoppers…What the….? #Coronavirustruth #coronavirusus #SundayThoughts PLS don't fall for the 24/7 news panic. pic.twitter.com/gMo2om2MYk
— Bob WWG1WGA MAGAveteran (@pink_slips) March 1, 2020
The coronavirus kills 1% of infected people globally. Most of the deaths are elderly people and those with weakened immune systems.
Influenza virus and Covid-19 are highly contagious virus that cause serious respiratory problems. But Covid-19 also attacks the heart and kidneys – two organs that express ACE2 enzymes, which the virus needs to enter human cells.
Black people of African descent have less ACE2 enzymes than Caucasians. So we are not at risk. Children have much less ACE2 than we do, so they are not affected. No child under age 10 has died from the coronavirus anywhere in the world.
Most people infected with the coronavirus have recovered. The coronavirus has killed a grand total of 2 people in the U.S. – yet people are in panic mode.
I live in the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Washington State. My advice for those elsewhere – go to Costco now. Thousands of people at local stores yesterday – not where you want to be if there is a virus spreading. Glad I went a week ago.
— Brian K (@briankSEA) March 1, 2020
Even if the coronavirus kills 1,000 more people in the U.S. (which isn’t likely to happen) – that statistic would still pale in comparison to deaths caused by the typical flu virus in America.
The CDC offers the following tips to avoid spreading the flu or Covid-19 virus: wash your hands frequently with soap for at least 20 seconds; don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands; avoid close contact with sick people; stay home if you are sick; clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, refrigerator handles, etc.
