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human
CMV: I don't get why coronavirus from Wuhan is such a big deal

As far as I know:

\- Its symptoms mostly resemble that of an influenza. Most people who get it, are fine

\- People who die to it are old and sick, who can frankly die to many things that are not that dangerous to younger, healthier population (like heatwaves or common cold)

\- It doesn't seem to be particularly infectious, especially considering its origins. So far, 8,000 known cases out of a city of 11,000,000 people. That's less than 0.09% of the population of Wuhan. And most of the infected are in China

\- The fatality rate seems rather low too (around 200 so far). Which is about 2% of the people infected

\- It's pretty easy to prevent, just wash your hands well and often

Yet, everywhere, in every newspaper the top five news pieces are all about it. I understand that people hope it won't get any worse, but so far it seems like so much ado about nothing.

I do appreciate and understand that international health organisations are taking it seriously, like they should, and try to contain and study it. It's better to be safe than sorry. But to me, this panic seems to be blown out of proportions.
gpt
> The fatality rate seems rather low too (around 200 so far). Which is about 2% of the people infected

That's actually very high for a disease that has spread so rapidly. There are diseases with higher mortality rates (like ebola or rabis), but they tend to be more difficult to spread. The current reported mortality rate for this coronavirus puts it way over something more contagious like measles or the flu (with the exception of the 1918 flu). Think of it this way: if 10% of China were to be infected, the current mortality rate would mean around 3 million deaths.


> It doesn't seem to be particularly infectious, especially considering its origins. So far, 8,000 known cases out of a city of 11,000,000 people. That's less than 0.09% of the population of Wuhan. And most of the infected are in China

The outbreak is only 2 months old. The virus presumably recently made the jump from animal to human. We can expect the virus to evolve to become better able to transmit between humans, since the viruses that evolve in such a way will themselves spread faster. This is a stochastic process, since it relies on random mutations, so a sudden increase in virulence is probable if the outbreak goes on for long enough.

> People who die to it are old and sick

Average age has been 55 so far. That's not that old.