Coronavirus: Infection 'could reach 60% of population if unchecked' | Hacker News Reader

Coronavirus: Infection 'could reach 60% of population if unchecked'

theguardian.com

8 pointscharlysl4 comments

That graphic seems wildly out of sync with the tone of the article.

Everyone has been saying it's only two weeks away from doom for the last 6 weeks.

Caution is good but it's hilarious to watch in realtime how petrifiy people are. Practicing good hygiene should happen all the time, not just when the media scares people into it.

Everyone has been saying nothing of the type. A lot of people seem content in thinking it is only as bad as a mild cold. Other people prefer such platitudes as "if it happens it happens", while not even having more than a couple of days of food at home. As if taking some basic measures is a ridiculous idea. Still others believe this is a bioweapon, and the chinese government is burning hundreds of thousands of bodies and doom is upon us all.

I don't see the media trying to scare anyone, for the most part they are downplaying things.

Yeah, tens of thousands are infected, thousands of them in severe or critical condition, more than a thousand dead, hundreds of millions on lockdown while the virus continues to spread. Hilarious.

More people should be concerned and taking reasonable precautions. And that doesn’t just mean “basic hygiene”. This virus is spreading because it’s highly contagious, has a long incubation time, and can be spread by asymptotic carriers.

Should they be as concerned as the flu of which they they are far more likely to die of in the next year? Where does the greater risk lay in your mind?

Would you take bets on the common flu, which has vaccines, killing more this year than Coronavirus? I certainly would. Would mortgage the house on it.

> it’s highly contagious

As opposed to SARS, MERS, and again, the flu? Going to need a source on that.

Given how many people die annually of the flu, where are all these comments telling people about basic hygiene, banning international travel and avoiding all human contact where possible? Why don't they come out of the woodwork each and every year to warn us?

I'll present my hypothesis: it's because the news didn't tell them to worry about it.

The average human being is shockingly bad at accurately assessing risk. That's the average.

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