1. their analysis (virus mutations / differences in individual patients?) suggests it has been spreading in Washington state for some 6 weeks already;
2. "Our best current expectation is a few hundred current infections" (that's about WA only! not the entire USA) - it's not confirmed and identified cases, but the number suggested by virus variation; it's not like there's 6 patients who have all been "imported" or form a single clear cluster, they have been infected by some patients who have not been identified, have not been isolated, and have been spreading it in the cummunity.
To me the situation in Washington State seems very similar to where Italy was a week ago.
There is strong evidence that the Seattle area is where Italy was a week ago.
For context - what might have happened in WA could actually be a positive spin on the story. It would mean that the virus has been spreading for much longer than anticipated and the number of infected people might be 100x or 1000x the reported number. It's "positive" as it pushes the denominator up quite significantly, which would mean that the fatality rate is much closer to a "normal" Influenza than anything else.
If their profiling turns out to be correct - we're in a "much better situation" than we thought.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-us-reports-fir...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/world/coronavirus-news.ht...
Let’s try to keep discussion to facts, not fears.
It was published by the New York Times which is not a hysterical source.
From the linked article:
Washington State has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus, and researchers who studied two cases there say that the virus may have been spreading for weeks, with the possibility that up to 1,500 people may have been infected.
I’m taking this situation very seriously fwiw and agree with the assessment that there are a lot more cases than reported, and my personal feeling is that we’re two steps behind here in the US.
You always have the ability to cancel a reservation. You may just not get refunded.