Edit: Apparently my sarcasm wasn't thick enough so let me make my point crystal: COVID-19 is a real, genuine threat that's just getting started, but HN is filled with armchair fuckwits [1][2] who dismiss it because they lack simple math skills.
Not to mention if the outbreak escalated it will become Spanish-flu V2 then we are talking about 10 of millions people dying, and hundreds of thousands dying in US alone.
COVID19 is probably the most disastrous disease in our lives, assuming most of us haven’t been through Spanish flu. It almost felt like this virus is tailored to live with us.
I will take no chance and do the protections from my part as careful as possible
Anybody who is willing to pass (IMHO) bad-faith judgments on well-intentioned users should be also willing to answer these sorts of questions.
We have a major testing kit shortage right now. China and Iran have been covering up how bad the case was and suppressed information about it's spread early on. We haven't been reacting enough. What we need right now is a clear eyed understanding of the risks this causes for the health of the populace (just because it's only so far proving a particularly dangerous concern in the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions doesn't mean those deaths count any less and that reactions should be any less strong). We're already seeing the economic impacts as work and exports grind to a halt as people are staying in quarantine if they are sick to avoid putting the vulnerable in danger. And these testing shortages mean we don't know the full extent of the disease spread.
So no, we aren't overreacting. If the response is successful, then we'll max out at a couple dozen dead. That doesn't mean the disease wasn't a big deal, that means that the reaction worked to contain it.
All of the coronavirus deaths have been people that were going to die anyway. (Edited to clarify: we all do, at least currently.)
The vast majority of them have been people that were going to die soon, if not of coronavirus then of something else.
Is the mass panic really sensible in the face of this?
Yes, all the doctors in China in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who died were just gonna die anyways, so who cares? For that matter, everyone's going to die, so it really doesn't matter, right? I'm hoping my sarcasm is apparent in my tone here, but if not; your argument is both counter-factual and full of fallacy.
> The vast majority of them have been people that were going to die soon, if not of coronavirus then of something else.
Again, this is BS.
> Is the mass panic really sensible in the face of this?
Panic isn't, but taking quick, decisive, and committed action is the only way that a crisis can be averted. If you don't understand this, I imagine you haven't had to deal with life or death decisions before. This all may blow over, but the facts DO NOT support that outlook. They all point to a bend in the hockey stick, and if we don't have a strong plan of action to mitigate this, people you know, and people I know, will die.
If you believe the second sentence is BS, please provide evidence.
Glad you agree. I imagine most of those doctors in their 20s-40s had at least 40 years of life left. Really interesting to hear that half a lifetime fits in your definition of "soon".
> If you believe the second sentence is BS, please provide evidence.
See my statement above, which extrapolates on a fact that you agree is "irrefutable".
Feel free to respond to my third paragraph as well, so as not to avoid the most important issue in this argument.
Life is a terminal condition, Jack Handey.
Anyway, this isn't Reddit and I'll refrain from further responses so as to be respectful to the netiquette of this site.
Which is to deeply inhale one’s own farts and declare them delightful.
He had reason to believe the stercoraceous flavour, condemned by prejudice as a stink, was, in fact, most agreeable to the organs of smelling; for, that every person who pretended to nauseate the smell of another’s excretions, snuffed up his own with particular complacency; for the truth of which he appealed to all the ladies and gentlemen then present.
This is true of literally every cause of death. It's a meaningless tautology.
I guess there is _some_ information there, but really not a lot.