Should We Be Worried About The Coronavirus?

Long time readers may have noted that I've often downplayed past outbreaks of Ebola, MERS and SARS. Although I've reported on these past outbreaks, they never seemed to reach a critical mass sufficient to be concerned that they would develop into a pandemic. Some have raised the same point in regard to the current coronavirus outbreak in China. For instance, Michael Fumento of the New York Post warns readers, "Don’t buy the media hype over the new China virus." He notes, for instance, that:

... there appears to be nothing very special about this outbreak of the 2019-nCoV or Wuhan ­virus. It should actually be called the DvV, or Déjà vu Virus, because we have been through these hysterias before. Over and over. Heterosexual AIDS, Ebola repeatedly, the H1N1 swine flu that was actually vastly milder than the regular flu and, especially, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

And comparing this to the regular flu outbreaks we experience, the current virus seems small time. Fumento points out, for instance, that a couple flu seasons ago, about 80,000 Americans died of the flu. And although the vast number of people never seek hospital attention for influenza, of those that do, "the regular flu death rate is 8.5 percent to 17 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — considerably higher than for Wuhan." Conversely, the latest numbers I've seen indicates that the Wuhan virus has killed 56 and infected 2,000 worldwide. 

     So if the Wuhan virus appears to be no more dangerous than the flu, why be worried? Perhaps there is nothing to be worried about. But what caught my attention about this outbreak was how rapidly it spread from China to other countries, the Chinese government's reaction to the outbreak, and the rapid changes in what information was released about the virus. For instance, within days of hearing about the outbreak, we were already hearing reports of it showing up in foreign countries; the Chinese government quickly moved to quarantine a city of 11 million people and has since widened the quarantine to tens of millions more; the virus was originally spread through coughing and mucus like most respiratory diseases, but we've since learned that it can be caught through the eyes, that it can be transmitted by carriers before symptoms arise. Thus, we have no idea how rapidly it is spreading or how many people have been infected.

    Anyway, the latest news:

• "FOURTH US case of conronavirus is confirmed as second patient tests positive in California after government warns it CAN'T evacuate all Americans from epicenter in China's Wuhan."
• ""Thermonuclear, Pandemic-Level Bad" - Harvard Epidemiologist Warns Viral Outbreak Might Get A Lot Worse." 
• "More boots on the ground in Wuhan: Mask-wearing soldiers roll into locked-down city with 14,000 hazmat suits as part of huge operation to build two hospitals and contain deadly outbreak."
• "Doctor at hospital in Wuhan dies after treating patients with coronavirus."
• "British experts are 'extremely worried' after China says deadly coronavirus is contagious BEFORE symptoms even begin to show - as outbreak kills 56 and infects 2,000 worldwide."
• "Coronavirus quarantine centre is FIRE-BOMBED: Hong Kong rioters torch housing complex as city BANS anyone who has set foot in Hubei in last 14 days from entering."
• "Is Beijing suppressing the true scale of infections? Nurse treating coronavirus sufferers in China claims 90,000 people have already been infected."