9 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

When the 'post-mortem' of this global hysteria takes place, the verdict will be that there was a massive over-reaction that caused a huge impact to the global economy for no real benefit.

 

Just reading about some Korean car manufacturers laying off thousands of workers because they can't get wiring harnesses.  Fortunately, most companies were prepared for the coincidental production shutdowns due to the Chinese New Year, but it's not going to be pretty when that expected shutdown is extended, and logistics fall apart due to all the travel restrictions.

 

With the state of globalization and Just-In-Time inventory systems around the world, the reaction may throw the world into another depression.   Which would make the virus look pretty benign in comparison.

 

27 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

To put it into context, in the 17 years since SARS in 2003, about 6,200 days have passed.  That means about 620,000 people have died of flu in the USA just since SARS was first identified.  With China having 5x the population a reasonable estimate would be 3,000,000 flu deaths in China since SARS first came on the scene.  In that context, the 800 deaths by SARS and 900 deaths by MERS are a lot less scary than 3 million deaths by flu.  Regardless of the state of vaccines and medicines.

 

It's just that flu doesn't get the press (or the clicks) any more.

 

And there is extraordinary measures being taken to contain it.   Schools closed, factories closed, people quarantined in virtually every country where it appears.  

On 2/10/2020 at 2:57 AM, alanrchase said:

The flu kills an average of 1,000 people a day. No one seems too concerned about that. Malaria kills more. 

but they dont totally overwelm health services all in one go