Coronavirus is not new ... look at the side of your Lysol wiped purchased last year and read the things it kills and you'll notice corona in that list ... what we're seeing is a newly identified strain.
Perspective is needed when it comes to COVID19. Illness from this particular strain was first documented in China around New Years and is up to approximately 120,000 diagnosed cases globally ... with 4300 deaths (3.6% fatality rate among confirmed cases) across the past eighty or so days. That death rate is high but also based on an unknown denominator as testing for this strain has been limited globally ... there is no way of accurately measuring the number of undiagnosed positives across the globe which would bring that rate down if included.
Approximately
80% of cases so far fall into the mild category, with around 6% experiencing critical illness. Fatalities are heavily weighted towards the older population, especially those with existing conditions. In the US, 14 of the 29 deaths (per CDC numbers as of 11 Mar) were linked to elderly patients at one facility in Washington state ... average age of those dying reportedly around 80 years old. Be cognizant of your age and health status and take additional precautions as needed but at the same time be realistic about what this virus does to the vast majority of diagnosed patients ... fever, cough, tiredness with no special treatment needed for the vast majority of cases (per the WHO).
The guidance is to wash one's hands, keep distance from people (stay out of their bubble), don't go into public or work if sick. The same guidance applies to the flu every single year ... and gets ignored every single year as we pass the influenza virus among the population and kill off tens of thousands of people from that bug annually. IF common sense were truly common then we wouldn't have to keep telling people to apply it.
A brief timeline of this strain:
Event background COVID-19