At this point in time, based on the available data, this is much more media hysteria than a true emergency. Unless China is completely fabricating the numbers, this particular strain of coronavirus does not appear to be significantly more virulent than typical strain. It does not approach the severity of SARS or MERS and as of now has a transmission rate (R0 to keep it simple) that is somewhat high, but still much lower than SARS.
This could change. It could hit a huge population center, mutate and become more severe/transmissible. China could be drastically underreporting and we already have an emergency. I think both of those are unlikely.
15 posts on your part. A link to a Yahoo article and zero facts to back your paranoia. Plenty is known. The entire virus genome has been sequenced. Mortality and reproduction rates have been calculated and are continuing to be updated.
I know science and statistics aren’t going to change your mind. You can continue to ignore them.
The medical experts have advised against shaking hands with people. When Trump and Pence were asked whether they would continue to shake hands? Their answers were yes they would continue.
Medical experts said that people should exercise social distancing. Did Trump, Pence and the doctors in his task force exercise social distancing during their press conferences?
Even if one accepts your assertion that a younger person generally won’t have any complications what happens to those that the younger person infects and the ones who are subsequently infected?
How much is human life worth to you?
To the federal government, for regulatory analysis purposes, it’s generally considered to be in the $7-9M range. Let’s say $7M. Estimate 100,000 coronavirus deaths when all is said and done (although I’ve seen MUCH higher estimates). The break-even point for a cost-benefit analysis in this scenario would be $700B, or about one year’s defense budget, based on the loss of life alone. However, that doesn’t take into account the economic losses stemming from a major outbreak like this. I’m sure the stock market alone has lost TRILLIONS already, and hospitality and travel industries in particular will be losing billions if not more. Then figure on lost productivity, lost educational time, overwhelming of hospitals, and a host of other coronavirus-related losses. What has a better ROI in terms of the common welfare, military $$ or pandemic preparedness $$? Can we really afford NOT to have this capability?
LucyLou
