- The Wuhan Virus is very contagious. It is far less contagious than the measles, but more contagious than the flu, as the graph below shows:
- It is deadlier than the flu, but is not equally deadly to all age groups without underlying co-morbidities. The chart below from the CDC shows deaths by week attributed to COVID-19, but I would take this with a grain of salt, as it is obvious death rates are being exaggerated (if you are 24 years old, have COVID-19, and are killed in a MVA, there are places counting that as a COVID-19 death) It is also worth noting that the number of people being tested for antibodies showing past infection has been rising as more people are being tested, yet numbers of deaths are not increasing at the same rate, which is driving the mortality rate downward overall. There were reports (still parroted even by some here on FR) that the overall mortality rate is 3.5%, but more recent analyis shows it to be 0.5% or below.
- The vast majority of people infected by COVID-19 display little or no symptoms.
With all that being said, it isn't the same as the flu, but it also isn't worth destroying the economy of the world and our country over, destroying businesses, and bankrupting ourselves by paying $600 a week to people who are no longer contributing the the productivity of our economy.
It is currently being used as a tool by the Left (who have done an effective job politically boxing in the current administration to approve monetary payments, keep industry limited, etc) to decay the economy, to make people anxious, uncertain, nervous, and depressed, with the end goal of inducing people to vote for change in November. I don't think it will work, since most people understand at a fundamental level that things were going well before an act of God (er, I mean, Communist China) hit the world.