Concern is justified.
Then there is justified concern over the financial blowback. Gee! I wonder how the bowling alley the NYC doctor visited this week is doing financially this week. What is the impact of a reduced number of elective surgeries scheduled at the Dallas hospital is having?
Absolutely!
We have already seen what a handful of cases can do to our hospitals: infected nurses; HCWs calling in sick or just not showing up; hazardous waste disposal issues; and as you noted, surgeries being canceled. Not to mention the ravaging of the reputation of the hospital.
Then there is the community reaction. Look at what happened with the schools where children who either flew on the same flight- or whose parents flew on the same flight as Amber Vinson. Now imagine this becoming a more widespread outbreak. Our whole economy would plummet. Schools would close, as would shopping malls and anywhere people gathered in large numbers. It would be devastating to small businesses.
We (collective we) like to think that we would handle this so much better than “those Africans”, but I see what has transpired so far, and I sincerely doubt that. Oh, we may not wash and touch the dead like they do, but we can deny our symptoms and jump in the car or bus to get some flu meds from the local grocery or drugstore— or go bowling. We can be (not unjustifiably) fearful of our government and quarantines, and we can be just as ignorant about how dangerous this virus is. Certainly some of our supposed “experts” seem to be.
There is just a little too much arrogance in our officials about our ability to handle an outbreak that makes me very uncomfortable. Yes, concern is very justified.
I pray that we are able to keep this contained to very few isolated cases.