That's called panic. Beijing has become a hollow city because everybody's gone all freaky, that's bad for the economy. On top of that our own media has created such a frenzy of paranoia that tourism to Asia has dropped to nil (again, very similar th FA in the summer of 2001) which is also bad for the economy. Something that hasn't even killed 300 people in 6 months worldwide simply does not warrant the paranoia SARS is generating. You were more likely to win the lottery in the last 6 months than die of SARS. Seriously overhyped.
You were more likely to win the lottery in the last 6 months than die of SARS.That is true for here so far, but not for Canada. The odds on winning the Lotto (the big prize) in my state is a bit less than one in 11 million. A random Canadian is about seven times more likely than that to have died of SARS in the last two months.
It has been overhyped, but underhyped in other ways. I have read, "how is this any different than other flus? Flu kills people every day."
Consider this--one family member comes down with a flu, dies of it, and two other family members also become infected and die from it. That is unheard of in "regular" flus.
Consider--SARS-infected patient shows up at ER, infects the nurse who treats him, both die. Unheard-of with "regular" flus.
Actual numbers of acute presentation remain low compared to "regular" flus.
Strange bug.