The flu kills 20,000 or so in the US every year out of 20 million or so cases. 0.1%
Heart disease kills 650,000 or so every year in the US out of (essentially) 20 million cases. 3.25%
We know this and expect it. We work to solve it and save/extend lives.
But now there is a threat that some new thing that is killing somewhere between 2 and 15 percent of the people that get it, fills up hospitals to the point they collapse when it runs rampant, is 4 or 5 times as contagious as the flu and kills at the same rate as heart disease (at least, but maybe as much as 5 times as lethal). Heart disease kills 1/4 of the people that die in the US every year. Imagine the Wuhanic Plague being added to the mix.
People that are not taking this seriously are fools.
The average stay in an ICU bed with this virus (we need to stop calling it a flu) appears to be between 14-20 days.
No one reading this thread has that many ICU beds near them in ANY normalFebruary/March.
The heads in the sand folks like to think themselves sensible and “wise.” They are thinking of their city/town, they literally do not care about what happens to people in the world. The scream USA, talk about how we are superior.
The virus doesn’t think these people are superior. The virus don’t care.
If too many get COVID -19 at once, there won’t be enough isolation beds or ICU intubation beds to deal with this in addition to the flu. Flu season here really sucks up all the beds. Plus, you really don’t want to put something that contagious in with other sick people. Cross infection of each other.