Nobody knows a thing based on Chinese “statistics.” They lie about everything. Maybe they’re minimizing it, maybe they’re exaggerating it, who knows?
From what we have seen among Europeans or non-Asians who have gotten it, it seems to be about average flu death rate (about 2%, mostly among elderly people or people who have a history of some sort of lung or heart problems. It appears to be quite contagious, but it’s hard to say if it’s more contagious than any flu...a lot of people here have gotten flu vaccines, although apparently one of the flus for which they were vaccinated turned out not to be the flu that actually occurred...so it’s even hard to know that statistic.
Also, it does appear to hit Asians harder. I read that they have receptors in their lungs that much of the non-Asian population does not have, and the virus appears to have tailored itself to that, which is logical in virus-terms. That said, viruses mutate like mad to adapt themselves to the host, so this may not be a guarantee.
Still, panic is neither necessary nor helpful, and I get very suspicious when I see the hysteria mongers out there. It’s reasonable to worry a bit - I’m older and have had lung problems, so I’d probably be a prime target - but there’s nothing we can do except take reasonable precautions and hope they come up with a vaccine sooner rather than later.
“Also, it does appear to hit Asians harder.”
This might be true but it has not been scientifically established.
“It appears to be quite contagious, but it’s hard to say if it’s more contagious than any flu.”
The flu has a well established R0 of 1.3 and the *estimated* R0 for the corona virus is 6. Not 47, but well over that for the flu.
“Nobody knows a thing based on Chinese “statistics.” They lie about everything. Maybe they’re minimizing it, maybe they’re exaggerating it, who knows?”
They are probably way underreporting, given the other information out there and the illicit reports from inside Wuhan. One simple stat: based on reports of the activity at their crematoriums they have at least triple the normal body count and had to call in 40 extra industrial incinerators to deal with “medical waste”.
But you are right. Don’t panic. Prepare and be vigilant.