For the last month and a half, the corona virus has been in the news. Apparently, for almost a month before that, the Chinese authorities knew about the virus but tried to keep it quiet. In the last ten days, the virus has suddenly become big news in the USA as the stock market has tanked in fear of it. So how bad is the virus right now?
Without consulting anything else do you think
A. The virus has spread around the world, continues to accelerate its spread and is killing many people wherever it goes;
B. The virus is still mainly in China but new cases are popping up with increasing frequency around the world; or
C. The virus is still mainly in China with cases also around the world, but the rate of increase is slowing.
D. It's clearly the end of human civilization as we know it.
If you watch much of the mainstream media, you may think that D is the proper choice, but it's not. The actual reality is C. According to statistics kept by the public health people at Johns Hopkins, there are 89,198 confirmed cases world wide of the virus. Of these, over 80,000 are in mainland China. That's just about 90% still in China. Also as of this morning, Johns Hopkins reports 3048 deaths around the world attributed to the virus. Of these, 2900 are in China. The other areas with substantial numbers of deaths are Iran (54 dead), Italy (34 dead) and South Korea (26 dead). That leaves 34 in the rest of the world. The same statistics show that the virus is still spreading, but the rate of growth in new cases is slowing.
Let's not confuse things; the virus is a serious problem. But let's try to focus on the virus with a little bit of sense. While things will continue to get worse for a bit, this virus does not merit the panicked response it is getting. The media ought to tone down their stories; it may not be the best for ratings, but it is essential for the sanity of many.
Without consulting anything else do you think
A. The virus has spread around the world, continues to accelerate its spread and is killing many people wherever it goes;
B. The virus is still mainly in China but new cases are popping up with increasing frequency around the world; or
C. The virus is still mainly in China with cases also around the world, but the rate of increase is slowing.
D. It's clearly the end of human civilization as we know it.
If you watch much of the mainstream media, you may think that D is the proper choice, but it's not. The actual reality is C. According to statistics kept by the public health people at Johns Hopkins, there are 89,198 confirmed cases world wide of the virus. Of these, over 80,000 are in mainland China. That's just about 90% still in China. Also as of this morning, Johns Hopkins reports 3048 deaths around the world attributed to the virus. Of these, 2900 are in China. The other areas with substantial numbers of deaths are Iran (54 dead), Italy (34 dead) and South Korea (26 dead). That leaves 34 in the rest of the world. The same statistics show that the virus is still spreading, but the rate of growth in new cases is slowing.
Let's not confuse things; the virus is a serious problem. But let's try to focus on the virus with a little bit of sense. While things will continue to get worse for a bit, this virus does not merit the panicked response it is getting. The media ought to tone down their stories; it may not be the best for ratings, but it is essential for the sanity of many.
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