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Novel Coronavirus: I Was Wrong Before, It Is Deadlier Than Seasonal Flu
With so much misinformation, it is important to get the facts straight. Still, I’m not panicking
I had written that we should not panic about the Novel Coronavirus amid the scary headlines. Well, A LOT has happened since that post. Unlike the financial markets, we still should not panic. Panic only leads to chaos and misinformation, and this is the worst reaction we can have to his new threat to public health.
That said, it is also very important to understand the facts. I wrote that the seasonal flu was deadlier than this Coronavirus. I was wrong. It is actually way deadlier than the seasonal flu. When the CDC calculates mortality rates, including pneumonia, then the rate is about 7%. The case fatality rate from influenza itself is actually quite low (way less than 1%), even though flu can still be quite deadly, and we need to get a flu vaccine every single year.
Even though this virus is deadlier than seasonal flu or the Spanish flu, I am still not panicking.
The death rate from the coronavirus, however, is much higher: anywhere between 4–15%, as the CDC reports on its website. This number, however, is misleading…
