While you have every right to be concerned with the new coronavirus and concerned for all the people affected by it, you shouldn’t let yourself get too worked up about the virus.
The outbreak is serious, but if you’re living in the United States, the odds are that the everyday flu is a much more serious risk to your health. The mortality rate for flu-like illnesses and pneumonia stands at around 7 percent in the US, paling in comparison to the 11 cases of coronavirus that have been documented in the US, which resulted in no deaths.
Although a new viral outbreak is scary, it’s important to remember that the United States has been preparing to combat such an outbreak and learned many lessons from the 2002 SARS epidemic.
We at the Optimist Daily recognize that this story is more of a dose of realism rather than optimism, but at a time where hysteria about the virus is building up in the media, we think it’s important our readers get a more straightforward perspective about the virus in order to avoid feeling overly stressed about it.
