The developments are startling. Over the last week, the official number of coronavirus 2019-nCoV cases has doubled every day, and yesterday the WHO declared this a Global Health Emergency. While most cases (10,000+) are confined to China, the early death rate stands at 2-4 percent and as of today, 27 nations are reporting infections.
What danger does coronavirus actually pose to you? Perspective is important. Consider another viral infection with many similarities: influenza. Since October 2019, some 15 million Americans have become infected and greater than 8,500 have perished. At the moment, the risk of dying from a lightning strike (1 in 161,856) is greater than dying from coronavirus. However, this new infection has serious potential to become a worldwide calamity, parallel to the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918.
How can you protect yourself from coronavirus infection? This is a disease spread via respiratory droplets. So, everything we know about the common cold also applies to prevention of coronavirus, especially hand washing, avoiding contact with ill person, staying home if ill, and reporting to a healthcare facility if no improvement. Let us not take such simple measure to mean today’s Global Health Emergency is unwarranted. In our international airline world, a pandemic could emerge within just days.
