Travel advisories, runs on masks and hand sanitizer, endless media reports of questionable news value — the current worldwide coronavirus outbreak appears to be tying people in knots. But really, how worried should you be?
Probably the best answer to that question would be — not as worried as everyone else seems to be. There are rumors, and there are facts, and the facts make this current outbreak a lot less scary than the rumors make it out to be.
Dr. Christopher Labos, a cardiologist and associate professor at McGill University, says first of all, part of the reason there's such a collective freakout is the sheer novelty of what's now known as COVID-19 — the coronavirus outbreak which originated in Wuhan, China during the latter part of the calendar year 2019.
"You have to remember, you're much more likely to get the flu, which is very very severe, and it's killed a lot more people than the coronavirus," Dr. Labos says. "There's a chance you can get it, most of the cases are probably going to be pretty mild, but because it's new, because it's something people aren't used to, it's causing a fair amount of anxiety which is probably not justified."
That's not to say people shouldn't take precautions, but there's a difference between taking precautions, and utter panic, which is something far too many people seem to be giving in to now.
"It's reasonable, if you're going to travel, to plan your travel based on what you're seeing with the virus," he says. "You might not want to travel to certain areas, like China, like Iran, like northern Italy. That's a reasonable precaution to take. But then you have some people saying, 'well, I'll never take an airplane.'"
As for surgical masks, Dr. Labos says they offer little, if any, protection from COVID-19. He also says your typical surgical mask can't be worn for more than about a half an hour at a time before the user starts to get uncomfortable. Also, if the mask doesn't fit properly, it's not really that effective.
Dr. Labos says the chances of contracting the virus is still low, and even if you do become infected, there's a possibility that you might just think you're dealing with the flu, or even the common cold.
"It's very difficult for people to know the difference without formally being tested," Dr. Labos says. "Because the vast majority of coronavirus infections are mild, and really just pass themselves off as mild viral illnesses, the person wouldn't know unless they were tested."
He suggests, too, that it's possible that some people may have contracted the illness, been laid up for a few days, and gotten better — all without realizing they were fighting off COVID-19.
The World Health Organization now says the death rate from COVID-19 is 3.4 per cent. Dr. Labos suggests that number — which was revised upward from 2 per cent on Thursday — might be a lot lower, considering the number of likely unreported cases.