Additionally, a lot of people care for the very young and the very old, and they’re not comforted with the sentiment, “well, if you’re healthy you’ll live,”
And I'm going to be frank: the very young and very old could just as easily die of influenza and the people who care for the very young and very old are not, for the most part, even screening for flu shots. I have trouble mustering the emotional energy to care for their fear of the scary black swan when they're standing in a flock of white ones that are themselves dangerous.
No, it is more because SARS was only communicable when the patient was at their worst. This can spread during all phases.
The mortality is lower than SARS but much higher than the flu.
To put it in real terms. If you take the number of people you ever met in your life and gave them a bad flu you might find one who dies. Compare that to taking your mother/father/brothers and immediate families and giving them corona where at least one would die. Compared to SARS where someone in your immediate family would die or ebola where either you or your wife would die.
There is evidence that the study claiming the virus can be transmitted by people without symptoms was flawed.[1]
Also, according to that article, even if asymptomatic people transmit the virus "asymptomatic transmission likely plays a minor role in the epidemic overall, WHO says. People who cough or sneeze are more likely to spread the virus, the agency wrote in a situation report on Saturday."
[1] - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/paper-non-symptomati...
I was in this region both during SARS and now. It's very clear from your comments that you weren't really paying attention during SARS and you're misinformed now.
More people have already been infected by this coronavirus than the entire cumulative SARS infections to date. There have been more deaths too, despite its relatively "low" virulence.
> And I'm going to be frank: the very young and very old could just as easily die of influenza
No. This is completely false. Please stop.
A seasonal flu kills 2 per 100k infected and this virus kills ~2,000 per 100k infected. SARS was much more lethal but this is not a garden variety influenza and telling people it is is actively harmful.