But many countries have stopped counting mild cases, and how many asymptomatic cases are out there already? I don't know if any modelling has been done, but the true mortality rate could be much, much lower -- perhaps even lower than a pandemic flu. [0]
But in South Korea, they didn't just test people with symptoms; they tested anybody and everybody suspected of having contacts in certain region. Mortality rate is still significantly higher than common flu.
It's 0.6% based on 42 deaths out of 6,284 confirmed cases out of 158,000 tests out of a population of 51 million. The flu is 0.1%, but COVID-19's mortality rate very easily could still be significantly overstated.
I'd be careful trying to gauge levels of respect based on a rhyme - And I'd be even more careful trying to assess the deathrate this early in the process.