The peak death count for influenza in the US for a year is 61000, which is the estimate for 2017-2018 season (all numbers from that year are still estimates, subject to change). That was from 810000 cases that were hospitalized, and 45 million total cases. I wold be very surprised if that many in the US end up with Covid-19. Too many precautions are already being undertaken for that kind of spread.
Being smart, and being hysterical are two different things. I dealt with hysterical...the rush to buy up all the masks, hoarding food, cancelling EVERYTHING (even my IIHF CCOA tournament at the end of April is still in danger). Common sense....good hygiene, masks when they make sense, covering sneezes/coughs, and so on. That is being smart.
I get folks are worried. I am trying to provide perspective. When the virus first broke the news, my wife was in the hospital for back surgery. They were doing Code Whites for every suspected case that came in. We were scared (her especially so). But we have learned to chill about it.
The original CDC estimates for 2017-2018 were 79,000 flu associated deaths in the US up until last week when they were apparently revised to 61,000. Again mostly the immunocompromised like the elderly and very young.
I think perspective is good, and most people are being too panicky, but you don't want to go too far and act like it's not a big deal or give the implication that it's just like the normal flu with a different name. That is what they told people during the Spanish Flu epidemic (even though they knew it wasn't true) which had about the same 2% fatality rate, and it caused people to not take it seriously, and likely led to more deaths than it needed to.
I don't think people should be overly panicked at this point, but we need to be careful about making predictions as to how many people could contract this. It's simply too early to know. There could be tens of thousands of people walking around with it, not even aware that they have it, and may not develop any strong symptoms, but they could spread it to those whose immune system isn't very strong and be an issue.
The US hasn't been as prepared as they should be for this, for a variety of reasons. Many of them due to political decisions and cuts to the CDC. They don't have enough adequate test kits to even test people so they can't diagnose them properly. The original test kits that were sent out were faulty and inconclusive and the States weren't allowed to use their own test kits they designed in house because it was declared a public health emergency, which meant they needed to be approved by the FDA.
Plus they sent US officials to Wuhan and other quarantined areas to help get evacuees out, but a whistleblower has alleged they didn't receive the proper training and weren't give the proper equipment to prevent contracting the disease themselves.
It's a bit of a mess right now, but that doesn't mean people need to panic. They just need to stay informed, and the government needs to make sure they're telling people the truth. Which is a concern at the moment, because of the president we have, and because he just called it a democrat hoax, since he's taking some heat for their response so far, and because it's affecting the stock market he takes credit for all the time.
FYI, most of the masks you see people wearing are pretty useless against this and most things. The N95 mask is what health professionals are suggesting, but they have to be properly fitted to work effectively. Not that I'm suggesting the average person needs to buy one.
In short, don't panic, wash your hands, and try to stay informed. If you're a healthy adult under 65 years old, there isn't anything right now to suggest you should be overly worried, but you should take precautions so you don't help spread it further to those with weaker immune systems who may be at risk.
