Question: What is your opinion on the coronavirus?

James Lees answered on 15 Mar 2020:

I think it’s bad.

But in seriousness it’s a large health problem. It’s not as deadly as things like the Spanish Flu or the plague. It’s something the modern world hasn’t faced before.

The main issue seems to me to be that for the majority of people it’s really quite mild. With diseases like Swine Flu, SARS and Ebola if you catch it you’re going to know about it and you’re going to know about it fast.

For Covid-19 most people if they catch it wont even know they have it, or they will just have a bad cold. This means that they will go about daily life unknowingly spreading it (this is why lots of things are shutting down). So whilst the majority of the population will be absolutely fine its really really easy for it to reach vulnerable people (elderly people or those with underlying conditions) where something like Ebola can be relatively easily quarantined so it doesn’t spread the coronavirus can just keep going because people don’t know they have it so keep spreading it.

A normal, healthy teenager currently has very little to fear from the disease. It’s the fact that it spreads so easily to reach those that it can hurt that is the problem.