Good God. 37,000 die of the flu each year and insurance companies don't go under. Some of you people really need to get outside and get some fresh air.
Can you stop with this irresponsible attitude? Please? COVID 19 is not the flu it is SARS. You're comparing apples to walnuts. And as one of those in the demographic of those likely to die from it your words are extremely hurtful and I would expect much better from this forum.
This is not about the mortality rate, of which we cannot be sure of yet though, numbers are showing that 1 out of every 10 with COVID 19 will die vs 1 in every 1000 that die from the flu.
It causes pneumonia, and people like me with asthma and existing respiratory issues ARE dying from it no matter our age. The 65+ age group is still at high risk but recent numbers in many areas are showing hospitalizations are nearly 50% 50 and under.
The infection rate is much higher than the flu. Someone with COVID 19 will infect 2.5 others vs someone with flu infecting 1.2 others. Also 15% of cases were spread by someone not showing symptoms. The incubation period is much longer than the common flu and average hospital stays are nearly doubled that of the flu (11 days vs 5-6 days). This is causing a strain on hospitals as they are running out of beds and ventilators. Which is why the mortality rate has climbed in Italy. Doctors have to turn patients away even if they are dying because their poor response has put them in the position of having to choose who lives. NY is going to peak in early May and will be 50k+ beds short. That's a lot of sick people that would have no place to go. Hopefully the lockdown wasnt too late and they can curve that.
Basic math can tell you this is 10x more lethal than flu. And, again, the bigger concern is the aggressive rate at which this spreads and HOW long it can spread. Not only could someone be going 5-11 days whilst still spreading it but you are still contagious for the same time period AFTER you stop showing symptoms. The flu is contagious for 3-5 days.
One person with it, symptoms or not will spread it to 2.5 others. Those 2 people spread it each to 2 others and then those people spread it to 2 others. That's already 15 people from just one person with your attitude going out to a crowded place. Think about how fast it would get out of hand at a fully packed theme park.
So I guess I get to be quarantined for the next 18 months til a vaccine is prepared while the rest of life goes on because of the ignorance and stubbornness of people like you? It's ok for me to die because I already have underlying conditions? Or it's ok for my mom to die because she will be dead in 18 months anyways because of her age according to you?
EDIT: I had a typo in there. Mortality rate is predicted at 10 out of every thousand for COVID 19 vs 1 out of every thousand for the flu. Apologies.