Do you think the coronavirus threat is being over-hyped?
I think the coronavirus is a pandemic within the news media. It’s all over the internet. It’s all over the major television networks. And it’s overloading my email inbox. Consider the following from my inbox —
Here’s a NewsMax article which links to an Australian National University article, which in turn links to a study of possible coronavirus scenarios. The study suggests that the best-case scenario for the development of the coronavirus will be nearly equivalent to the 1918 influenza pandemic (which killed 17 million people).
Here’s an excerpt from NewsMax —
One best-case-scenario study suggests the coronavirus is going to ultimately kill 15 million people and make a $2.4 trillion hit to world gross domestic product.
Australian National University looked at seven scenarios of how the global outbreak might impact humanity and world GDP, using a statistical model based on the Hong Kong flu from 1968 to 1969 that killed an estimated 1 million.
Here’s a link to the Australian National University article —
And here’s a link to the actual study paper (.pdf, 44 pages) –
https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/f608a96a-ca11-4a06-99ec-adb478629363/-/inline/no/
More of my opinion —
Sadly, news organizations everywhere in the world survive and prosper on fear, panic, frustration, and despair caused by emergencies, tragedies, disasters, and epidemics.
To the extent that the news media can create or hype those things, increased viewership, resulting in increased ad revenue, drives profit straight to their bottom lines.
The coronavirus is a fabulous profit-center for the news outlets.
I, for one, am sick and tired of being sold what they are selling — that the sky is falling, and it’s the end of modern civilization as we know it.
This virus will die out. If it comes back year after year, by then we will have vaccines to combat it. In the meantime, boost your immune system, keep your distance from people, and turn off the damn news.
What’s your opinion?