Oregon has first confirmed Covid-19 case
I really don&#x27;t get why people get so worried about this. Especially on a science oriented forum like HN.<p><i>At this moment</i>, even if we assume that there are 100 times more unreported cases than reported cases, the odds are so low that there is simply no reason to be worried, even if attending an international conference. It&#x27;s true that people do get sick, and die, and it can happen to anyone. But people also get into all types of unlikely accidents, and we don&#x27;t let this affect our daily life. Besides, symptoms are mild for most people. We&#x27;re not talking about Ebola here.<p>I&#x27;m blaming the media. They make a &quot;good&quot; job at reporting each new individual case, making you feel that &quot;this could be you&quot; but IMHO this is noise. What I want to know is, how are countries prepared, what steps will be followed if this gets out of control, what is currently the probability of catching the virus, what do we know about the virus, how could the situation evolve in one week, one month and so on....<p>There are effective ways to mitigate the virus propagation other than canceling all events and stopping our economy, with all the adverse consequences we can imagine. For instance, starting by following the recommendations from health organisations. Such as stay home when showing symptoms, washing hands and so on. This is <i>not</i> followed by most people in Europe (and I suspect the US too). I see people coughing all the time in public transportation (compared with Asia where people wear masks).<p>EDIT: I&#x27;m not saying that we shouldn&#x27;t be concerned or prepared, but I wouldn&#x27;t go beyond the recommendations from the CDC, and I think that catching the virus <i>now</i> is extremely unlikely.