Maggie's Farm

I see no reason to raise my threat level unless there is a clear and evident direct threat.

But as a Boy Scout, I'm also always prepared.

I don't see preparing as being 'worrying' or 'panicking'. It's just good, judicious use of time. Stock up on essentials and non-perishables at otherwise meaningful or useful moments. Not when everyone is flooding Costco and going nuts.

As for today's current freak-out...I'm still waiting for the information to prove this is a true 'threat'. Our lives in the West are sufficiently different from those overpacked, polluted and undernourished Chinese regions that are currently suffering.

Remember, they've been suffering a shortage of protein sources for 5 months and their air is almost unbreathable. So any respiratory illness will be bad - particularly with the elderly.

Could it be bad here? Maybe. But our antenna are up, people are taking precautions at a much higher rate, and our medical capabilities are at a much higher level. So I'm concerned, but not alarmed.

Even if it hits a 2% mortality rate, which would be very high, I don't think it will have the same infection level OR at the very least we'll see more asymptomatic cases.

But you can expect people to freak out, now that test kits are being delivered, as they find out that the # of infected isn't 30, but 30,000. Oh, nevermind that most of them are fine...it's the fear of large numbers that the media will have to play up.