>> Well, it is bad information and poorly informed speculation. I agree, but this is just the information that the vast majority of the public is receiving fro

>> Well, it is bad information and poorly informed speculation. I agree, but this is just the information that the vast majority of the public is receiving from the media. Perhaps you should direct your displeasure in that direction. >> It's sequenced already. There's a reasonable R0 for it. There are patients that have gone through the entire lifecycle of the disease while under observation. There's already a RT-PCR test for it. It has known similarities to existing coronavirii that are well understood. Major publications are not smacking you over the head with jargon like R0 or RT-PCR tests. Those words mean nothing to most people. What matters is relatable things: how does this impact my travel plans, what precautions should my co-worker take on his business trip to China next week (literally). >> Don't be a conspiracy theorist, particular when the "unknowns" are just - and there is no nicer way to put this - ignorance of internationally sourced public epidemiological data. Is this not exactly the problem here? The government's response to the outbreak was slow, with reports of local officials suppressing information. When information became available, it was factually incorrect (human-to-human transmission) and propagated. The way this played out is remarkably similar to SARS. And much like SARS, the credibility of the government handling the outbreak has significantly harmed the public's trust. There is much reason to believe that the Chinese government is not being forthcoming with information. >> If someone can't intelligently process news about this topic, they shouldn't add to the already large level of concern and confusion about it. The question was "why /this/ level of isolation is necessary". He answered that question by saying "we don't know how bad it could be". He isn't shouting off the top of a roof to distrust the CDC.