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Hundreds of thousands die from flu every year in a relatively compressed period. Only people who need to be in hospitals are those who need intubation. Everyo

• Lewton 7y ago
  Do you honestly think that a country would close down the government if it was "just another flu"? Really? The population has immunization to the flu, it doesn't spread that quickly. (It spreads quickly, but not -that- quickly) The flu is deadly, but not as deadly as corona We already HAVE the flu season going on, so this is on top of the flu Everyone will get sick no matter what, but how many people are sick at the same time makes an insane difference. Given what is happening right now in Italy, I can't believe anyone would still go "it's just the flu"
• adventured 7y ago
  The death numbers are only one component of the problem. The other problem is the 10-15% ICU rate. That swamps healthcare systems. Italy's healthcare system has nearly collapsed in the north, from just 12,000 positive cases so far. They're having to let patients die, which is why their mortality rate is so extremely high. The Lombardy region has one of the better rated healthcare systems on the planet and it can't handle what's happening. Unconstrained, Italy's healthcare system nationwide would collapse rapidly as their cases ballooned into the many tens of thousands. I'm not picking on Italy here, merely using them as a clear example of how serious this is. Every country should be treating this like a severe, immediate threat to their healthcare system continuing to function.