3 ms·
I view COVID-19 as relatively uniquely able to become a global pandemic. 1. Delayed onset of symptoms. That you can spread the disease for a couple days before
by ansible 5y ago
I view COVID-19 as relatively uniquely able to become a global pandemic.
1. Delayed onset of symptoms. That you can spread the disease for a couple days before you first have symptoms has caused so much spreading. If, instead, people were showing symptoms within 12 hours, they'd be much more likely to not be out and about the next day spreading the disease.
2. Wide range of symptoms. Some people felt nearly nothing. Others dealt with it like a minor cold. And others it killed, but not a high enough percentage for most people to take it seriously enough. "Oh, even if I get it, it won't be that big a deal..." kind of thinking. If everyone got at least a "worse than the flu" like reaction to it, everyone would have been taking it more seriously.
- marvin 5y ago"Kills only 0.2%" (as long as healthcare is available) is a killer feature, so to speak. It hits right where it's bad enough to cause serious damage, while being subtle enough that you need some analytical thinking to understand the consequences until it's everywhere at once. There would be almost no antivaxxer sentiment if it killed 20%, because everyone in an area with an outbreak would know someone who died, likely even have seen them sick.