A new epidemic is on the rise, the coronavirus, a relatively a new strain of the virus. This new strain is called SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes is COVID-19. It originated from a Wuhan seafood market and has the same symptoms as the cold and spreads like the flu. Unfortunately, due to China’s high population, it spread faster than normal. Global travel is facilitating and contributing to the rapid spread of the virus. This leads to the question, should you really panic about this virus?

To make it as simple as possible you should not be panicking about the virus. The media is simply hyping it up. People are concerned about how fast it’s spreading but usually viruses that spread faster have smaller or much milder impacts. The virus you should really be worried about is influenza. Nearly 56,000 thousand people die from influenza in the United States each year, that’s even more people than those who have died from the coronavirus. Plus, there are many different strains of the flu that come around every year. Instead of worrying about the coronavirus, worry about getting your flu shots and wash your hands.