How about some of that science?
As physicians and researchers have seen since the start of the outbreak, many infected people never become sick.
So far about 86% of the people infected never show any symptoms.
The fatality rate in people who have symptoms of the disease caused by the new coronavirus is about 1.4%.
Applied to all the people infected whether they show symptoms or not that adds up to a death rate of 0.22% - yep less than 1/4 of 1 percent - about twice the death rate of the common flu.
The chance of someone infected and showing symptoms dying varied by age, confirming other studies. For those aged 15 to 44, the fatality rate was 0.5%, though it might have been as low as 0.1% or as high as 1.3%. For people 45 to 64, the fatality rate was also 0.5%, with a possible low of 0.2% and a possible high of 1.1%. For those over 64, it was 2.7%, with a low and high estimate of 1.5% and 4.7%.
The chance of serious illness from coronavirus infection in younger people was so low, the scientists estimate a fatality rate of zero.
These numbers are dropping as the infection spreads. It's always that way with new viruses. The numbers above are from Wuhan where the infection started and was most infectious.
Heavy Science