Coronavirus in China

So this virus that's going around supposedly showed up in early December in Wuhan, China and went for a few weeks unchecked and now has infected approximately 15,000 people worldwide. Most cases are in China but there are 20 or so countries outside of China with confirmed cases. So far the US has 8 confirmed cases. I just looked and 304 people have died with only 1 death being outside China(in the Philippines). I've been watching this unfold because I work in the medical field in the greater Seattle area and come in direct contact with many patients every day. If what I've read is correct, this virus spreads as easily as a common cold yet hits much harder than the flu. They say 20 percent of the cases become severe and it has about a 2-3% mortality rate, which may not seem high but is nothing to flinch at. They have also said that people can spread the virus for several days before they even have symptoms. Yet, people are still leaving and entering China. I've even seen some leftist articles about people being racist against the Chinese. At this point, I'm in complete and utter disbelief at where we are at as a society. Not a single person should be leaving or entering China right now because we don't have enough information and many more people may have the virus than we think. The last thing anyone should even care about, is discrimination against China, a communist government that has a track record of lies and cover ups. The Chinese had their thumbs up their butt on this one and drug their feet in addressing it....now it's out of control. I think the US will be ok as we are on alert now and can probably aggressively treat and quarantine patients a little better than the overloaded medical system in China. Anyways, I know you guys are all intelligent and probably know this, but wash your hands frequently and keep hand sanitizer on you at all times. Use it if you touch a door handle, a credit card pad, a gas pump etc... Stay safe my brothers. For the record, I don't have anything negative to say about the normal Chinese people...I have no doubt they are mostly hard working normal people and God bless the medical workers who are trying to fight this.

Thanks for the advice, I must admit I had not even considered the possibility of catching the virus from the objects you mention. I hope your post is read by the majority of posters here.

More than 10,000 people have died of the regular influenza virus this winter, yet the media never mentions it. Many are dying of pneumonia.

Larger numbers of white people are committing suicide these days. There has been an opioid epidemic going on the past few years that's killed many tens of thousands.

Coronavirus gets the media attention but it is not the biggest killer.