Originally Posted by Transpacificflyer

Save the hyperbole for the next tinfoil hat wearing potluck. There is a difference between a managed and expected illness and a cross border illness of unknown severity and characteristics. What you reference is seasonal influenza and it has a fatality rate of less than 1%. Those who die are typically the chronically ill and the very young with inadequate immunity and they are often unvaccinated against the seasonal flu and pneumococcal disease. We can manage seasonal flu with vaccines. The novel coronavirus 2019-nCOV is still an unknown in respect to its impact, and there is no vaccine. What we do know is that it has poked through a 5% fatality rate. MERS had a 35% fatality rate and SARS had a fatality rate of just under 15%. Your logic would hold that the Spanish flu which killed 20-50MM and was especially lethal to the healthy 15-45 year old population should not have been a concern because it was just the "flu".

The current coronavirus requires extensive and expensive intervention including isolation, specialized care and additional protective clothing. Most influenza cases do not necessitate the same protocols. The hospitality sector can manage seasonal flu conditions by following basic hygiene procedures. However, the hygiene procedures required subsequent to exposure to a more lethal illness are more stringent and time consuming.