Second, because most reporters are terrible at vetting information when it requires numeracy, they want to file many, many, many articles about how the seasonal flu was a greater threat than the coronavirus. Meanwhile, trade shows and global production lines began to shut down, when the flu never causes them to shut down.

Readers searching for articles about the coronavirus, trying to answer their own questions about whether they should take any precautions and what might those be, were simply misled. In fact, all the articles citing a viral spread of anti-Asian racism were talking about nonfatal and nonviolent verbal incidents. And as more information came out it turned out that the coronavirus is 20 times more deadly than seasonal flu. But the overwhelming response to reader interest about Wuhan virus amounted to “Stop being racist” and “If you’re worried about the coronavirus but not about the flu, maybe you’re too stupid to live.”

// Yup. The nags and scolds have been overbearing and WRONG.