Perhaps I don't understand. During the 2018-19 flu season, there were 30M people in the U.S. who contracted influenza -- that's nearly 10% of our population. 15M people sough some kind of medical care as a result. There were approximately 30,000 flu-related deaths -- mostly among people who were elderly, had pre-existing health issues, etc.

30,000 Americans died directly or indirectly from the flu.

I don't remember a world-wide panic about it. I realize COVID-19 can cause serious respiratory issues -- but the fatality rate appears to be marginally higher than the flu, right?

SARS had a like a 30% fatality rate, MERS 10%, COVID-19 is believed to be less than 1% (the base rate of cases is dramatically under-reported because people don't know they have it).

I get the scare -- people are contagious when they aren't symptomatic -- but doesn't this seem like a MASSIVE reaction to something that hasn't warranted a similar reaction in the past when similar viruses have spread?