China reported the first cases of coronavirus on Dec. 31, and within a few days, there were 44 of them. As of Friday, according to the World Health Organization, there were 83,694 confirmed cases spread across 53 countries, which have resulted in 2,861 deaths. While it would be counterproductive for Americans to go into full-blown panic mode, there is also a danger of the population becoming too flippant and disregarding the best advice of scientists and public health officials.

As scientists continue to learn more about the fast-moving virus, there has been a lot of focus on the fact that for most people, the infection is relatively minor. Many people have downplayed the potential for a catastrophic event by citing the statistic that an estimated 2.3% of the confirmed cases have resulted in fatalities.