Don't compare every country to Italy

I initially thought I will stay away from commenting on topics such as these. But lately, loads of people have started sharing spam posts and videos from unwarranted sources on social media saying we could be the next Italy. Here is why I think that's not the case and why people should stop panicking now. I am a numbers guy and I would like to give the example of Italy with numbers.

Source: Statista Infographics

As you can see from the above chart, about 77.7 Percent of the people belong to the age group of 50 and above with about 59.6 % of them falling above 60 age group which tends to be the high risk. And also the number of deaths in Italy has shocked the world and is driving more people to panic beyond what is already in the air. Again, please don't use Italy as an example. More than 99 per cent of the deaths in Italy was associated with 1 to 3 illness.

Source: Bloomberg

About 74.1% had more than 2 plus illness, I am not a medical expert here but it's a good guess that any virus or bad flu would kill these group of people who are both old and have 2 or more illness. It's just that now the media is focussing on this topic because of this widespread breakout. A lot of media outlets are having a great time now spreading fear among people by pointing to the large deaths and large spikes coming out of Italy. Also, any spike in numbers during this quarantine will be due to the fact that the testing is very slow at the moment and the tests are getting delayed

Italy is one of the rare exceptions as most other countries don't have the same demographics. The Western world took this seriously only after it had already spread far and wide in Italy. Now almost all of the world has come to screeching halt and social Isolation is being observed . We are more cautious now, protecting the elderly and the risky. Thanks to most of the governments taking action at the cost of shutting the countries down, we will definitely stop this from spreading and flattening the curve.

Yes, businesses are taking a hit and a lot of people are anxious. This scenario has never happened in the last 100 years or so and the world was never as globalised and connected as we are today. We are all on this ship together. No one is spared. The only way from here is up and to better times. This will end soon and we can go back to our normal lives in just a short while from here. Media outlets are not going to stop spreading fear as this is good for the clickbait business. Discourage people who share unwanted videos and messages on coronavirus in WhatsApp and Facebook. Disconnect from seeing the news as it's not going to do any good for our mental well being. Governments around the world may have told us that this will last for several months. Most are being cautious and would want to take credit when this is over before several months. So don't read too much into the numbers coming out of the news.

I don't see why this should not stop in max three to five weeks since all of us are in isolation anyway and being more cautious and hygienic than before. The majority of those affected will be in quarantine and will recover soon. Unfortunately, this too like all the fatal diseases and viruses will claim the lives of many who are at risk and have this virus. That is a fact we need to accept. We already see many companies and universities moving ahead with godspeed on developing a vaccine for this virus. We will beat this virus.