I agree with you that hearing all of the discussion about COVID-19 and the numbers of reported cases can be very scary. However, the vast majority of people who are dying from it are seniors, or individuals with preexisting conditions, which is a low percentage of the overall number of people who have contracted it.
Given how you described you and your family, you would likely be okay, even if you were infected. Therefore, because your risks are low, it is unlikely that you would be doomed to die (apparently, some people who have it don’t experience any symptoms at all). Still, that is not the case for the more vulnerable people in our community.
The recommendations that are being made with respect to social distancing and hand washing might sound serious, and they are. We are being asked to adhere to these standards so that we, as a collective, can keep high risk individuals safe, and prevent countries from being in a situation in which our health care organizations are overwhelmed.
I encourage you to remind yourself that for you, as a healthy person, the odds of dying are small. At the same time, encourage each person you know to do their part, so that we can make sure that as many people as possible are kept safe.
Dr. Patricia Thompson
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