Gang, a bunch of you are freaked out by the coronavirus.
Maybe you're losing your shirt in the stock market. (Hey, I work at a newspaper. I'm just happy to have a shirt.) Maybe you just got off a cruise ship, or were planning to get on one. Or maybe you have a tin-foil hat tuned into the wavelengths of the Margotrons sending the Covid-19 virus to weaken our planet.
How crazy are coronavirus reactions, you ask? Well, a few of you want me to get the coronavirus so I'll take "it" more seriously.
While I appreciate you reading, I am pretty sure that "Hey, here's hoping the Covid comes calling" is not among the most popular Hallmark cards at Walmart.
Can we simply look at some numbers?
There are four known cases in the state of Tennessee. Four. And there are 6.77 million people in our state.
Do the math. That's one in every 1,695,200 who actually have it. Of course, folks at public health agencies say most of the people who have coronavirus never know they had it - but if that was your first thought about defending the panic, then stop for a minute and think through the figures.
You are worried about something that 80% (give or take a few percent) of the people who catch it never know they had.
Catching the coronavirus in Tennessee is roughly in the middle of winning the Powerball (one in 292.2 million) and getting hit by lightning (one in 700,000).
But how many folks are freaked out by it? Here's a hint, it's way closer to the 1-in-3 folks who think they are going to need to be the one in 292.2 million who hit the Powerball to retire with financial security.
And in terms of fatalities, we have had 20 or so Americans die from coronavirus. Yes, that is sad; death always is. But how much are we afraid of the unknown here, since one in 103 Americans will die in a car crash, heart disease will get one in six of us, and one in seven are going to be done in by cancer?
Those numbers are from the National Safety Council, which analyzed the causes of preventable deaths in the country in 2017. It also concluded that one in 96 people died from opioid overdoses.
And there's nowhere near the outrage about these health risks compared to the hype with Covid-19.
As of Monday afternoon, there were some 600 cases and 20-something deaths. Egad folks, double-check the numbers and be informed.
Our midstate tornadoes last week had a higher death toll.
No one is rooting for death, by any measure. Well, other than those of you who wrote over the weekend hoping I got Covid-19.
But we'll end here today: To the coronavirus overreactors and/or people who enjoy not liking me, isn't this the one debate you truly hope I am right about?
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
Jay Greeson