As a rule, these virus mutate so as not to kill their hosts.
On a personal note, we have probably just blown the $20,000 we paid on our Italian summer holiday, including sailing in Croatia and a week in Vietnam on the way home - all flying Vietnam airlines business class.
However we must wait and see. It’s too early to tell the severity of this thing so that we can make informed decisions about risk. The data from China(and the rest of Asia) is suspect and there is not yet reliable data from a first world country until we get Italian data.
We don’t know the fatality rates despite the comforting bullshyte from the authorities. What we do know is that older people are most at risk and that they are going to require intensive care to pull through. That isn’t going to be available in a major outbreak. So while the CFR may be “3%” of the population it could be 50% of those of us over 65 - and don’t believe a word about “other medical conditions” either.
Despite protestations, there will be economists and public servants who will look on the bright side of all those dead oldies: lower costs of old age pensions and medicare, less pressure on nursing home places, increased availability of housing, etc.
Furthermore, beware of axe grinders, confidence tricksters, doomsayers and loonies. This infection will bring them out in droves. This infection might vanish like summer snow in a few months.