It is true that many more die annually due to smoking / accidents/ typical pnemonia..., but they dont fill up all the hospital beds at the same time.
- All the ICU units in HKG are at a maximum capacity.
- The healthcare system is at the brink of collapse due the sudden load, the huge percentage of infections within the healthcare community and increased cost due to the prevention measures.
- The absence of a definitive cause, diagnostic test and how it is spread let alone the treatement, makes the people feel rather helpless and understandably anxious.
- The current cure that is being used is a cocktail of very strong antiviral drugs and steroids which has very serious side effects like anemia, birth defects, muscle and joint aches, fast heart rate, fatigue, insomnia, diarrhea, nausea, irritability and loss of libido,hair loss, depression and worsening of pre-existing psychiatric conditions, rash - which often requires discontinuation of the medication. Also, there is no clear evidence on the effevtiveness of this treatment.
Hence, it makes people feel threatened particularly because the threat can't be readily identified.