The statistics of Corona virus indicate that where modern medical care is available then the mortality is no more than the common flu. But in contrast to usual flu those few seriously affected are more likely to need Intensive Care. The higher mortality rates in Italy may reflect an older population where a large proportion also are smokers as well as the Italian tradition of greeting in social groups by hugging and kissing. Or it may be an artefact of data collection where most cases of people mildly affected are simply missed. The UK has taken the far more sensible approach of accepting that this is for the vast majority nothing more than a mild flu like illness and allowing it to spread , even keeping schools open which one would expect to be one of the commonest sources of infection while at the same time providing sensible hygiene advice and allowing self isolation in order to try and flatten the infection curve in order to prevent the NHS from being swamped.
Yet financial markets have been in free fall. All from a mild flu like illness? This is not the plague or leprosy or even SSARS. It can however been used as a convenient excuse to tighten borders and re establish national identities in permissive fluid societies lost in faceless swamps of political correctness. Viral Brexit?