Unlike other outbreaks in modern times, the coronavirus has touched – and in some cases overturned – lives thousands of miles away from where it originated in Wuhan, China. In the U.S., school systems have closed or gone online, everything from Disney World to Broadway to the NBA is shut down, and companies are mandating employees work from home. As testing increases, the number of cases is expected to surge. Italy went on lockdown, the largest peacetime restriction of movement in history. But amid the unprecedented containment efforts, it’s easy to forget that the coronavirus itself – while not fully understood at this early stage – is not as pernicious as other challenges the globe has faced.
