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What spreads faster: a new strain of coronavirus, or unnecessary uncertainty created by media stories weighing in on it?

An unusually virulent strain of a coronavirus is spreading from human-to-human contact in China. The Chinese government has taken the unprecedented move to restrict the travel of more than 35 million residents as it tries to contain the outbreak during the Lunar New Year, which is the busiest travel holiday in China.

It all sounds pretty scary. It sounds even scarier with minute-by-minute updates from major news outlets vying for their share of search traffic. While that's prompted companies like Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO) to announce plans to develop vaccines for the strain, investors would do well to make a levelheaded assessment of the situation. To be blunt, the coronavirus outbreak is very unlikely to result in any sustainable business for pharmaceutical companies.

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https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/01/27/coronavirus-uncertainty-spreads-but-investors-shou.aspx newsfeedback@fool.com (Maxx Chatsko) January 27th 2020