To the Editor:

Re “Fear, Knowledge and the Coronavirus,” by David DeSteno (Sunday Review, Feb. 16):

Worldwide paranoia over the coronavirus is out of control. The World Health Organization characterizing it as a “very grave threat” globally serves only to trigger even more fear-mongering.

Here’s the deal: The overwhelming majority of people who have died from the virus are Chinese residents of Hubei Province over age 60 who were already seriously ill and susceptible to viruses.

I’m in China, about 500 miles from the epidemic’s epicenter. I’m taking precautions like washing my hands no less than 20 times a day and wearing a mask when I’m out in public, but I’m not overly concerned. Why? Because if you’re even marginally healthy and happen to contract the virus, you won’t die. You’ll be sick for a couple of weeks but will almost certainly recover.

And if you’re not in China to begin with and haven’t been around anyone from Hubei Province recently, your chances of getting the virus are very small and dying from it infinitesimal. So anyone getting hysterical needs to chill out.