CNN.com - Beijing closes public places over SARS - Apr. 27, 2003 As of Saturday, there were 4,836 cases of SARS worldwide, with 293 deaths, according to WHO figures.


Am I the only one (besides Fumento) that thinks SARS is a ploy of the UN to regain some of the esteem they have lost due to rational people taking action 12 years after it should have happened?

Watching FOX news right now, I almost got the impression that SARS was epidemic. Quickly I ran to CNN.com.

Top Story "Beijing closes public places over SARS".

Fearful that 100's of thousands of people had been struck down, I scanned the article. Buried down at the bottom were the number.

Total cases world wide: 4893
Total Deaths: 296

I couldn't find the duration of the "epidemic," but I understand it is more than a couple of months.

This doesn't mean I am going to go and breathe the same air as a SARS victim on purpose, but I am not going to stop a planned trip anywhere based on 5000 cases of anything after several months.

I understand that up to 40,000 Americans die every year from influenza. Using my advanced calculus techniques, this is about 100 people per day.

Fortunately, most people seem capable of handling the above numbers rationally. Just ask them them to put it in perspective and they visibly relax.