By now you've probably heard about

this new coronavirus epidemic that started in China

and spread to more than a dozen countries.

I'm declaring a public health emergency

of international concern

over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus.

This new coronavirus is part

of this massive family of viruses

that includes everything from SARS on one hand,

which is a deadly infection,

to the common cold, which is far from deadly.

Based on very early data,

we're seeing that infected people seem to have a fever,

a cough, and a viral pneumonia.

So a really bad chest infection.

It seems a little bit different

from what we saw with SARS back in 2002

where people were more likely to have a sore throat,

a runny nose, and diarrhea.

There's already evidence that this new coronavirus

does spread from person to person.

The interesting thing is it seems to be more infectious

than SARS and other coronavirus,

but less deadly.

So at the moment we think that the death rate

from the new coronavirus is around 2.5 to 3.5%.

For SARS, it was in the double digits.

It was at least 10 or 11%.

The incubation period for the new coronavirus

could be three to six days, some experts day,

but others say it could be as many as 14 days.

That number keeps changing as we get more information,

but here's one of the worrying things.

It looks like some people with this infection

were contagious even before

they had any symptoms themselves.

If that's true, that could make it trickier

to get a handle on the epidemic.

So what do you need to do to protect yourself?

The answer to that really depends on who you are

and where you are.

If you are in China,

you're gonna have to take different precautions

to if you live in the United States.

So far, the guidance for Americans is

practice good hand hygiene

'cause we're in the middle of flu season,

and you should get your flu shot

because flu kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.

And go to a credibly website, like cdc.gov,

or the WHO website,

and they will have travel guidance there for you

that's updated day by day.

This new epidemic is serious, but here's the thing.

As this new virus spreads,

so does misinformation about the virus,

as well as a spread of fear and panic.

If people get really scared during an epidemic,

one thing that they might do is

descend on their local hospitals,

using up resources and packing the place,

when really the doctors there need to focus

on the people who are seriously ill.

What you need during a public health crisis

is information and calm.

And it's very frustrating to see on social media

that there are so-called scientists,

some people who should know better,

really inciting panic and fear among the public.

There's misinformation spreading right now

about the new coronavirus outbreak.

Everything from people saying

that you should drink bleach to cure it.

Please do not ever, for any reason, drink bleach.

Something I thought I would never have to say.

But also really racist and xenophobic things are spreading.

Things like you shouldn't go to Chinatown

if you live in London.

That's absolutely ridiculous, it's racist nonsense.

This is not the first time that misinformation

and disinformation about an epidemic

has been spread on social media.

We saw this in 2014 to 2016

during the West African Ebola epidemic.

We saw all sorts of rumors then.

Things like if you eat raw onions or eat ground coffee

that that would cure the disease.

And not only was that not true,

but it can be really harmful if somebody's exposed to that

and they believe that more than they believe

a credible source.

Something that's blowing my mind right now

with this new coronavirus epidemic

is how quickly we are getting new information.

There's already a hospital in China

trying out new antiviral medicines.

There are already scientists in different parts of the world

working on various vaccines for this coronavirus.

It would be amazing if one of the experimental vaccines

became available during this epidemic,

but that's not really likely,

just based on history and how long it can take

to develop a vaccine and check it in animals

and check it for safety in humans.

But it is still astonishing just how quickly

we're making progress.

You compare that to previous epidemics we've had

of new infections,

we've been way behind before.

And so with this outbreak I'm really keeping a close eye

on how different authorities from different countries

are working with each other.

Because you can't deal with an epidemic

as if it's just one country's problem.

Nowadays an epidemic anywhere is a threat everywhere.

The way that this might end

is that the infection just peters out.

We get a handle on the epidemic,

we find the people who are sick,

and we also find their close contacts

to make sure that they don't go on

and pass the infection to others.

It's a troubling outbreak,

but it's something that we are expecting.

In the public health world,

we're always looking out for the next new virus,

the next big epidemic.

And what we're seeing with this epidemic is

public health systems are gearing up

and they are going into action as they are prepared to.

What you should to stay safe is stay on top of the news,

look for credible sources, do not believe the BS,

and be prepared but do not panic

and do not let anyone else make you feel panicked.