Quoted from c508:
I'm actually curious if some of the doom-saying "we're all going to die" hype is simply because there were not as many ordinary/average Chinese civilians with smartphones in 2003 (SARS outbreak) and 2009 (H1N1 pandemic).
Not only could this have led to less global awareness of the impact of the spread, the global public had no idea how hard China cracked down on the spread with quarantines and travel restrictions that are common knowledge now due to the ease with which Chinese citizens can comment on those sorts of things on WeChat, etc.
In reality, a lot of the same countermeasures were utilized in the past, but it may seem more significant now due to "citizen journalism"?
Journalism itself has changed quite a bit.
As for China, the reason why all these diseases get started, especially species-jumping diseases, is that outside of modern & upper class areas, China has a serious hygiene & sanitation problem.
1) They eat lots of wild animals, tainted/diseased/uncooked meat, and dogs. Yes, they eat dogs. There are thousands of restaurants across that advertise it as "gou rou"--it's not just a fringe thing. Many of these dogs are street dogs in poor health that should be unfit for consumption. China just enacted a law this past week banning the consumption & trade of wild animals to help curb the spread of disease in the wake of the coronavirus.
2) There isn't a lot of hand washing, even when preparing food.
3) Many public bathrooms are just open pits under a floor with holes in it. No running water, toilet paper, sinks, or soap.
4) People spit in public constantly.
