Originally Posted by
MultiVerse
One of the things I learned from earlier in this thread is we are likely harboring viruses that haven't managed to get past our body's defenses. That's why stress, low cold & low humidity etc., or even vasoconstriction in the nose and throat 1) lowers the number of white blood cells in in the nasal epithelium, and 2) dries airways causing less mucus to be cleared giving a virus more time to take hold. In one study the effect increases a person's chances of getting sick by 20%.
The point being, it's not just the SARS-CoV-2 virus, most of the time we carry and recover just fine.
Regardless of severity, the actual nature of an outbreak is unpredictable. That's why public health surveillance, especially early on, is so important so that the health care system can respond rapidly. It's not about individuals asking to be tested in the face of common ailments, it's about surveillance and detection capabilities domestically and abroad. Weak systems struggle to tell the difference between common colds and novel diseases.