Hey, pal. My older sister is 59, with serious asthma and a couple of other things that put her in the high-risk-of-death category for this thing. Without the coronavirus and with regular medication and doctor's visits, she's a vibrant, essential part of her family's lives and will be for at least 20 years yet.
For what it's worth, I'm
“high-risk” too. I'm 57 years old, diabetic, and my health and immune system have been weakened rather badly by a bit over half a year of idleness since I broke my leg last September. I wouldn't think of demanding that other people give up their essential Constitutional rights, to protect me from a dubious risk of getting an infection that might threaten me more than it does them.
I will admit to some self-interest. I'[m not afraid of this Coronavirus. It's very likely that I've already been unavoidably exposed to it, and in spite of my immune weakness, it seems not to have taken root in me. My wife was sick for a few days, from what is very likely this virus, but it was very mild, compared to other flu-like illnesses that she routinely catches at the call center where she works, which seems to be somehow optimized for spreading contagious diseases among its workers. Tomorrow is the last day of her two-week quarantine.
But for me, the hysteria over this virus is certainly a much greater and more credible threat to my health and well-being than the virus itself ever could be, and I do not think I am alone in this. I'm at the point in recover from my injury where I really need to be getting and and engaging in work-like activities, instead of continuing to waste away at home, getting weaker and less healthy from inactivity. At this point, the longer I am out of work, the more my health and strength will deteriorate, and the longer it will take and the more difficult it will be to fully recover once I am working again.