Dear Gilligan

For those all butthurt elsewhere because I'm a "condescending cocksucker know-it-all", read comments here, like this gem today, and walk a mile in my shoes, before you pop off.

"You can't wash your hands every time you touch something. You can't wear a face mask 24/7 and if you did the likely hood is that you would become infected FROM the dirty face mask. AND as you pointed out, the virus will get here and go pandemic. So what it really comes down to is most everyone will be exposed and some will die, some will get pretty sick, some will get a little sick. So explain again why we should turn our world upside down in a futile effort to not catch this virus? IN FACT catching it early, before the hospitals are overwhelmed, might just be the best thing that could happen to you."

The jokes writes themselves. But as Senior Drill Instructor warned us once,

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people."

(6,2 and pick 'em, some wiseass regular reader made that whole post up and threw it against the wall just to watch the fun, but I'll treat it as legit and use it as a Teachable Moment.)

Let's take it point by point:

You can't wash your hands every time you touch something.
1) Yes, you can. Unless you're a quadriplegic.
2) You could wear gloves, and just wash your hands when you take them off.
3) Millions of people do 1 and 2 every day. They're called medical workers. Handwashing is not a superpower.
4) No one told you to wash your hands "every time you touch something". Just before you stick your fingers in your eyes, up your nose, in your mouth, before you eat your food, and after you wipe your behind. Just like we teach preschoolers. Try that, instead of "every time you touch something", and see if you can manage it.

You can't wear a face mask 24/7, and if you did, the likely hood [sic] is that you would become infected FROM the mask.
1) No one told you to do that either.
2) If you don't have one now, you'll probably never get one, because they're mostly made in China, and they've declared them a "strategic national resource". So you probably won't be able to get any for a year or more, at least from the world's #1 manufacturer.
3) You only need to wear one when you go out in public, if a pandemic breaks out.
3a) If a pandemic breaks out, you shouldn't be going out in public to begin with, unless it's unavoidable.
3b) If it's unavoidable, you should be wearing a mask then, not 24/7.
3c) If you have a job where it's unavoidable, a mask should be provided for you by your employer. If it's not, it's not unavoidable. See 3a, above.
4) When you wear a mask, you wear it because of an actual risk. Unless you live in a homeless encampment, 24/7 wear is recockulous.
4a) If you live in a homeless encampment, you're already screwed, and coronavirus is probably the least of your worries.
4b) But if that's the case, how did you get on the internet?
5) If you wore a mask 24/7, you'd roll over it in your sleep, and ruin it.
6) Straw men always make for stupid arguments.

AND as you pointed out, the virus will get here and go pandemic.
1) -100% for reading comprehension. I pointed out neither thing.
2) The virus is already here.
3) Whether it becomes a pandemic is an open question. The likelihood is high, but not anything like certain. Yet.

So what it really comes down to is most everyone will be exposed and some will die, some will get pretty sick, some will get a little sick.
1) No one knows how many will be exposed to it.
2) 3% of those exposed will die, give or take.
3) Virtually all the other 97% exposed will get sick. How "little" that is depends on a lot of things.
4) An unknown number will be sick enough to hospitalize, some of them in the ICU. IDK about you, but my co-pay, even with gold-plated Blue Cross, runs about 20% for hospitalization, which runs $2K/day, and $10-15K/day for ICU. Maybe you're rich, but ICU is usually several days to a week, and I can think of better things to do with a spare $2-10K.
5) You'll also pass your sickness along to family, friends, and co-workers, usually giving it to 2-4 of them. Including kids or older adults, who may die because you were too lazy to wash your hands.
6) See if you can guess why none of the other folks will want to work or play with you, come the day.

So explain again why we should turn our world upside down in a futile effort to not catch this virus?
1) It's not futile.
2) See 6, above.
3) If it gets big enough, you probably won't be given a choice.
Read this. It's straight from the CDC. TL;DR? Public health authorities have the ability and the will to cancel all sorts of things in the interest of public health. Schools, public gatherings, closing businesses, etc. And if that happens, most businesses, and all people brighter than you, will decide that going to work or leading a "normal" life isn't worth the risk. And if nothing's open, you're not getting gas, you're not going anywhere, and you're not doing anything. As in the case of China, that may be enforceable, as are all government edicts, at the end of a gun barrel. So then, you're either shot, or in jail, with a bunch of fellow rugged individuals, and no mask. Best wishes on your chances then.
4) "Turning your life upside down" will greatly inhibit the spread of the disease, and make it far less likely that it propagates wild and unchecked to the entire population. See 1, directly above.
5) "Turning your life upside down" will probably save a number of lives. Which most folks would agree was worthwhile, unless you're a sociopath.
6) I'm not saying this is you. But if anyone is a sociopath, they probably deserve to get infected, and hopefully they'll be in the lucky 3% who'll die. But the Universe is random, and we probably won't get that lucky.

IN FACT, catching it early, before the hospitals are overwhelmed, might just be the best thing that could happen to you.
1) Catching it early will guarantee you hordes of attention from the CDC you really don't want. In a jabbing you ten times a day and cramming things into bodily orifices you'd rather avoid, while being in guinea pig prison, sort of way.
2) I assure you, those of us who work in hospitals have a finely-honed radar detector for @$$holes who deserve the problems they have, and we talk about it amongst ourselves all the time. And we really, really, really don't have one fuck left to give for people so narcissistic as to live out the hypothetical you expressed. Please believe me when I suggest that at the leading edge of a pandemic, you do not want to be That Guy.
3) What ever makes you think hospitals aren't overwhelmed now, even without coronavirus pandemic?
4) If you're not dying, you're going to be kicked the hell out after minimal treatment. Not least of which because there isn't much we can do. Ask me how I know this.
5) If you are dying, you're going to ICU, and if you're that sick, you're already pretty well fucked, at that point.