Exactly, I very much believe no government would promote a mass panic by exaggerating or anything like this. The big problem I see is: So many sources are full of shit. Its just so hard who to believe. Everyone has an agenda The chinese media (its gov. controlled) of course has the agenda to play it safe, say everything is under control etc. to prevent mayhem. Foreign media try to use it for propaganda purposes or anything like this. The only way to figure out whats going on are neutral sources, which are there.
Actually I have a flight to Shanghai tomorrow (after that I would have to take the highspeed train to another big city), but I decided to stay in Korea a few days longer to see how it goes in China.
Its hard to compare, since the environment, infrastructure, people etc. are completely different. In those african countries its just so much easier to die from a virus like this. Its also so much easier to get infected. Many people have many other health problems already and their body/immun system is weak. The people have no knowledge about hygiene (I dont blame them, the countries are just poor), they dont really have modern hospitals etc. In China its opposite.
I don't think this virus will be like the black plague, but it will be a "big test" for the chinese, their society and their government to see how they will handle it. A main problem I see is how big the country is...and then they have to act fast. If they wait too long the virus will spread more etc. So they must be really rational and responsible. Making a rational decision within a few hours/days over a country this big with more than 1.5 billion people is just crazy.