As much as I agree with the sentiment of the comment you responded to, I appreciate you for keeping the conversation grounded and honest. You deserve every upvote.

The onion lost to real life years ago

Yes I understand that. Being crammed against another person for a long enough period of time seems right. During any major holiday if you take a train you can easily spend 1 or 2 hours pressed against a few people. Seems fairly close and extended to me. Especially considering there may have already been spread of the virus from contact in an airplane.

Rush hour commutes you might be pressed against a couple of people for 20 minutes or so depending on your commute. This is close, but maybe not extended enough.

The potential is there

You’re not going to get hantavirus from walking into a store.

Do you wear gloves every time you touch a door handle?

Right if you read the article he was the only one that both left the ship and was later confirmed as infected. There was another Dutch couple that left while sick and quickly were hospitalized. My concern is he was able to move around freely all while he was unknowingly infected. He seems to be the one that had the most opportunity to spread the infection.

Others also left early and have been quarantined. They have not shown symptoms so I didn't bring them up when discussing spread. One infected couple left early as well, but they were already sick and didn't leave South Africa. Although they may have infected a flight attendant, still waiting on tests.

Of course the virus can have a long incubation period. So these individuals may be more relevant to discussion later. There are those that were evacuated to recieve medical treatment elsewhere, but it's not like they are walking around their respective countries.