For once I agree with almost everything you say. I agree checking with "real" sources is the best way to get real information. For now not very much is known about this virus, so even real sources dont have all the information some might need. But what is known is enough for common sense people to take common sense measures. Closing down a school (or chess tournament) isn't fear mongering. It's common sense. If the latest science says this virus can last on objects for days, it could be reasonable to conclude some cases are not direct human to human contact, but rather transmitted via an inanimate object, like something bought online, or, potentially, a chess piece.
I guess I need to go sentence by sentence here :/...
"For once I agree with almost everything you say."
That's not even the first time you've said that to me 
.
"I agree checking with "real" sources is the best way to get real information."
Yay. Something to build on...?
"For now not very much is known about this virus, so even real sources dont have all the information some might need."
So much for that 
. You don't "need" information that even the experts working on the problem don't have yet. That's how and why people start spreading misinformation to begin with, to fill "gaps" that don't need to be filled until real information is available.
"But what is known is enough for common sense people to take common sense measures."
Not really, no. First, microbiology and viruses do not fall within the realm of "common sense" for anybody. You could say that it is common sense to follow medical professionals' advice on high-level, generalized virus knowledge...that's as close to "common sense" as you're going to get. Second, you have unwittingly fallen into the small of set of 2 people that have used that very same "common sense" argument on this exact issue with me this week. The other person was an 80 year old relative, who has stopped riding the bus because they live in an area with a lot of Asians (yeah, WTF) even though there are no cases in her city. That is how people try to apply common sense...to justify fearful overreactions with little to no basis in reality.
"Closing down a school (or chess tournament) isn't fear mongering. It's common sense."
Treating this as one sentence since it should have been . Closing down anything can absolutely be fear mongering. Your school anecdote might be legit (we don't actually know since you didn't tell us enough information), but for every facility being closed down for legitimate reasons, there are more being shut down for BS reasons as a result of fear mongering and/or people feeling like they know better and need to be the hero.
"If the latest science says this virus can last on objects for days, it could be reasonable to conclude some cases are not direct human to human contact, but rather transmitted via an inanimate object, like something bought online, or, potentially, a chess piece."
By your logic it could be reasonable to conclude that leaving your house and touching anything other human beings have even been near is life-threatening. Better sequester yourself in a safe room, and bring a shotgun so if a relative tries to give you some soup a little too earnestly, you can shoot them. Oops, wait, blood splatter. Better use a stun gun. Oops, wait, proximity...they might touch you. Blow gun dart...oops, poison is too slow. Damn.
Better try from the other end...stop all shipping/transportation of goods worldwide. Oops, several billion people starved to death. Shoot.
Or, you could just stop trying to use common sense to extrapolate a bunch of baseless actions and live your life, calmly waiting for real information from real sources. A virus has emerged from a Chinese area geographically analogous to Kansas City in the midwest. There's been some spread to other countries. It has killed some people, so far less than half as many as DUI deaths each year in the US (but you don't see people running on the streets in terror). Authorities will let you know if it spreads to your area and you really need to start worrying about it, and even if they fall down on the job, other *reliable* outlets will let you know. Until then you can keep your eyes peeled for real news about it and keep yourself informed. Don't pay attention to anecdotal stories or rumors, or any "facts" about the virus that do not come directly from reliable sources. Don't go to Costco and buy yourself the makings of a post-apocalyptic survival kit. Don't check all your Amazon packages with tweezers and latex gloves because somebody on a chess site is paranoid...er, applies their common sense and determines unilaterally that shipments are dangerous. Done. What else do you need to know/do? Nothing.
Slightly more reliable source:
'Officials are not too worried, for now, about casual contact, because federal officials think the coronavirus is spread only through “close contact, being within six feet of somebody for what they’re calling a prolonged period of time,” said Dr. James Watt, interim state epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health'
You'd think most people would have learned from early days of HIV about falling for every rumor and conjecture about spreading a virus...but no, people still do. They run out and buy out every store of expensive masks when masks are far less of a mitigating factor than simple handwashing, and they post on Facebook and give thumbs up for every chain letter story about how somebody got it by touching a caveman frozen under a glacier, etc. and then to make matters much worse, they try to give uninformed advice about things they have no real knowledge of...ironically spreading misinformation in a manner akin to a virus . It's not only useless, it actually makes things much harder for everybody trying to wade through the mountains of crap to find real facts.
By the way, feeling that someone gets the flu only on years they get flu shots is just about the most definitive case of confirmation bias I've ever read. Good thing you were probably vaccinated as a child, or you'd be telling us you avoid vaccinations because you only get measles after being vaccinated for measles ...
The OP is fear-mongering. Want to know if it's safe to go a chess tournament? Check real sources of real information.
For once I agree with almost everything you say. I agree checking with "real" sources is the best way to get real information. For now not very much is known about this virus, so even real sources dont have all the information some might need. But what is known is enough for common sense people to take common sense measures. Closing down a school (or chess tournament) isn't fear mongering. It's common sense. If the latest science says this virus can last on objects for days, it could be reasonable to conclude some cases are not direct human to human contact, but rather transmitted via an inanimate object, like something bought online, or, potentially, a chess piece.