If there was a case of the virus in my city I'd think very hard about just taking a week off or try to convince my boss to let us off for a week. Any chance above 0 of dieing to a entirely preventable cause is not worth it.

I agree that not everyone might have that luxury. However if their boss cares more about profits than his workers they should be looking for a new boss in the first place. If wearing a mask for example significantly decreases chances of infection then sure you can do it that way. However if just being in the same room/transport wtvr as someone infected means you will be too it's just not worth.

A different way to justify loss of profits due to staying at home is that if you get sick you are going to have to not work anyway. Except now you feel shit and have a chance of dieing. (no amount of money is gonna help you then)

If the virus isn't that infective then yh it's probably overkill. However these cases described do not sound like: not very infective.