China January 2020: Really?

In January 2020 when China had 1,287 "cases", 237 severe cases and 41 deaths from a respiratory disease which is neither novel nor can it be differentiated symptomatically from other influenza-like-illnesses, the president undertook an "urgent response". The population of China is more than 1.4 billion, with an estimated 10 million deaths per year. Incredible that 41 deaths caused such concern.