No. Well yes and no. Definitely not enough to justify assaulting members of the community over toilet paper.

The Coronavirus is now becoming a pandemic. It is spreading rapidly outside of China, and no nation is safe from the risks. I wrote an article at the end of January (https://thelevinelowdown.com/2020/01/30/coronavirus-should-we-be-worried/) calling for calm, however; back then, there were only 7000 confirmed cases. Now there are over 100,000.

We don’t need to panic, but we must be careful and cautious. Only 3.4% of reported Coronavirus case have resulted in death. Moreover, deaths are five times more common among people with diabetes and high blood pressure, and evidence of death for individuals under 40 are almost negligible.

The two main reasons for concern is the impact on the elderly and the ease of transmission. These are areas which we must be focusing our attention on, not whether your favourite sporting team will be postponed this weekend or whether you have enough toilet paper in house to last a five-year war.

The elderly are most at risk of contracting Coronavirus and also dying from the virus. This is a problem for grandchildren, children, and care workers who may contract the virus and then pass it on to an elderly connection. We must be careful in these circumstances and ensure that we are healthy before interacting with the older generation.

The ease of transmission has been presented over the past few days, due to the increase in cases by individuals who have not travelled to China. There are simple steps to overcome this issue that doesn’t require complete panic. These steps include washing your hands, avoiding people who are coughing and sneezing, and trying not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth. Also, maintaining a robust immune system is vital in protecting yourself, and it is as simple as eating well, drinking water, and getting enough sleep at night.

The coronavirus outbreak is going to get worse. As countries in the Southern Hemisphere enter into winter, there is a higher risk of transmission, and it may take many, many months until the virus is controlled.

In response to this week’s ridiculous events in Australian supermarkets, involving two individuals now having a criminal record of toilet paper, I feel like my ending remark should be firmer than usual.

Protect yourself AND others. There is no time for stupidity.

24 thoughts on “Coronavirus: Time to Panic?”

  1. Well said, my only real concern regarding the virus is the impact on my in-laws who are quite elderly and not entirely in the best of health, we are thinking of ways to encourage them to stay home and away from possible exposure, which is easier said than done.
    I have to confess that when I saw the panic over toilet paper I did briefly wonder if people knew something I didn’t and there was some drastic shortage of loo paper expected. At the same time I wondered why there were more than adequate stocks of things like strepsils and lemsip which were items on my preparation list along with cans of soup and pasta. Weird what we think we need in an emergency but nothing is worth fighting over, where has all the good will and community spirit we saw in the bushfire emergency gone?

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    1. That is very true. It is sad how quickly the attiudes of people can change. Imagine if the same compassion, grace, and respect that was demonstrated during the bushfire crisis could be displayed during this time.

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  6. Panic inevitably creates more problems because a person in panic mode cannot think clearly or make sensible decisions. Someone I know was evidently up all last night crying and vomiting because he had allowed fear to completely take him over. He is a man in his forties with a wife and 3 children. Common sense is really important at a time like this. Yes, we need to be cautious, but I believe the media have hyped this up far beyond what is necessary. We need to seek out the truth, stay calm and use whatever precautions we can, then trust the Lord to take care of us.

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    1. Thank you very much for your comment! I couldn’t agree more with you. The media can easily create fear and panic through small words or just singular news stories. And soon as soon as they are piled up on top of each other, the issue can seem 100 times worse than it really is. All the best!

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  8. Thank you very mych for your information, very well spoken. I beleive as with any serious health pandemic/scare, most people tend to over reach, and panic sets in, some leading to criminal charges of all things, over toilet paper, tissues, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes. I was making my store list a few days ago, and I really did need toilet paper, did I get toilet paper? No I did not and opted to buy tissues instead, those shelves were almost bare too. I also strongly agree with you That it looks like the measures that have been put into place so far have not been working effectively.

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    1. It is a challenging time, which requires unity, but plays on humanities perception of surival of the fittest. We must break out of that mentality if we are really going to stop the spread, speed, and risk of the virus.

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