Coronavirus Panic May Be Worse Than The Disease Itself

I am obviously not an expert in infectious diseases, but I wonder whether we aren’t perhaps exaggerating. It is like suddenly people forgot about all the other problems we have in our world and all they can think about is the coronavirus.

I wonder whether an obsession about the coronavirus may actually create more damage than the disease itself.

To avoid the spreading of the coronavirus at all costs, how many other problems are we creating?

Since in our culture we look for the words of “experts” to tell us what is right and what is wrong, I am sharing here some comments posted on Facebook by a doctor in infectious diseases, Abdu Sharkawy.

His comments have been share widely and they make a lot of sense to me when I see the panic and some of the measures that are taken to fight the coronavirus.

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His post is going viral after he warned that people’s exaggerated reactions to the spread of the coronavirus could do more damage than the disease itself.

“I am not scared of Covid-19,” Sharkawy wrote, however, he continued:

“I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession.

“What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world.

“I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others.

“I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they ‘probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know… and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.”

Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.

I tend to agree with Dr. Sharkawy. While some measures and precautions need to be taken by individuals and governments, if we are not careful we will be creating more damages than the virus itself.

Toilet Paper Panic

Masks were the first to go. Then, hand sanitizers. Now, novel coronavirus panic buyers are snatching up … toilet paper? Retailers in the US and Canada have started limiting the number of toilet paper packs customers can buy in one trip. Some supermarkets in the UK are sold out. Grocery stores in Australia have hired security guards to patrol customers…

Steven Taylor is a clinical psychologist and author of “The Psychology of Pandemics,” which takes a historic look at how people behave and respond to pandemics. And compared to past pandemics, the global response to the novel coronavirus has been one of widespread panic…. (read the rest of the story from CNN here: The psychology behind why toilet paper, of all things, is the latest coronavirus panic buy)