Its dangers must not be underestimated but excessive anxiety could lead countries to adopt counter-productive measures Humans are bad at assessing risk even in the best of times.
During a pandemic—when the disease is unfamiliar, people are isolated and stressed, and the death toll is rising—our risk perception becomes even more distorted, with fear often overwhelming reason.
This is a recipe for disastrous policy mistakes. To be sure, the danger posed by the covid-19 outbreak should not be underestimated.
The experiences of Italy, Spain, and the United States, in particular, have shown that delayed action to limit the virus’s spread can lead to large-scale illness and death.