COVID-19: Media Hysteria, Global Panic, and a Rational Look at the Actual Numbers

As the mainstream media, local, state and federal government officials put out a never-ending barrage of doomsday-style news, it’s important that we keep things into perspective as we are forced into locking down the entire world.

All the major news networks have decided to add an infected/death count chart on the right side of their news broadcasts; it’s beyond disgusting and ghoulish and in my opinion, designed to do only one thing, scare the shit out of anyone who is watching.

But are these numbers that scary?

Let’s look at the reality of the current situation, in comparison to what the media is trying to shove down our throats.

They want you to believe millions of people are going to die from this; could that happen, sure but right now the numbers are not lining up with their doomsday predictions.

THESE NUMBERS UPDATED: APRIL 7, 2020

There are an estimated 7,771,772,400 people in the world.

• Currently, we have 1,427,044 confirmed cases in the world
• That means 0.018361886% of the population is infected.
• That means that only 1 out of every 5,446 is actually infected!

But if you listen to people like the Governor of California, on March 20th he said 56% of the state’s population would be infected” in the next 8 weeks. But how can that be? Let’s look at China’s numbers.

There are an estimated 1.386 billion people in China.

• That means in 5 MONTHS, this virus has only managed to infect 0.006031385% of China population. So why are they saying over 50% of people will be infected in California in 8 weeks when China hasn’t even hit 0.06% in 5 months?

But let’s not take China’s word, after all, they routinely lie to the world. Let’s look at the current worldwide infection numbers…

WORLDWIDE INFECTED:
ONLY 0.01836188615%
of the world’s population

WORLDWIDE DEATH NUMBERS:
ONLY 0.001052166%
OF THE WORLD HAS DIED FROM COVID-19

So now what?

Our advice on this site has not changed from the advice we have been giving out for the last ten years. In fact, we have always said that during times of crisis people, panic, and the response to the crisis are often a bigger threat than the actual disaster. In this case, so far, the largest threat has been hysteria driving the markets into the ground, putting millions of people out of work, and causing major food and supply chain problems which we think are a far greater danger than the virus.

This disaster has exposed what we have been talking about for over a decade, our overreliance on China, the destruction of our manufacturing base, and our on-demand supply chain have destroyed our ability to respond to crises and left us vulnerable.

So what about the Virus?

Don’t get us wrong, if you get the COVID-19 virus there is a significant chance that you could experince major health problems and even death. But at this time, most of the world is more affected by the supply chain breakdowns than they are by the virus. And healthwise, the biggest problem is again something we have been talking about for over a decade: our hospitals are not designed for or prepared to deal with even small-scale disease outbreaks, let alone a global pandemic.

Are things bad; yes, but currently the panic and media hysteria seem to be causing more problems than the actual virus. Be Prepared, but remember, Preparedness is not living in fear!!!

Prepare for Coronavirus-related Chaos

If you can, I would avoid stores for a while. Hysteria and panic can make people unpredictable! If you need supplies, try to order them online — if you can find them. I would see what you can find online and use services like Amazon Fresh, Bulk Emergency Foods, or Amazon Grocery.

Coronavirus Preparedness Resources:

• Pandemics and How to Prepare for a Pandemic Outbreak.
• Prepper 101: Your Survival Guide to Getting Started
• Emergency Communication Preparedness Checklist
• Best Emergency Food: The Top Survival Food Supplies
• What could happen under Martial law

Mindset: How to overcome Fear and not Give into Panic!

• Mindful Preparation: Surviving Traumatic Events starts with Developing the Right Mindset
• Preparedness & Fear: Prepping without giving into Fear
• Disaster Related PTSD: How to Recover From Disasters and Traumatic Events.

Having a hard time dealing with the COVID-19 crisis?

A special note for anyone who is having a hard time dealing with the current situation and being stuck at home. There are two awesome books that we recommend. They are old, but in our opinion, they are the best books ever written on dealing with anxiety, fear, worry, and panic.

• One of the best books ever written on anxiety, one which revolutionized the medical profession’s understanding of anxiety related issues, is Dr. Claire Weekes book, Self Help For Your Nerves a.k.a. Hope and Help for Your Nerves (1962.)
• How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by author Dale Carnegie gave some of the best advice on dealing with fear and worry ever written.