i know it's passe to rail on the media, but i think the hyperconnectedness of everyone is causing the amount of panic i'm sensing out there to significantly outweigh the risks wrt covid-19.
I think the government got unlucky that the outbreak coincided with a major holiday. And while shutting things down was a good idea in many ways, it also meant that people were stuck at home with nothing to do but freak out. So that's what everybody did.
On the other hand, I'm fairly happy that many people wash their hands more, stay out of current hotspots like Lombardy, and do other things that make this less deadly. You wouldn't get this effect without significant coverage.