Another way to see it is that "panic" could save a million lives (eg through the use of quarentines). Is it worth it then? I'm not saying that it's an obvious answer (panic causes its own problems), but it is a trade-off worth considering.

It could also reduce the number of people that go get voluntary checkups if they believe to be infected. People tend to want to avoid quarantines.

Panic is never productive. Saving lives requires a reasoned and reasonable approach.

The trade-off between the options is being considered and quarantine is being used.

Panic can very much be more productive than inaction. It’s not the optimal choice, but sometimes doing something right now is better than doing something even better a little later.

Panic is not helpful (it should go without saying, but apparently not...). There is a huge gap between inaction and panic. There is no inaction at the moment, whether more actions should be taken is another issue.