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A comment on Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to the entire country. Parent comment

Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by pfdietz on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @04:15AM (#22533661)
The point I was raising was that calls to not panic suppress non-panic activities. They are sending the message that there's nothing much to worry about. This is extraordinarily dangerous. If necessary precautions will also cause some to panic, so be it.

At this point, things are so looking so grim that there's no way to tell people not to panic without unacceptable downplaying of the gravity of the situation.

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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by afiori on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @05:14AM (#22533936)
But then the counterpoint is that once panic steps in it becomes hard to manage. People should be called to take this seriously and to proper civic duties.

Panic is was caused the toilet paper craze.

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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by pfdietz on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @07:53AM (#22534621)
Or perhaps the shortage of toilet paper was a consequence of rational preparation for a worst case scenario, not a sign of panic.
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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by afiori on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @08:03AM (#22534683)
That is actually entirely possible, I imagine supermarkets try to minimize storage as much as anyone else so shortages might just mean that people are just synchronously doing normal shopping.

In at least a few cases though I doubt it was not panic buying.

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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by zapita on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @06:06AM (#22534168)
Oh no! The toilet paper craze. That is absolutely the biggest threat we are facing right now. Not the complacency on display everywhere.
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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by Tainnor on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @08:01AM (#22534675)
In Germany (and probably other places too), people are stealing masks and desinfectant from hospitals - places where this is really needed. I think this is a big issue and it needs to be addressed.
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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by hef19898 on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @08:31AM (#22534828)
This, not this toilett pper issue, is why panic is bad. Toilett paper hording just is a great early sign from from the more serious stuff happening as well.
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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by afiori on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @06:41AM (#22534336)
I would say that the biggest threat is a dichotomy fallacy. Just because an extreme is wrong it does not mean that the other is right.

This should be taken seriously and people should put effort into prevention, but honestly I would prefer calling upon people's sense of civic duty rather than panic.

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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by pfdietz on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @07:40AM (#22534564)
At this point, if we're not seeing at least some panic we're doing it wrong. The level of warning has to be such that the most skittish elements of society are freaked out, otherwise the average person will not be taking it seriously enough.
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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by gpderetta on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @06:55AM (#22534395)
> Panic is was caused the toilet paper craze.

If that's the extent of the damage caused by panic, then we are going to be fine.

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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by afiori on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @07:22AM (#22534487)
To this I would point out that two months ago you could say that about COVID-19
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Re:Italy is extending its coronavirus quarantine measures to... by gpderetta on Tuesday March 10, 2020 @08:09AM (#22534713)
I man, the situation is extremely dire. I'm just amused by the 'toilet buying' craze which in comparison to everything else is a very mild issue.
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