Coronavirus Fear Is More Contagious Than the Illness

Coronavirus has the world on edge. As rapper Cardi B put it, the disease started in China but is now on tour. The outbreak is now a global pandemic. Coast to coast, large public gatherings, and major events have been canceled. Employees have been told to work from home, universities have moved all classes online and elementary schools have closed for sanitizing. The stock market has seen meteoric crashes and declarations of emergency are being proclaimed. As the number of confirmed cases of illness grows, so does the nation’s collective uncertainty. Anxiety is at an all-time high, causing the fear to seem more contagious than the virus.

The spread of the new coronavirus is not just a public health crisis. It is a global event pervading nearly every aspect of people’s lives, causing them to worry not only about getting sick themselves but about Grandma’s health, what to do with out-of-school kids, and how to absorb their rapidly shrinking 401(k)s. Uncertainty about the nature and trajectory of the threat exacerbates a feeling of not being in control.

As the number of confirmed cases of illness grows, so

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