Supermarket shelves are being cleaned out in several countries as some people react to the uncertainty brought by the novel coronavirus by panic buying.
Some customers are preparing for the worst over fears of a pandemic. Videos on Twitter from Australia, Japan, and the United States have documented the massive buying sprees.
While the reaction may seem irrational, human beings often respond irrationally to news like this, says Dr. Robert Reiner from Behavioral Associates in New York.
“Sometimes if we have time to think about our behaviour, we’ll pause and try to behave in a rational way—look at data for example,” said Reiner in an interview with NTD News. “But most of the time, a whole different system is operating in the human brain, activated by fight or flight, or originating in that part of the brain.
“People tend to overreact.”
However, he said he hasn’t seen a reaction like this before, and that it’s probably because the Chinese Center for Disease Control (CCDC) earlier reported an average fatality rate of 2 percent, which is 20 times higher than the flu.
However, the CCDC data did reveal that the fatality rate varies widely according to the age and existing health condition of the patient, with the elderly and sick being much more likely to die from the virus than children under 9, who reported no deaths. The fatality rate for people aged above 80 increased to 14.8 percent, the CCDC said.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that they estimated the global COVID-19 fatality rate stands at 3.4 percent—a number that U.S. President Donald Trump said was too high.
Dr. Reiner also pointed to peer-pressure as an influencing factor for the panic buying.
“They don’t want to be the one just left short of getting into the party,” he said. “In this case they want to make sure they’re taking care of their family. So if people see other people doing it, they’re gonna run out to the store.”
Fear of the unknown also prompts this behaviour, he added.
In the United States, people are stocking up on hand sanitizer and other goods like toilet paper, even though no national shortages have been announced.
Reiner said that hysteria is never a good thing, and it does have consequences—like shortages.
