Thomas Phelan - The Coronavirus Manual for Parents: A Guide to Behavior, Fear, Claustrophobia and Hope-at Home

Is There Any Good News?

We have seen that in a crisis like this coronavirus epidemic, we are inundated with bad news that we uncritically accept because of our desire to fix the problem, our obsessive tunnel vision, the medias ability to find and repeat awful news, and the ease with which we can get information (electronic addictions). The result of this is an overall feeling that we could easily all die soon and theres little we can do about it. This depresses us adults and frightens our kids.

The Coronavirus Manual for Parents is about maximizing our physical and mental well-being in the face of this crisis. How we feel depends a lot (in fact, almost entirely!) on what we think. Are we thinking correctly about the coronavirus? The answer is definitely a resounding No. In this chapter, well attempt to get back some perspective on this problem so we can calm down some, behave more rationally, and reassure our children.

Lets be clear here. Is there a big problem? Yes. Are we thinking about it reasonably? No.

Heres an example: headlines. Headlines are known for startling and what mental health professionals often refer to as awfulized thinking. The information headlines provide can be quite true, but the negative emotional power comes from things like the selection of the topic, the type size, the repetition of the topic, and often the phrasing. Here are some recent examples:

Dreaded First Death in the State

This Virus Knows No Bounds

12 New Coronavirus Cases Found

New York Neurosurgeon Has Coronavirus

How Long Will Schools Be Closed?

If youre a six-year-old, how are you going to feel after reading these statements?

Another Look at the Facts: Do the Math

Italy has been in the news a lot recently as an example of a country hard hit by the coronavirus. Open a newspaper or internet browser, and youll see headlines like:

Italy coronavirus deaths rise by record 475 in a day

Worst national crisis since World War II

More than 10,000 people have now died

Travelers should avoid all contact with sick people

Nurse says, Ive never seen so many people die together before my eyes

Nothing good about this situation. Tragic, sad. Is there any good news? Yes there is, but be prepared to jump on me after I tell you what it is.

If I asked you, based on what youve heard and what you know, what percentage of the population of Italy has already contracted coronavirus, what would you say? We asked five people, and here are the answers we got: 16%, 10%, 60%, 3%, and 15%. If you averaged all these guesses, it would look like this:

Total population of Italy: 60,317,546

Estimated % of population with virus: 20.8%

Number of persons diagnosed with virus: 12,546,049

Now, lets look at the actual numbers (as of April 1, 2020, based on data from the United Nations and Johns Hopkins University):