Facts vs. fear: Experts offer advice on keeping calm during coronavirus outbreak

As rumours continue to pop up about the novel coronavirus outbreak, experts in health and pandemics are reminding British Columbians to stick to reliable sources and keep things in perspective.

When provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry revealed Tuesday that the first presumptive case of the virus has been found in B.C., she addressed some misleading social media gossip about the spread of the disease, including false reports about new cases.

"I think we need to take all those rumours with a grain of salt and recognize that they are just that rumours," Henry said.

"We will tell you immediately, as we have today, if someone tests positive for coronavirus."

Health officials say the overall risk to the public is low and the province is well prepared to deal with infections. B.C.'s single patient is currently recovering at home.

There are still countless questions about the respiratory infection, which first appeared in China's Hubei province last month, but experts say initial signs suggest it isn't quite as serious as some other diseases that have caused worldwide fear.

Putting things in perspective

Dr. Michael Curry, a University of B.C. professor and emergency room doctor at Delta Hospital, points out that about 98 per cent of patients have survived the infection so far.

As of Tuesday, Chinese state media were reporting 132 deaths out of 5,974 confirmed cases and no one has died from the virus outside of China.

Compared that to something like SARS, which had a death rate of about eight per cent during the 2003 epidemic.

"We deal with influenza on almost an annual basis, and influenza does kill several thousand Canadians a year," Curry told CBC. Health Canada estimates that the flu causes about 3,500 deaths annually in Canada.

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Health officials are "confident" the first case of novel coronavirus has been found in B.C. We're separating fact from fiction on the new coronavirus. What do you want to know about it?

Curry also points out that the seriousness of newly discovered viruses tends to be exaggerated in the early stages of an outbreak.

"As we gain more experience with the virus, we realize there's people that aren't coming to hospital with it, there's people that aren't getting tested for it. We recognize the sickest of the sick upfront," he said.

Managing outbreak anxiety

Nonetheless, doctors still know very little about how quickly the virus might spread and how dangerous it will ultimately turn out to be, and that can lead to understandable unease.

That's a subject UBC professor and clinical psychologist Dr. Steven Taylor has studied in detail. His latest book is called The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease.

Taylor said a small but significant segment of the population tends to develop excessive anxiety during an outbreak, and those people interpret every cough as a sign of infection.

"SARS has been described as a mental health catastrophe," he said. "Many people developed post-traumatic stress disorder."

He said anyone who's feeling stressed out by the coronavirus outbreak should try to find a way to live with the uncertainty about what the future might bring.

"We don't have the answers, and they just need to sit tight and manage their anxieties or apprehensions about this virus as best as they can," Taylor said.

One thing that might help is tuning out rumours and hoaxes that could cause panic.

Henry, the provincial health officer, said people need to make sure they turn to credible sources of information for the latest news on the coronavirus. Here in British Columbia, that's the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, which is providing regular updates.