Or, is it possible, just possible, that people are buying too much stuff so that they don’t have to go shopping soon again? And expose themselves unnecessarily?

Perhaps it is not hysteria or panic just planning for the unknown. But when there are fights over it at the supermarket.... now that takes it to another level.

I agree. It is just human nature. Some people are savers and some are spenders. I always have plenty of non-perishable items like water, toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. But, I don't consider myself to be a hoarder, just well prepared. It's good planning.

A two week supply is recommended, over and above is hoarding if dealing with food stuffs. Are you seeing fights in the supermarkets here? Some areas of the country are prone to that type of behavior, fear exacerbates the problem.

market crash
 

The Globex market opened at 6pm tonight and with 10 minutes it reached the circuit beakers and closed. At 9:30 Monday it will open again and the crash will continue.

Our politicians and media are causing a panic with a treatment that will end up being worst than the sickness

the 401s will be half of February's value and I don't have 10 years for them to come back

Well, who really knows? Many people who were claiming about three weeks ago that everyone was overreacting, are now hypricotally saying that we should have done more sooner? Go figure, only time will tell.

Ok and you think Italy, Spain are what - faking it?! You are lucky you are in an open area such as TV. But this virus will creep in there as time goes by unfortunately. No one is exempt. Not hysteria, not hype, not exaggeration. FACT.

Just 100?
 

I think 200 roles should be standard supply

The “average” person is also NOT buying 20 cases of water, or 20 bottles of hand sanitizer, or five bundles of 24 paper towels, but the ones that are, for their own use, are causing this hysteria.

The deniers can become super spreaders, look at Italy, compare them to Korea andHong Kong who took aggressive actions. Those countries enforced social distancing while Florida left the beaches and restaurants open too long

No, you are not the only one, I couldn't agree with you more. This is all hyped up by the news media. In the flu season of 2017-2018, 80,000 people in the US died from the flu. I didn't see any businesses closing, no social distancing, etc. Most people who have contracted the covid 19 virus recover from it, something like 80% recovery rate. Most folks that do not recover are, yes, elderly, BUT, they already have underlying health conditions. Seniors that are healthy are not at anymore of a risk than anyone else. The news media will not tell the true facts, they only expand on how dangerous this is, causing panic and hysteria. Anyone who is living in fear of the virus puts themselves at a greater risk, as fear and the accompanying stress weakens the immune system. My sources are from the NYT and Market Watch.

I agree. Fact: there are ~ 16K confirmed cases in US. Ten years ago there were over 60 million cases of Swine flu. Yet I have friends — contemporaries of mine age wise — that do not even remember the Swine flu pandemic! While I am heeding advice — socially distancing, extra cleanliness precautions, etc., I cannot help but feel this is a run away train fueled by the media.

When Non-Hoarders really need toilet paper
 

I'm immuno-suppressed due to a transplant, and have a-fib and a pacemaker. I live alone, and have been self-quarantining for almost two weeks because I'm afraid that if I get sick..that will be IT! I didn't hoard toilet paper, but I'm ok for now. What happens when I'm NOT ok with toilet paper? My neighbors are kindly shopping for me, and I won't want to ask them to go from store to store for this basic need. What can we do to get back to normal so that someone can walk into a store and just buy what they need?

You could not be more wrong. How could you be so oblivious to worldwide reporters and top scientists warnings. Of course people are overreacting about to etc, but if you are not. Cleaning and isolating yourself you are risking yourself and others.

Nows your chance to bet your life on your opinion. Go out, mingle with other non believers, just stay the hell away from me.

We have to be careful to separate fact from opinion. It is a fact that even in TV we have the effects of media hysteria - the hording of TP and paper towels. Why that is happening is my opinion is that the media deliver the news with an emphasis and tone of voice of "we don't know how bad this will become." A fact is that the grocery shelves in TV are hard to keep up with stocking is partly due to people not buying food at restaurants so they are buying food for home. I am an efficiency consultant for companies like Proctor & Gamble and Gillette - I'd love to hear your opinion of how this panic, real or imagined, is adversely affecting the efficiency of our supply chains. Your thoughts, please?