LIKE many people I know, I wasn’t overly concerned when news of Coronavirus broke. 

It was probably just another scare campaign by the skittish Left, I thought. A continuation of Y2K, global warming, climate change and all the other end-of-world calamities they fall hard for. 

After skimming the headlines, I was convinced it was all just another media beat-up over a slightly more virulent flu strain. 

Casualty numbers were no higher than years gone by. Nothing to worry about. The crazies are at it again. 

MORTALITY

Reports that Coronavirus had a mortality rate of 3 per cent for those infected also failed to raise a sweat. By comparison, the flu has a mortality rate of less than 1 per cent. But the Coronavirus infection rate must be way, way understated, I told myself.

There’s probably a heap of young people who have it that aren’t even aware. After-all, very few doctors have been testing for it.

The fact that most deaths were occurring within the age demographic most susceptible to the common flu was also reassuring, though saddening.

It wasn’t until COVID-19 hit hard in Italy that my attention was finally captured. People aged below 50 and as young as 20 were dying. How can this be?

All of a sudden the news became important – a rarity these days. Corona was no longer just another Leftist media con job. It wasn’t part of an on-going scare campaign without a shred of credible evidence.

It became apparent the Prime Minister wasn’t just placating the “chicken littles”. He was, in reality, working furiously to safeguard the health of the nation while avoiding the destruction of its economic engine in the process.

ITALIANS

If the Italians were losing their kids, then so might we. Time to act, I thought, albeit belatedly.

My first impulse was to pull the kids out of school, fill the house with toilet paper and bunker down for the long haul. I was sure schools would be forced to close anyhow.

Thank-goodness Prime Minister Scott Morrison kept his head, unlike me and so many others. Morrison’s ability to filter panic from reality has done Australia a great service – and himself tremendous credit. His response so far has been decisive, reasoned and well explained.

He’s taken some criticism for not moving as fast as parts of Europe, though it now appears parts of Europe may have overreacted – and caused more harm than good. The loss of vital services due to wide-scale lock-downs comes to mind.

ECONOMY

With Morrison in charge, it’s believable that once we overcome this health scare the Australian economy won’t be left a smoking ruin.

He won’t be nationalising swathes of industry nor introducing the economy-destroying citizens’ wage, as many of the crazies are demanding.

And finally, thank-goodness Australia’s news media is once again giving air time to sensible and considered people whose actions and reasoning are worthy of attention.

After years of driving audiences to despair with the fanciful ramblings of alarmists who should be ignored, the media’s been given a chance to step-up and re-engage with unemotional, clear thinking viewers.

It should try communicating with this demographic more often.PC