It is now five months since the first novel coronavirus case was identified. During this period, especially the last three months, we have been bombarded with articles in the popular press regarding the pandemic, making dire predictions – ‘doom and gloom’ stories. The virus has also been called a variety of names – ‘weird’ and ‘deadly’ are two that spring to mind. In the midst of this infodemic, we think it’s time to take a step back and reflect dispassionately about the varied opinions flying around.Is the virus weird? Not at all. It causes fever, cough, sore throat, occasionally loss of smell and in some cases, rapidly progressive pneumonia. All of these are also caused by the flu virus. It causes a “cytokine storm’ which is an aggressive immune response by the body to the virus which causes more harm than good. But that is true of nearly all severe acute infections. In fact, more than a century ago, William Osler (one of the greatest physicians) said, “Except on few occasions, the patient appears to die from the body’s response to infection rather than from it.” Nothing weird about this either. Another supposed difference is this virus’s propensity to cause clotting of the blood inside blood vessels. Though this is not a common presentation in all severe infections, it is seen in a subset.As doctors, when we hear the word ‘deadly’, our first instinct is to ask, “As compared to what?”. After all, many things kill and old age kills the most. So, to answer the question regarding the deadliness of the virus, we have to compare it with others of its ilk. It is not as deadly as SARS or MERS viruses and definitely nowhere near as deadly as the Ebola virus, which kills between 50-80% of people affected. In fact, if we take into account the estimates that most cases have not been detected because of the lack of symptoms or testing, the final death rate may only be somewhat worse than that of a severe flu season. The relatively low lethality of the novel coronavirus is the reason for its pandemic spread. If the virus had been rapidly lethal, it would have died along with its victims, preventing further spread.Also Read: The More Effectively We Track Data, the Less Speculative Our Coronavirus Models Will BeNovelThe really new thing about this virus is that it’s novel or new. As a consequence, our immune systems do not recognise the virus and are not well prepared to deal with it effectively. But, as with other pandemics, with time we will develop immunity, both herd and individual. Till then, we will have to take the requisite precautions. And life will go on, albeit in a slightly altered mode.Taking care of critically ill patients is complex and difficult, as it is for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Laypersons, unlike doctors, are usually not exposed to this complexity. These details of what a virus can do to the human body seem terrifying to people. Headlines and social media forwards scream, “2/3rd of COVID-19 patients on ventilators are dying!” There is enough published data to show that this was true in the first year of the H1N1 pandemic too. The only difference is that, all this detail was not in the public domain then. It took a couple of seasons to get the mortality of H1N1 patients on ventilators down to what is usual for influenza (approximately 40%). Most viruses do not have effective anti-viral medications. Good quality supportive care based on an understanding of the pathophysiology of the infection is what saves most lives. We are in a much better position in understanding that for COVID-19 than we were a few months back.Daily updates about new infection and deaths due to COVID-19 is another source of panic. Just for comparison, if we had a global meter for deaths from other infective causes, there would have been 500,000 deaths from influenza and about 800,000 from diarrheal diseases in this same period. A daily death count is not the best way to calm fears and reduce irrationality. This panic is putting pressure on scientists and politicians alike to find a “magic bullet”. Thus, you see politicians who have no clue about the actual disease process, announcing “successful” therapies to the world. This is partly, to seem like they are doing something and partly to cover up for the failure to plan for a pandemic. This immense pressure is pushing a section of doctors, scientists and scientific journals, to try therapies without due diligence and scientific rationale. And there will always be some who will misuse this desperation among people and politicians for quick self-promotion. The “magic bullet” for this virus is unlikely to be found in a hurry, like most fast spreading respiratory viruses.The coronavirus. Photo: Pixabay/Daniel RobertsThree reasons for ‘doom and gloom’ storiesAs for ‘doom and gloom’ stories, there could be three reasons for their proliferation. Firstly, pessimism makes better copy than optimism. Why? Let’s look at the optimistic scenario. The pandemic fizzles out and resembles a bad flu season and the world goes back to the ‘old normal’. That is a nice scenario, but not exciting. On the other hand, the doomsday predictions of millions dead (on a graph), institutions and world orders collapsing and a ‘new normal’ make infinitely better copy.Secondly, in the rush of pessimistic articles, it is easy to write another one as you have the cloak of anonymity. If you are wrong, so was everybody else. But if right, it gives one the proverbial 15 seconds of fame and a story to tell their grandchildren.Also Read: 6 Questions You Can Ask to Spot Coronavirus MisinformationThe third and most worrying reason is that the pessimism and fear of the pandemic may empower the state to assume, insidiously or otherwise, more powers over its subjects. Draconian measures are already costing lives and livelihoods by the millions. We would like to be wrong about this but, would still like to be vigilant. As a famous general said, “Trust in God but keep your (gun)powder dry.”Disclaimer: Through this article, we are not suggesting that the current pandemic should be taken casually, as pandemic denialists do. After all, as doctors, we are at the frontline of care. This much we know of the new virus – it spreads and it kills (especially the vulnerable). The percentages may be small but with a global population of 7.7 billion, the absolute numbers could be large, particularly among the marginalised. We have to remain vigilant, maintain physical distancing amidst social proximity, hand wash and above all, protect the vulnerable in our midst.Dr Himadri Barthakur, senior consultant, Internal Medicine, Guwahati. Dr Sumit Ray, senior consultant, Critical Care Medicine, Delhi.