Thankfully, on the South Coast, there is no evidence yet of supermarket shelves being stripped bare as they were in some Sydney suburbs earlier in the week. The masks to which we became so accustomed during the bushfires have been put away. And you can still buy hand sanitiser from local pharmacies. This is how it should be.

We should be aware of and alert to the coronavirus but we should certainly not panic. Watch the television news, however, and staying calm can be challenging. Footage of armies of biohazard suited people spraying disinfectant in empty streets in China and South Korea, roadblocks in northern Italy, hordes of people wearing surgical masks - you'd think the zombie apocalypse was upon us.

It is not.

Yes, we face a new virus about which we are still learning. Yes, we ought to prepare for a global pandemic. And, yes, we ought to do our utmost to contain its spread.

Unlike its response to the bushfire crisis, the federal government does seem ahead of the curve when it comes to coronavirus. It was quick to impose travel bans on people arriving from secretive countries which have had serious outbreaks, namely China and Iran. The bans have not been as strict on countries which have good health systems and are open with information about the extent of their outbreaks, such as Italy and South Korea.

The government is preparing for a worst-case scenario, as one would expect, but it is also urging calm and commonsense.

To date there is only a relatively small number of Australians infected. One, an elderly man who was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, has succumbed to the disease. The vast majority have experienced milder symptoms but have been isolated to prevent the spread of the virus. Across Australia, some 10,000 people have been tested, 3500 of them in NSW.

Rather than panic, take the precautions you would in any bad flu season. Get your jab early, wash your hands, seek treatment and stay home if you're feeling unwell. The world is not ending any time soon.