Baruch Fischhoff, PhD,
(Professor at Carnegie Mellon
University and an expert on public perception of risk and human judgment and
decision-making.)
I think the first thing that people can do is to find a
trusted source of information and just follow that. That will insulate them
from rumors, and that will help them to get a clear picture and see how things
are changed. Second thing is, you can do a very simple risk analysis which is
to say, is there any reason to think that I am at risk? Are there cases where I
am, if there are, have I come in contact with them? Third thing you could do
is, do a simple risk management, which is to figure out what are the few things
that you can do most effectively?
If you go to these trusted sources, they will tell you that
you should wash your hands really well, and you should maintain a distance from
somebody who might have the flu. Then you should avoid becoming a source of
risk to other people, by insulating yourself if you're sick, coughing into your
sleeve using a tissue and throwing it out. If you do those three things, it
will get you most of the information that you need, and it will enable you to
play a responsible role and getting on top of all of this and it will protect
you from seasonal flu, which at the moment is a bigger risk than coronavirus
is, and we hope the coronavirus ever will be.
