AS the emptied racks of supermarket shelves are showing us, the Hunter is just as gripped by the spectre of a virally created toilet paper shortage as the rest of the nation.
And while the out-of-control stockpiling of toilet paper has become the running joke of the coronavirus scare, the truth is that none of us know how long this unprecedented situation will continue, and whether those who have greedily gobbled up the last roll of bottom-wipe may indeed have the last laugh on those who thought themselves too cool, or too secure, to panic, or take precautions.
Still, if an outbreak of COVID-19 does occur in the Hunter, then the amount of toilet paper per household will probably be the least of our worries.
Globally, the death toll is a reported 3600 from more than 100,000 infections.
While the bulk of the cases, at more than 80,000, are in China, the South Korean total has hit 7000, with Iran and Italy having more than 5000 infections each.
In response, the Italian government has moved to shut down the northern region of the country, putting an estimated 16 million people - or a quarter of the population - in enforced quarantine until April 3 at the earliest.
The World Health Organisation said on Saturday that China and other nations had shown that the spread of the virus can be slowed through "universally applicable actions".
But as outbreaks in Italy, France and Germany show, even prosperous European nations have their vulnerabilities, and there are major differences of opinion as to what the right "actions" might be.
Domestically, Australia had a confirmed total yesterday of 75 cases, half of which are in NSW. Of the national total, 16 cases have been assessed as "community transition".
While the overall numbers are still low, the geographical distance between many of the cases may indicate that others, yet to be detected, have been infected along the way.
At the very least, we are in uncharted waters.
Flu may kill more people, as some point out, but the influenza virus is a known threat. COVID-19 is not, and the original optimistic predictions of its early demise are long gone.
Three Australians are confirmed dead, and a low overall death rate masks much higher figures, as high as 15 per cent globally, for the aged.
Last week's apparently early call by NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, that containment was "unlikely", may yet prove accurate.
ISSUE: 39,548.
