Nobody deliberately catches or passes on coronavirus so our sympathy is with “super spreader” Steve Walsh who may have unwittingly infected 11 Britons.
People such as the sales executive, who picked it up in Singapore, are victims too.
The ease and speed at which this virus is unknowingly transmitted is causing serious concern and isolating the strain is a priority.
However avoiding panic is vital or the health teams responding will be overwhelmed by false alarms and irrational fear.
The old wartime advice to keep calm and carry on is as apt as ever though we can all improve general personal hygiene by, for example, washing our hands frequently and never sneezing near others.
But this is a moment to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Tracking down and isolating those infected is the best way of slowing, then ending, the spread of this killer.
The vital BBC
Our country and democracy will be undermined if the Tories succeed in destroying the BBC.
It is a jewel in the broadcasting crown and admired all over the world.
The Beeb isn’t perfect, but should the Conservatives succeed in neutering the TV, Radio and web giant we’d swiftly discover that sometimes we don’t fully appreciate what we’ve got until it's gone.
Few enjoy paying the licence fee and the BBC was foolish to let the Tories turn it into a whipping boy for the scrapping of free viewing for most over-75s.
Yet boss David Clementi’s defence of Auntie’s funding is timely. It’s time to back the BBC, not switch it off.
Height of folly
The students who went up Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, in trainers during Storm Ciara are reckless fools.
Lacking ice axes, crampons or even maps they endangered their rescuers as well as
themselves. They need naming and shaming.
