As our news feeds explode with articles and updates on coronavirus, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and panicky. HuffPost India is compiling a list of some of the best articles that help provide a sense of perspective, and sometimes just help you stay calm, about the pandemic. We’ll update this as we come across more great articles.

You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus

James Hamblin’s bluntly headlined article for The Atlantic spells out what many commentators have been tiptoeing around—“With its potent mix of characteristics, this virus is unlike most that capture popular attention: It is deadly, but not too deadly. It makes people sick, but not in predictable, uniquely identifiable ways... the new virus may be most dangerous because, it seems, it may sometimes cause no symptoms at all.” He goes on to say that while it is likely that most of us will be infected by the virus, we may not all have it in a severe form. Two weeks before the WHO declared it a pandemic, Hamblin had concluded that it “must be seen as everyone’s problem”.

For this article published on the University of California San Francisco website, Nina Bai spoke to a psychologist who studies stress to understand why we are feeling so anxious about the virus, and what we can do to manage it. Elissa Epel, who’s based in San Francisco, points out that while being anxious means we are more likely to take steps to prevent getting affected, “when threats are uncertain, such as the current coronavirus situation, our anxious minds can easily overestimate the actual threat and underestimate our ability to cope with it”. If this translates into panic, we could stress out those around us, overstock on essentials and even display xenophobia. Her tips include taking reasonable precautions (yes, that includes washing your hands) and sticking to reliable sources of information.

Yes, You Actually Can Do Something About The Coronavirus

Buzzfeed News reporter Anne Helen Petersen has a characteristically thoughtful take—it’s unlikely that young, healthy people with resources will suffer or die from the virus, but they still have a responsibility to make sure they don’t affect more vulnerable people. So being “prepared” doesn’t just mean stocking up on rice, cornflakes and sanitizer. “We also have to start thinking about how our habits, our compulsions, and our desire to keep living life completely as usual — because there’s (seemingly) nothing wrong with us — will have ripple effects that will almost certainly lead to other people’s deaths or significant illnesses,” she writes. 

There’s more excellent advice in the article, including about helping vulnerable members of your community prepare for a possible lean period.

Pair this with health journalist Vidya Krishnan’s tweet thread on why Indians who have the option should practise social distancing now.

Super-rich jet off to disaster bunkers amid coronavirus outbreak  

As public health systems around the world creak, the world’s richest people are chartering private planes and locking themselves up in disaster bunkers. Rupert Neate, The Guardian’s health correspondent, writes that many are also taking private doctors and nurses with them to treat them if needed. The report quotes the CEO of an elite private clinic as saying that they offer “the worried wealthy an intravenous infusion of vitamins and minerals to boost their immune systems”. That costs just £350 (around Rs33,000). Note: no vaccine has been developed yet for coronavirus.  

Related note: People on Twitter are cracking Edgar Allan Poe jokes (if you really want to, you can find the story he mentions for free here).   

Conversations, food and movies: How India’s first coronavirus patients survived isolation

It’s important to remember that the first three Indians to test positive for the virus have been successfully treated. Dhanya Rajendran and Sreedevi Jayarajan of The News Minute spoke to two of them about what they did while in isolation (one ate lots of chicken biriyani and joked with the nurses, the other watched movies and studied), remarking upon their proactiveness and self-discipline that not only ensured they healed, but also that they did not pass it on to others. Along the way, they also had to deal with fake news and stigma, but stayed firm throughout. The story is also a testament to the excellent work the Kerala government has been doing to tackle the virus.