It didn’t occur to me at the time that I got caught in a traffic jam in a parking lot for more than 40 minutes this weekend that panicked-hoarding shopping might have been part of the problem. But based on the reports of stores being completely out of toilet paper, soap, cleaning supplies (especially hand sanitizer), and any and all kinds of breathing masks in the region, maybe that was a factor.

I know this is all over the news, and if you’re tired of reading about it, I strongly urge you to skip down to the hilarious John Oliver video. It’s got good information, but it is also funny, and I really need the laugh!

Yes, it is worse than the flu: busting the coronavirus myths – The truth about the protective value of face masks, the speed at which a vaccine could be ready and how easy it is to catch Covid-19.

Trump is ignoring the lessons of 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions, historian says.

It’s hard to know what perspective to take on any of this news, if for no other reasons than that a lot of people have trouble visualizing the numbers that may be involved. And even though I have been one of the people pointing out how many hundreds of thousands of people die from influenza each year, comparing it to the flu isn’t really a good analogy. Influenza has been infecting humans for generations, and we have flu vaccines. That means a large portion of the population already have anti-bodies that work against some strains of flu. Covid-19 doesn’t appear to be similar enough to any viruses most of us have ever encountered, so none of us have any resistance.

And speaking of people not understanding (or outright intentionally misusing) statistics: No, 38% Of Americans Probably Didn’t Stop Drinking Corona Because Of Coronavirus – When polling gets filtered through beer goggles and What the Dubious Corona Poll Reveals – Americans are desperate to believe the worst about one another.

And then there are the crazy conspiracy theories, some coming out of the mouths of Senators and White House officials: Trying to sum right-wing reactions to the Covid-19 situation.

Because: When a Pandemic Meets a Personality Cult.

Enough of all that. This video does a great job of summarizing facts, putting things in as much perspective as possible, with a lot of laughs (and part of it has a great beat that is easy to dance to) — John Oliver Warns Against Extreme Reactions to the Coronavirus: “Don’t be complacent, and don’t be a f**king idiot.” :

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)