OPINION: So you may have noticed I've been absent for a while. I was travelling over Christmas with my family, and since I've been back I've been working super hard. But then this whole Covid-19 thing started to break.

I'll be honest, my first response five weeks ago was that people were panicking unduly, what with all the initial panic-buying of toilet paper and outbreaks of racism.

The thing is panic never helps. Losing your s... is always a bad idea. It was five weeks ago, it still is now, and it will be tomorrow as well.

But covid19 is now a major global issue on at least three fronts: from a public health perspective, from a mental health perspective, and from an economic perspective.

A lot of people are genuinely worried, and hugely stressed, and facing very tough times as the world's economy slides into an event that is unprecedented.

Just in the last 72 hours a bunch of people who never thought they would lose their jobs are now facing unemployment. Families are facing very hard times and no one really knows how all this is going to pan out.

So here, for what it's worth, is my take on where we are now, and what we need to be doing going forward from here.

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The first thing is to resist our brain's natural inclination to only pay attention to the most dire information.

Most of us, when we hear the word 'coronavirus', immediately think 'death'. Media reports have focused on that a lot. Numbers. Lots of terrible numbers. And that's important at one level so we can assess the magnitude of this thing, but it comes with its own psychological cost as well.

It is also true, and better for our stress levels, to think that most people who get covid19 will recover, even those in the highest risk groups.

Now, I'm not trying to minimise in any way the fact that people have died, and will die. This is both tragic and frightening. That said, it doesn't help us much to focus on the number of people who have died.

It's better for your stress levels to focus on the fact that most people, even in the high risk groups, recover.

Almost all of us will have family in the high risk groups. I do, including older relatives with pre-existing health issues, but it doesn't help them or me to focus on the worst case scenario.

Trust me, I get it's bad, but dwelling on that doesn't help anyone.

Of course that doesn't mean we should just ignore this thing and pretend it's just like the flu. While it's true that many people die each year of seasonal influenza, it's become abundantly clear that this is something very different.

What's important now is "flattening the curve". We have to do all we can to prevent the transmission of the disease in our communities.

So what can we do?

Obviously we should be doing all the very simple things the experts are telling us to do: Wash our hands with soap, maintain social distance, stay home if we're sick or think we may have been exposed, and find safe ways to support our older or vulnerable family members.

Handshakes, hugs, hongis, and cheek kissing are all out.

Don't hoard supplies.

But most of all… don't lose your s.... It's easy to lose your s..., because we're all human, and these are extraordinary times, but we all need to work hard to keep our s... together, and calm, and smelling of fresh sea breezes and optimism.

As a country we're in a good position. We had a pre-existing pandemic plan in place and the Government has been taking decisive but measured actions as this thing has rapidly unfolded.

Sure there are critics of the official response, but we should all keep in mind that they're having to balance a huge number of complicated interwoven parts in this thing.

Could we have closed borders earlier? Maybe. But the economic impact of that is huge, and it will be felt by all of us. It's not something you just 'do'.

The 'economy' isn't some abstract academic thing, it's the thing which pays peoples rent, and mortgages, and feeds their kids. Closing the borders now was, I believe, the right decision... but the Government knew that would mean a lot of people will lose their jobs. Nothing is simple in this thing. Nothing.

Other people are critical of the Government for not closing schools, but that's not as straight forward a solution as it sounds either. Children face a much lower risk… and who will look after them if parents have to go to work? Often it's older relatives and grandparents who are in the high risk group.

And it may get harder to keep our s... together as this wears on, especially if the numbers start to climb. So far we're doing a good job at 'flattening the curve'.

This is important, and we all need to do our bit: Wash our hands with soap, social distancing, stay home if you're sick or think you may have been exposed. All that stuff. But if the numbers here do start to rise then we need to be psychologically prepared for that.

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If we panic, then we all will pay the price. There is no need to hoard supplies. By all means prepare for two weeks of self-isolation, but not six months.

There are plenty of people who can't afford to stockpile food and supplies so we don't want to make it harder on those people by emptying the shelves of the staples we all need.

There are people who have good reasons for stockpiling and isolating themselves and their families for an extended period, but those of us who don't have a good reason to do that shouldn't do that.

Don't post stuff online about empty shelves, either. The more people talk about the isolated patches of hoarding, the more that spreads unnecessary panic, and the more people will hoard. Fear breeds fear. So don't give it any airtime at all.

Without doubt there are some tough times ahead, but if we stick together (albeit 2 metres apart), if we wash our hands, and stay home if we're sick or may have been exposed to it… and most of all if we keep level heads, then we'll end up in a much better place… tomorrow… and a year from now.

And as a final thought… let's keep our sense of humour. Doom, gloom, and stress suppress your immune system. Humour, on the other hand, is good for us.

Share important information from trusted sources to be sure, but also keep sharing funny videos of cats pushing stuff off shelves, and dogs falling asleep in chairs in human-like poses.

That s... is gold.