No bottled water.

No Germ-X.

No chicken-noodle soup.

That’s what I found in the three grocery stores I visited this week. The reason – the scare about the coronavirus, abbreviated to COVID-19 by the Center for Disease Control.

There’s now a confirmed case in Fort Bend County, and the simmering panic we’ve been reading about will probably blow into a full-blown fire right here in our own back yards.

We’ve been through viruses before. There was the SARS outbreak a few years ago that caused shortages in grocery stores, even though the flu – which has been around for centuries – historically affects thousands more than any virus so far.

But we panicked, clearing out grocery store shelves in case we were quarantined.

There was the Bird Flu, SARS, MRSA, the Swine Flu and the H1N1 virus.

This past summer, people stayed away from Texas beaches because we heard the waters were polluted with flesh-eating bacteria.

When it comes to the beach, I’m not easily scared.

We visited Gulf Shores, Ala. after the British Petroleum oil spill, and the waters looked the same as they did for the past 10 years. The only difference was I was the only soul on the beach except for the occasional person coming by in a haz-mat suit.

According to abcnews.go.com, we’ve worried about cell phones giving us brain cancer, getting a letter in the mail with anthrax bacteria and trans-fats in our food. We shouldn’t eat fish because of the high mercury levels, and vegetables are loaded with dirt and bacteria.

When a hurricane or bad storm’s coming, the weather folks go into overdrive, and people panic. Stores shelves are bare, there’s long lines at the gas stations and you can’t find a generator for hundreds of miles.

It’s good to be prepared for emergencies, but are we overreacting?

This week, I went to the store for a replacement bottle of hand sanitizer. I got a little spooked when the third store I visited had bare shelves. I looked online at Amazon, and the bottle of sanitizer that was $4 in the store a month ago was $50 online.

That’s what panic will do to us.

National Public Radio is practically dragging out the air horns and emergency broadcasting signal to tell us the sky is falling and we’re all doomed. Oh, I’m sorry, they say that every time a Republican’s in the White House.

On the other hand, what if we really do need to be prepared and COVID-19 could wreak havoc on the operation of the world?

If we quarantine workers, forget getting fuel at the gas pumps, groceries or pharmaceuticals. Stores will close until the emergency passes, and people who stocked up on bottled water and Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee canned spaghetti will be sitting pretty.

All of us who shrugged off the warnings will feel ignorant for not paying attention sooner.

So I find myself in the middle of the debate.

I’m angry at the media for causing public panic with phrases like “I’m not going to use the word pandemic, but we should be worried.” Announcer – you just used the word pandemic and raised the anxiety levels of every listener about 20 points.

I’m angry at people for not washing their hands throughout the day, coming to work with a cough and cold and for not examining every piece of news with a skeptical and informed eye and believing every bit of exaggerated news they hear.

But then I find myself in the grocery store at 6:30 a.m. with a dozen other shoppers. We’re all filling our carts with toilet paper, cans of beef stew and the biggest jar of peanut butter we can afford.

Here’s the best advice I’ve heard and read:  Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick. Wipe down door knobs and light switches with Lysol and, whether it’s the COVID-19 virus or a shortage of toilet paper, keep your wits about you.

Get the facts.

Make informed decisions.

And don’t panic.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.