Because no one can depend on the national media to contextualize the spread of the coronavirus properly, every new bit of data that comes out about new cases and deaths seems like a new reason to panic.

At the forefront is coverage of what’s happening in Italy, the country hit hardest outside of China, where the virus originated. The European country is on lockdown as the virus spreads, and there has been a higher rate of death there because of it than in any other place.