Stress, rumours, even violence: Virus fear goes viral

A man wearing a face mask rides a bicycle to pass the Chinatown's main entrance gate in Incheon, South Korea. Even as cases and deaths from the new virus mount, fear is advancing like a tsunami – and not just in the areas surrounding the Chinese city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak that has been declared a global health emergency. — Photos: AP

TOKYO: You might have heard that the fear of a new virus from China is spreading faster than the actual virus.

From earnest officials trying to calm a building panic. From your spouse. From the know-it-all who rattles off the many much more likely ways you’re going to die: smoking, car accidents, the flu.