25 Mar 2020

David Ropeik - Fear makes us stockpile in Covid-19 pandemic

From Afternoons, 3:27 pm on 25 March 2020

Fear and facts have a very rocky relationship. Right now fear about Covid 19 is making us feel powerless to assess the risk of doing something as simple as going to the supermarket according to David Ropeik. He's a retired Harvard professor and expert in risk communication. He explains why we're hoarding toilet paper and what we can do to minimize the risk of overreacting.

Queues at Mt Wellington supermarkets after it was announced the country is moving into alert level 3 and then 4 in the next few days.

Queues at Mt Wellington supermarkets after it was announced the country is moving into alert level 3 and then 4 in the next few days. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly