Our greatest threat right now is not the flu-like contagion that has killed two Australians, sent a handful of people to hospital and forced several hundred into quarantine.

It is the risk of a panic fuelled by fear of the unknown which could strip supermarket shelves bare, encourage individuals to ignore the advice of medical experts and authorities, and seriously hamper Australia's ability to manage what the Prime Minister has accurately described as a medical crisis with significant economic implications.

Given the speed and efficacy of the government's response to date, people's time would be better spent counting their blessings rather than descending on shops and supermarkets to stock up on toilet paper, hand sanitiser, face masks and the rest.

Australia is much better placed to manage what should prove to be a relatively short-term crisis than many Asian and European countries with land borders and tens of millions of people crammed into megacities cheek by jowl.

We are the island continent. Governments have been controlling who comes here by air and sea for decades. Authorities are monitoring new arrivals. The travel bans already in place are under constant review.

While the fear is understandable, if everybody stuck to their normal shopping patterns, and listened to what the experts are saying, there would be enough of everything to go around.

That advice includes washing your hands, practising cough etiquette and exercising common sense and courtesy at a time when many people's nerves are frayed.

Our doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical staff are true blue Australian heroes at the best of times. When, as was the case with our firies over the "Black Summer", something like this strikes, they ramp it up to a whole new level again.

They shouldn't have to be worrying about whether or not they, and their families, have access to basic essentials such as toilet paper, tissues and hand sanitiser, while moving heaven and earth to care for the rest of us.

While the government has done an excellent job of managing the medical and the national security response to date, it now faces a new challenge. That is to reassure people that when they go to the shops, the petrol station, or to their pharmacy, that the groceries, petrol and medicines they are expecting to find will be available.

Suppliers and retailers are already on the job. The PM has met with the heads of Coles and Woolworths and Kimberly-Clark is now churning out toilet rolls 24/7.

Australians need to be reassured that while some economic disruption, particularly in industries such as education, tourism and mining with an exposure to China, is inevitable, it will be kept to a minimum. The optics of the stimulus package Mr Morrison is expected to announce in the next few days will be vital.

It will not be enough to replicate the "helicopter money" cash grants used by the Rudd government in the GFC. This is a different sort of crisis. An over-the-top response could, if anything, fuel fear and panic.

But, on the other hand, an inadequate response will be quickly lampooned as "a day late and a dollar short".

The challenge, given the many variables currently in play, is to come up with something that is measured and appropriate, and which quickly reaches those most in need.

It's not going to be easy but the government can't afford to get this wrong.