The carnage on the Australian sharemarket shows how panic can set in when people lose confidence in markets and governments.

The ASX's largest one day fall since 2008 was exacerbated by two factors. One was the collapse in the price of oil. The other is confusion and concern over how Australia will manage the economic fall-out from the bushfires and coronavirus.

While most would give the Morrison government an eight out of 10 for its handling of the medical and containment aspects of the pandemic, the same can't be said of its economic response.

We were promised a "targeted" stimulus package to help the higher education and tourism sectors weeks ago. As it has become apparent the impact will be spread across many other sectors, the need for stimulus is now even more urgent.

While it is understandable, given his repeated criticism of the Rudd government's GFC stimulus, Mr Frydenberg wants to finesse his historic effort, he would do well to remember a vital point.

When Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan took the then treasury head, Ken Henry's, unflinching advice to "go hard, go early and go households" it worked.

From what we've heard so far Mr Frydenberg's best thought seems to be another tax break for big business.

While, no doubt, well meant, it's hard to see how this will have the immediate effect the Rudd stimulus payments to consumers had.

Either an increase in the Newstart allowance, long advocated by groups such as ACOSS, and individuals including the former Prime Minister, John Howard, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, or a one off payment to recipients, would seem more likely to inject money into the economy. They would be spent immediately.

The government also needs to be publicly addressing the issues of what will happen when person-to-person transmission gains traction, thousands of people come down with the virus, and tens of thousands more are told to go into self-isolation.

While there are websites available, and the PM has been making daily appearances on the television, there hasn't been much in the way of saturation public health education using mass media advertising.

Many, including the elderly and those with English as a second language, aren't conversant with looking things up on the web.

We also need to know what is going to happen to casual workers who are told to stay at home and, as a result, will have no income.

Unless some sort of support payment is made available, experience has already shown many will continue to turn up for work and infect colleagues and customers.

Closer to home, it is apparent it is only a matter of time before the ACT reports its first case of the virus. While our health sector has been pulling out all of the stops to be as ready as possible, it is also up to the community to prepare. And no, that doesn't mean cornering the market on hand sanitiser and toilet paper.

The NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, put it well on Monday when he said people should: "Be polite, courteous and careful ... If you have a cough it's probably not covid-19 but think of other people ... We're all in this together and we do best when we remember the ethic of mateship."