Across Australia there had already been reports of toilet paper flying off the shelves, and on Saturday morning at Canberra's Costco it was no different. After opening at 9.30am, there was no loo rolls by 9.45am.

As the supermarket shelves quickly emptied of other long-life essentials, it became clear that as a community, we're either just being overly prepared, or we're panicking.

Preparation will be key to riding this thing out comfortably, and quite possibly from our lounge rooms at home.

But panic does more harm than good. Can't get toilet paper? Ask your neighbour. Is your neighbour asking you for toilet paper? Be generous.

Don't buy months and months-worth of goods. There is no need and ultimately you're preventing so many others in the community from experiencing the feeling of preparedness, by having an extra few packs of pasta in the pantry.

What we need as a community right now is common sense, and kindness. Think of others, think of your neighbours.

It's been a tough year for most of Australia, and it's only March. In Canberra alone we've had fire, hail, flooding and now coronavirus.

This is a scary time, but we can't let that get in the way of basic human decency.

We're lucky in the ACT and Queanbeyan that police haven't recorded any illegal activity as a result of coronavirus panic - no scrums in the toilet paper aisle have been reported.

"As the impacts of the disease increase we would urge Canberrans to exercise patience and understanding," a police spokeswoman said.

When the bushfires cleaned the shops out of bottled water, who knew toilet paper would be the next frontier?

The glow of fire coming across the Namadgi National Park is a sight hard to unsee, and that was scary, too.

Right now we're dealing with an invisible threat. We have no daily prediction maps for what areas will bear the brunt. Many things about the virus are still unknowns.

Instead of panicking, do what you can to prepare while leaving plenty on the shelves for others to do the same.