"someone leaping to cataclysmic conclusions based on early figures is no more substantive than another person dismissing the whole thing as nothing major"
The potential downsides for "dismissing the whole thing as nothing major" are a lot higher than "leaping to cataclysmic conclusions". Better safe than sorry. Better to be prepared than unprepared.
While that may be true, it is in no case at all a reason for panic and panicked behavior such as rampant hoarding of things one won't even conceivably need for the length of time this is reasonably expected to last. I have seen a large number of rather hysterical comments on this site that have openly proposed that yes, people should outright panic. It's absurd.
The potential downsides for "dismissing the whole thing as nothing major" are a lot higher than "leaping to cataclysmic conclusions". Better safe than sorry. Better to be prepared than unprepared.