MK CITIZEN COMMENT: Reporting on coronavirus cases is not sensationalist

It was only a matter of time before Milton Keynes had its first confirmed case of coronarvirus.

Now, after new details reaching us overnight, it appears we have a second.

There had been much speculation, particularly since MK became the focus of the eyes of the world when passengers on the last rescue flight from Wuhan, China - the epicentre of the outbreak - were taken to Kents Hill for a two-week quarantine period.

That brought out the best in MK with the community rallying around, bringing food and supplies to those in isolation here.

That period passed without incident. But it also sparked rumour, speculation, false claims and concerns about potential cases and spread of the disease in our area.

When we had it confirmed that the first case had very sadly lead to the death of an elderly man at MK Hospital we broke the news on our website and social media platforms.

The stories and others we have published in recent weeks have often been met by a deluge of comments from people accusing the media of scaremongering and hyping up the nation into hysteria.

It was and is not the case, we were just reporting the facts. If we had wanted to whip up hysteria and go for the sensationalised stories, we would have published every rumour and speculative story we had heard in the previous week or so.

Coronavirus is exactly that. A virus. Yes, more people may die from other illnesses and diseases...at the moment.

And that is the point of the media coverage...to urge people to take precautions, and take the warnings seriously, to stop coronavirus becoming the epidemic that the experts have warned it may.

It is not the media that are coming up with the predictions about the scale of coronavirus, it is the experts in the field.

If the MK Citizen, and other regional media outlets, had not reported on the first cases of coronavirus, we would have been accused of ignoring it or covering it up.

So, no, we are not sensationalising the stories or whipping up a state of mass hysteria...we are just reporting the facts, as they happen.