Between 250 000 - 500 000 die of the regular flu every year.
I’m pretty far away from the panic button.
No one should be panicking, it is always better to remain rational, rational minds will always prevail in comparison.
Nor should one so casually dismiss an illness that is proving to be greater than 40 times as deadly and nearly three times as infectious as that common flu.
The common flu, with 250,000 - 500,000, over its 0.1% lethality implies an infected population of 250 to 500 million. On such a base covid doesn't kill just half a million, it kills 9.8 to 19.6 million, using the current 183k cases and 7174 deaths which yields a rate of 3.92%. Of course more will be infected with no symptoms and survive just fine, which drives the rate down, while also driving the cases upwards, and we stay right where we are with ~10 to ~20 million on the same base the common flu obtains.
Italy shows us a 7.3% rate for what happens when its not taken seriously enough and swamps a healthcare system, upper end of 36.5 million at that rate. Its the combination of rate of infection, and mortality that make it so much more dangerous, swamping medical centers because people brush it off like the common flu, don't take it seriously, get infected, infect others, and make it all worse.
So no, don't panic, but only a fool would dismiss it as being of no concern and not take reasonable precaution.