Because no one can depend on the national media to contextualize the spread of the coronavirus properly, every new bit of data that comes out about new cases and deaths seems like a new reason to panic.

At the forefront is coverage of what's happening in Italy, the country hit hardest outside of China, where the virus originated. The European country is on lockdown as the virus spreads, and there has been a higher rate of death there because of it than in any other place.

Every new case and death is ominously covered as though it should serve as a warning that things are about to get so much worse everywhere else.

That's most likely not the case. There's a lot we still don't know about the virus because government officials everywhere are scrambling to limit the spread of the virus, test potentially infected individuals, treat them, and gather data to explain what's happening, all at the same time.

One source of trepidation has been that the coronavirus death rate in Italy is so much higher than elsewhere — nearly twice that of China and the United States. This could be a sign that things can or will get worse. But there's an explanation: The population there is especially old.

The World Health Organization warns that individuals 65 and older are at higher risk of suffering acute symptoms of the virus and, in turn, dying from it.

In Italy, nearly a quarter of the population is more than 65 years old. In the U.S., only 16% is. In China, 11%.

The vast majority of people dying from the virus in the U.S. are in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. That has been the case in China. Italy's national health body says that the average age of individuals dying of the virus has been 81.

Not to devalue the lives lost, but this context about the age of coronavirus victims is needed to prevent a panic. The death rate among those younger is and will remain much lower.

That's the context people should be hearing when they learn of more deaths in Italy related to coronavirus. But the media will probably just keep scaring people instead.