In any national crisis, the best leaders project calm composure and competence to reassure a frightened public. In medical emergencies, doctors should reassure patients without hiding the real risks. A 2006 study led by Thomas Inglesby, Director of Johns Hopkins’ Bloom-berg School of Public Health, articulated this ‘overriding principle’: ‘communities faced with epidemics… respond best and with the least anxiety when the normal social functioning of the community is least disrupted.