the panic came from an oct 24th report that sent the average new case per day to 400. this was an exponential increase from previous reports and extremely troubling (just extend the curve to see where it would head)
they’ve recently looked into the statistical information and found the information to be correct... but the reporting came as a bunch instead of weekly. this resulted in months of data being reported in a blast alongside the other weekly data, causing the extreme jump.
The panic came because some people like to panic, and the press LOVES to panic it’s good for ratings.