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We go through these E.L.E. events every year in the press. Excuse me while I yawn. I expect the Media to yell fire in any theater, That is their nature. As for me, I am a prepper, and I have done everything in my power to be prepared. I just don't prepare for the media's relentless scare tactics to make money. As I said, G-d is in control. All you can do is to prepare for everything that you can, and since you quote Chabad, that is a good place to start to understand what Hashem wants you to do. I attend Chabad as well, and study Torah. Your insight into the "Sea of Reeds" is admirable. Since the current Parshat are focusing on the Exodus, even timely. As you probably know as well, the plague of blood was a red tide, that is happening even today (like in Florida as well as Egypt). The plague of frogs was probably the plague of toads (צְפַרְדֵעַ), or in hebrew, which were toxic. The plagues that Cecil B. DeMille sensationalized could be explained in modern terms, so people don't see the plagues that they expect to see. We have always had plagues. We should take the example that Exodus gave us. Va'aira and Bo are excellent Parshat that give us a good example of the message - get out of Egypt. In most regards, we are still in Egypt, if you believe that Egypt is a symbol of the pagan world and our desires to hold on to it. So, yes, your statement "Sitting around on a couch and praying for a miracle isn’t going to get you one - God only grants those to people/societies that deserve them, and not a small part of that is that said person or society has done all that they could to help themselves" is good advice. You should know the signs of the times. You should prepare for them. But you shouldn't be too concerned with the false prophets that are spreading doom and gloom for their own purposes. Know that Hashem is in control. That is the miracle of Passover.

Thanks for your reply - and I had no idea that your were a fellow MOT (not that such really makes a difference to this subject - the corona virus).

I agree (and have said on this and other threads) that we shouldn’t go around with our hair on fire. IOW, don’t get caught up in the media hype. But doing the prepping thing is smart (and also Biblical, but that’s for another day and topic), as is taking simple but effective precautions for this (and other) diseases. Stuff like washing your hands more often, keeping away from sick people as much as possible and keeping your (HaShem-given) immune system in the best possible condition.

I absolutely agree - we mere humans can only do so much...but we SHOULD do those things. The rest is in HaShem’s hands.