Throughout history, epidemics and pandemics of plague and other diseases have caused widespread panic and social disorder even, in some instances, when the people of one region were aware of a pervasive infection elsewhere. In the case of the Plague of Justinian (541-542 CE and after), for example, the people of Constantinople were aware of plague in the Near East for at least two years before it arrived in the city but made no provision because they did not consider it their problem.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1534/reactions-to-plague-in-the-ancient--medieval-world/.