David Drew Pinsky, otherwise known as 'Dr Drew', has slammed the media for over-hyping the coronavirus, leading people the world over to panic buy provisions and medical supplies.

Speaking with Daily Blast Live, Dr Drew said "Let me frame it this way: we have in the United States 24 million cases of flu-like illness, 180,000 hospitalizations, 16,000 dead from influenza,"

"Why is that not being reported? Why isn't the message: get your flu shot?" he added.

In a previous appearance on the show, Dr Drew urged that "We are not overreacting; the press is overreacting, and it makes me furious."

"The press should not be reporting medical stories as though they know how to report it," he continued.

"If we have a pandemic, I won't know how to tell that we're actually having a pandemic because everything is an emergency." Drew further explained, adding "People that are infectious disease specialists, the CDC, the epidemiologist[s], need to take this very seriously. The press needs to shut up because you're more likely to die of influenza right now."