As U.S. investors panicked Tuesday amid global reports of a wider outbreak of the coronavirus, financial advisers urged their clients to avoid reacting negatively to the market dip, InvestmentNews reported.

More new cases of infection were reported outside of China – including dozens of patients now in the U.S. – and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the public to prepare for widespread contagion within the U.S. 

On Tuesday the Dow Jones industrial index fell nearly 900 points, or more than 3%, while the S&P 500 dropped by about 3%. Those moves followed similar dips on Monday, when the Dow fell by 3.5%, closing more than 1,000 points lower than its 28,993 close on Friday, Feb. 21.

Adviser Paul Schatz, president of Heritage Capital in Connecticut, said he has tried to prepare clients for months for the volatility. Because of that, he heard from only a few people after the market drop.

But for anyone thinking of rebalancing, Schatz had one piece of advice. “If you weren’t smart enough to take [defensive] measures on Friday or Thursday, don’t react today. … Certainly don’t run to gold right now.” he said. “People are going to look for safe havens.”

A financial planner in Florida who is also a medical doctor said some good news is that the novel coronavirus so far appears no worse, and likely is less severe, than a particularly bad influenza virus this season. 

“The CDC estimates that 16,000 to 41,000 people have died from the flu this year,” Dr. Carolyn McClanahan, director of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Fla., wrote in a column in Financial Planning. “Unfortunately, you don’t see that in the press. And the worst part is that we have immunizations for the flu and people don’t take the time to get protected.”

The problem with a novel virus, McLanahan wrote, is that by virtue of its newness, “people have no immunity — and vaccines can take a year to produce.” And it will take time to understand the severity of the virus, and whether its mortality rate will remain at the current 2%, or turn out to be much higher. The 1918 flu pandemic’s death rate was 60%, she noted. 

Advisers told clients to sit tight, at least until the market recovers, the InvestmentNews article said. 

“I have had a few clients reach out today,” Lamar Watson, founder of Dream Financial Planning in Washington, D.C., said in an email on Tuesday. When taking on clients, Watson uses Riskalyze to understand their risk tolerance, and he explains how volatile the stock market can be, he said. He also encourages clients to focus on what they can control, like spending and saving, he said.

“The coronavirus would definitely fall into the uncontrollable bucket,” Watson said. “I also remind them that their investments are only a small part of their overall financial picture and that this too will pass.”

For the most up-to-date summary of the coronavirus outbreak, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 page.