Speaking only of the headline, it should be a banner ad for successful preparation and containment; it should not hint at overkill or wasted money, which it doe

Speaking only of the headline, it should be a banner ad for successful preparation and containment; it should not hint at overkill or wasted money, which it does (unless there actually was money wasted on overkill that the article wishes to expose). Even on a psychological basis, it made the populous feel more secure that the authorities were doing their best to cope. And economically speaking, it's standard economic theory that injecting money into the slowing economy will have a near term beneficial effect beyond just the direct recipients of the money. That's just the headline, and the people who write the articles famously don't write the headlines, but still, the headline is a bad headline.