This is serious.

Unlike other viruses, but like SARS and the swine flu, the covid-19 coronavirus is a new virus and there is no human immunity to it.  There is no vaccine yet and we’re a year off, at best, from one being available.  This virus has a higher mortality rate than most other viruses, particularly for the aged and those with underlying conditions.  Finally, it is highly contagious – not as bad as measles, but worse than most other flus.    

The last time a new virus emerged with similar properties and under similar conditions was the Spanish Influenza of 1918, and somewhere between 17 and 50 million people died.  

Without a vaccine and without more knowledge, the only thing we can do is try and mitigate the damage though quarantine, breaking the person-to-person chain of exposure.  The U.S. isn’t set up to enforce martial law and shut down entire cities or states like they did in China and thank goodness for that, so the best we can do is subscribe to voluntary “social distancing,” enforced to some degree by mandatory closings of non-essential businesses (restaurants, bars, etc.).

In particular, those who live with elderly relatives should avoid going out and and potentially bringing the virus back into the house.  Just because one can still get an appointment with a hairdresser or a tax preparer doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to go, or safe to do so.  The virus could be on any hard surface at any of those places – desktops, pens, armrests, doorknobs, etc.  Any person who came through there, much less the workers, may have left the virus at those places for one to pick up and bring back home, potentially infecting their elderly relatives.  

Not only that, but its hard to convince the elderly to stay inside and self-quarantine.  If one tries to tell them not to go to Walmart as one is on their way out the door for their own appointments, you can't blame the elderly for not taking it seriously.  

This virus has a particularly long period between infection and symptoms – even if one feel fine now, one could  still be carrying the virus and infecting others with it.  A friend said that we should all just assume that we already have the virus and not act as if we’re trying to avoid catching it but act as if we were trying to avoid spreading it.

One could think of it as patriotism – the so-called "president" and his Coronavirus Task Force are calling for Americans to self-quarantine.  In today’s press conference, Trump compared voluntary social distancing to the sacrifices an earlier generation made during WWII.  Yes, one can go out as absolutely essential for food supplies or medical emergencies, but that's about it.  

If we wait until there’s a mandatory shut-down, it’ll already be too late and it will be just like 1918 all over again, and so many people will unnecessarily die.  

Please be well, wash your hands, and stay inside.