Please, Listen to Experts About the Coronavirus. Then Step Up.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/opinion/coronavirus-expert-advice.html
"On Tuesday, a Harvard epidemiologist, Marc Lipsitch, shared his recent research into the coronavirus epidemics in Wuhan and Guangzhou, China, comparing their I.C.U. and hospital bed use with the capacity here in the United States. His conclusion was blunt: “We need to stop feeling sheepish about it and just realize that some places (Italy, Iran) are in crisis, and some are very likely in the days before crisis, a crisis that will be less bad if we slow down the virus. #flattenthecurve to reduce peak demand on health care.” Trevor Bedford, a researcher at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has been posting findings of genome sequencing of the virus to estimate spread. His research suggests an outbreak in the Seattle area that’s still not reflective of testing. Like other experts, Dr. Bedford offers links to public health officials with information about the effectiveness of social distancing, like Caitlin Rivers, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security studying outbreak science and epidemiology. Caitlin Rivers, PhD Community interventions like event closures have an important role in limiting covid transmission, but individual behavior changes are even more important. 1/ Caitlin Rivers, PhD Community interventions are temporary and socially and economically costly. Individual actions are humble but powerful and permanent. 2/ Unlike government officials offering vague advice, many experts seem clear that difficult measures must be put in place. In a 35-tweet thread on Monday, Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, laid out the case for social distancing in American cities. At a basic level, social distancing means keeping sick people home and out of contact with healthy as well as vulnerable people. It also means that healthy people distance themselves by avoiding crowded or public places, canceling plans and not traveling."