[themagician]

Think for a second. You can’t close schools in the US. There is no safety net for people to not go to work. No job, no healthcare at all.

Panic only makes it worse. The sad reality is the best option we have at the moment is for people to pretend like nothing is wrong. Everyone gets to keep their job, income and health insurance for as long as possible. If you get sick, stay home. If you get really sick weigh the cost of going to the doctor against death.

In much of the US many people will opt to just die at home instead of seek medical care. As a result, the system actually won’t get overloaded. If people panic and start showing up at the ER it will though.

[otterley]

> You can’t close schools in the US.

I don't know what you mean by this - we've had "snow days" for a very long time.

[scohesc]

I'm sure they mean long term...

[dariusj18]

People who are high risk or are adjacent to high risk individuals (maybe everyone?) cannot take those chances. The panic from lack of information can be just as bad as the panic from being informed.