[spookthesunset]

You live a very sheltered life if you think all humans need is video conferencing and stocked grocery shelves.

There is a huge world of stuff that cannot be done remote. Sporting events, construction, weddings, restaurants, building maintenance, manufacturing, and millions of other stuff. Stuff that is critical to keeping our global economy happy. Healthy economy == healthy people.

Ps: have any of the doomsayers spouting nonsense stoped to consider what bullshit it is that all the white collar people can remain “safe” at home while all the blue collar grocery workers and the entire supply chain that feeds it gets to go out each day and expose themselves to a virus so deadly we took these extreme measures? Kind of bullshit, ain’t it?

[ericd]

Thanks a lot. My point was that you're being hyperbolic and panicky, and that doesn't help at all. Being stuck at home sucks, but it isn't as bad as you're saying. Talking with friends and family helps a lot.

[tempestn]

People staying home don't just protect themselves; the more distancing is done by everyone, the better the outlook. I do agree with you that it's possible extreme lockdown measures won't have to last more than a month or two, but we really don't know at this point. Over the coming weeks we will continue to learn more about the virus and how it spreads, and testing infrastructure will continue to scale up. If the distancing measures work to get control of the outbreaks, and this can be confirmed through more extensive testing, then it should be possible to ease up and to try to find a balance between minimizing risk of spread and maintaining daily activities. Until an effective treatment/vaccine is found though, there is likely to be some level of continuing disruption.