[galvin]

That's the point isn't it? Until individuals take the necessary precautions and businesses provide their employees with safe working conditions the only reasonable course of action is to limit social interaction.

The shutdown isn't a solution, it's a way to buy time and prevent things from getting worse while we adapt and find solutions.

If you want to shift the debate from whether the shutdown has merit to how long it should last then it's a matter of judging the progress being made.

As for the nature of the virus, it's certainly not as deadly as HIV but it's a lot more infectious. Most people would be fine but if half the population is infected the resulting death toll will be enormous. I wouldn't presume it will be season either, from what I can tell the consensus is that we will be dealing with this until vaccination is widespread.