Covid-19 May Have You Working At Home – The Wall Street Journal

The original priority was tightening travel to and from China. But travel restrictions and advisories will become obsolete as the number of affected countries grows. Any of the thousands of airplanes that land in the U.S. each day could be carrying people who are infected. Airports should remind incoming travelers to isolate themselves and seek medical care if they develop symptoms. Decisions to travel outside the U.S. will largely depend on factors such as individual’s risk tolerance, health status, and the ability to access medical care in a foreign country.

As the number of cases expands, other time-worn public-health measures for containing disease—detecting infected individuals and tracing their contacts—will no longer be enough. Slowing down community spread may require aggressive steps aimed at “social distancing”—keeping people who are sick away from others. The CDC provides guidance to help states and cities put these measures into place—for example, canceling mass gatherings or closing schools and conducting classes online. But it’s up to local authorities to decide what measures to implement. A patchwork of policies may initially confuse the public.

The usual flu-season advice applies: Wash your hands frequently, avoid handshakes, and try not to touch your face. Most important, stay home when you or someone in your household is sick. For home isolation and quarantine to work, employers need to be as understanding and flexible as possible. They can help by holding videoconferences instead of meetings and letting employees work from home. Some may consider alternative schedules or staggered shifts.

These measures will be most effective if applied early and widely. Singapore suspended mass gatherings at schools and eldercare facilities immediately after detecting local disease transmission. This appears to have slowed the number of new infections. But it is important to acknowledge that these measures can cost workers money and even their jobs.

The coming weeks will be hard as more Americans become infected and some die of the disease. Mitigation efforts will be disruptive. But these steps are the best defense until innovation can produce an effective treatment or vaccine that can arrest the virus’s spread.

Dr. Borio is a vice president at In-Q-Tel and was director for medical and biodefense preparedness policy at the National Security Council, 2017-19. Dr. Gottlieb is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a partner at New Enterprise Associates. He was commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, 2017-19.