As for closing schools, staying away from public transit if at all possible, etc...that's just common sense. Again, children are the most vulnerable to this, so it makes sense to keep kids home so they don't even have to risk getting it. Keeping adults from being exposed is also just common sense. Nobody wants to get sick. It obviously is just shitty to feel that way, it makes them lose money in lost wages, incurs medical expenses(this applies to kids too). It just makes economic sense to get people to avoid public transit if they could be exposed, makes economic sense to keep kids home from school if kids in their district have already come down with this. Now then...people pay healthcare costs, insurance companies do too...but who has a HUGE stake in this? The government does. Last figures I saw, it pays 53% of healthcare costs in the US. Why wouldn't it try to save itself some money by keeping people from getting sick in the first place? Already a woeful amount of money(4% of all healthcare dollars) goes toward prevention, even though it is FAR cheaper to prevent a sickness than it is to cure it once someone has it. I'm glad to see them being more proactive in all this. Its nothing to be scared of that they're closing schools or that Joe Biden suggested avoiding public transit. Its common fucking sense. The economy can't handle a huge hit, and this could potentially do damage to the economy if steps aren't taken to mitigate its effects. The Obama administration shouldn't apologize for Joe Biden's remarks. They were pretty dead-on, from a public health perspective.
*steps off my soapbox* I graduate in about 2 weeks with a degree in public health so I have rather strong feelings on this one. The media needs to STFU. They'll do anything for a story and anything to whip the public into a panic so they tune in/buy the newspaper/buy whatever other form of media is out there to learn more about this.
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