We are beginning to "lock down" big time.
As far as school closures, I can't help but wonder how we can cope with this as a nation as more and more people need to stay home just to take care of the kids -- never mind people staying home because they have a cold or flu that could be COVID-19.
Without information, we must assume the worst, and take more and more extreme "general" measures. And in doing so, face more and more disruptions of our lives and our economy.
Until large scale testing gets off the ground -- IF we get our act together and get it off the ground -- we really have no idea what we are ACTUALLY up against. Testing -- learning actual infection rates and spread in different areas -- allows for more targeted approach.
We need to identify as many asymptotic positives as possible and get them quarantined.
We need to prioritize identifying positives who live with or work with the most vulnerable people -- and get them AWAY from those people (and that means the ability to move people who live with vulnerable people, elsewhere).
Not testing people who are self-isolating with symptoms is insanity. We need to know who has has it, so when they recover, we have identified people who, are, at least for some period of time -- immune. We need to know which of the symptomatic just have a cold or flu, and are therefore still vulnerable to infection after they recover.
Without widespread testing, we don't know a god damn thing and can't coordinate any sort of effective, rational, response, aside from the closures of all public spaces, schools, and on and on.
Perhaps it's "too late" -- time to give up on doing massive, meaningful testing, and just "lock down." But I don't believe that. Whatever else we do, getting INFORMATION that can only be gotten through testing is vital to managing the crisis.
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