关闭学校和办公室对家庭造成了严重破坏。取消航空公司的航班，公共事件，社会职能以及我们经济的破坏一直令人震惊。我们被抛弃了一个以不确定性，焦虑和恐惧为主的时代。

这些措施是否真正需要减轻当前的Covid-19大流行？答案是肯定的。由于缺乏预防性疫苗或COVID-19的确定治疗，停止传播的唯一方法是社交疏远和“使曲线变平”。以前不熟悉的表达现在是白话的一部分。平坦的曲线是指减少案件的数量，以使医生，医院和政府官员能够尽其所能地运作而不会被不知所措。重要的是要认识到医院只有大量的房间，呼吸机和医疗保健人员。

The info-graphic below demonstrates why slowing the spread of the infection is nearly as important as stopping it. While shaped differently, the 2 bell-shaped curves below represent the same number of infected patients. The y-axis or peak of the bell indicates the daily number of cases and the x-axis indicates the time since the first case. The dotted line across the center represents the point at which too many cases in a short period of time will overwhelm the healthcare system.

正如高大，狭窄的曲线所示，许多人在短时间内患有COVID-19，可能导致医院病床，设备或医生短缺。另一方面，如扁平曲线所示，如果以较慢的速度呈现给医院的患者数量相同，则医院有足够的供应，床和医疗保健提供者的可能性更高（图1）。

因此，为了减轻这种大流行的影响，我们需要将案例数保持在虚线以下。通过这样做，我们让我们的医疗保健系统发挥最佳作用。这也使科学家和研究人员有时间创建药物，疗法，并有可能针对该病毒进行有效的疫苗。

An especially important factor to consider with respect to flattening the curve, is the necessity to keep our healthcare workers–physicians, nurses, and hospital staff–healthy and safe. With an increasing number of cases in the community, the potential for this workforce to get sick is much higher. If healthcare workers become sick, they will need to be excluded from patient care for many weeks. This effect of this is profound, as it will result in less healthcare workers and less qualified individuals available to take care of the sickest COVID-19 patients.

社会距离可能是我们唯一的希望帮助佛罗里达州tten the curve and slow the spread of disease. Social distancing involves keeping a physical distance between people, at least 6 feet away, to avoid spread of the COVID-19 virus. This decreases the chances of acquisition of the virus and the disease. With the continued acceleration of this pandemic, no measure can be considered too drastic. The horrifying situation in Italy, wherein patients with COVID-19 have inundated the overburdened healthcare system, forcing doctors to make agonizing triage decisions about who should receive lifesaving care, should not be repeated in other countries.

出于社会疏远的目的，学校关闭特别影响了儿童和年轻家庭。尽管目前的数据表明儿童没有出现严重疾病，但有充分记录的儿童仍然可以将病毒传播给其家人和接触。先前的流感大流行病表明，由于他们的密切接触，在学童中看到了最高的攻击率。与朋友分开，对于孩子，尤其是青少年来说可能很困难。社会疏远并不意味着社会隔离。我们可以继续使用不同的平台（例如社交媒体和视频应用程序）进行交互，以帮助他们在这个挑战的时间内保持联系。

This is an unprecedented time and although social distancing may be thought to be a dramatic measure, in truth, together as a unified society, we can help slow down the spread of COVID-19. By staying home, you are not just protecting yourself but also other people. It’s the responsible thing to do and although challenging, will help us avoid a situation similar to that of Italy wherein war-like triage decisions and death has become a commonplace.