Page 10 - My FlipBook

“Push for the entire the likelihood that they could infect others
of ce to work at home if they had already contracted the disease
today, cancel birthday
parties, and other gath- but were not yet showing symptoms.
erings, stay home as As Higgins and her family endured the
much as you can.” 10 lockdown in Italy, she posted a message
on her Facebook page, warning people
— Cristina Higgins, an American
university professor living in in America and elsewhere that they would
Bergamo, Italy soon be experiencing the same type of
life under a nationwide lockdown. More-
over, she pointed out that hospitals and
other care providers needed time to prepare for the huge infl ux of
COVID-19 patients that was sure to come:

You have a chance to make a difference and stop the
spread in your country. Push for the entire offi ce to work
at home today, cancel birthday parties, and other gather-
ings, stay home as much as you can. If you have a fever,
any fever, stay home. Push for school closures, now. Any-
thing you can do to stop the spread, because it is spread-
ing in your communities—there is a two-week incubation
period—and if you do these things now you can buy your
medical system time. 10

COVID-19 Spreads to America
Back in the United States, the steps taken by national leaders to
stop the spread of the disease soon proved to be inadequate.
For example, on January 31, President Donald Trump issued an
order prohibiting travelers who had visited China during the previ-
ous two weeks from entering the United States. But that effort fell
short of curbing the spread of the virus. In the United States, the
disease took its fi rst victim when a patient in Santa Clara County,
California, died on February 6.
Nonetheless, for the fi rst few weeks of March, most Ameri-
cans went about their lives, wondering whether the severe mea-

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