Containment is a necessity and the President is doing this.
The hysteria causing closings is an over-reaction by the media and political foes causing the pandemic of the virus worse than it is. Most that even test for this will survive but in the meantime ruin our economy. My personal Opinion from some health care workers. Caution is good but what I see now is hysteria driven by politics.
Loss of life is permanent. No one lives forever. What we need are accurate statistics about the people who have died from the corona virus. If most (all?) are simply elderly, then all elderly people need to self -isolate. If, on the other hand, they are mostly (all?) people with several underlying conditions (CO-morbidities, obesity, smokers), then people with these need to self-isolate. Shutting down the entire country may even be necessary but honest , complete data needs to be publicized.
Comparing the USA to Italy with its extremely aged population, it’s socialized medicine where wait times are long, it’s very high smoking rate etc., may not tell the whole story.