It seems to me that simple logic dictates that we want to knock this thing out as quickly as possible, in order to minimize the amount of time that daily life is affected. Well, the best way to do that is to take whatever measures are necessary to minimize its early spread, and let it burn itself out quicker within a smaller affected population. The “aaah, it’s just the flu” attitude, if translated into policy, would ensure that the damage would go on for many, many months at best.