The problem is, many people will be infected that have yet to show symptoms.
If you wait until they are actually sick to lock things down, it’s way too late. the healthcare system will be overwhelmed at that point and the hospitals will be making decisions on who gets to live or die with the limited equipment.
Exponential rise is not the same as linear and things can quickly get out of hand.
People are just going to have to learn to live again instead of depending on a never ending stream of entertainment to keep them occupied. They have no substance, and no skills to make do. They will have to become independent instead of dependent.
I also think the thing that has scared a LOT of people is confronting their own mortality. That could result in a lot of people getting right with God, and that is what I am praying will happen.
Honestly, is the society and culture in which we have been immersed the last couple decades that worth saving? People have survived worse hardship and privation than what this country is looking at at the moment.
These counties have their own health departments and regulations. Jumping the gun like this makes them, and localism in general, passe.