Just because you can leave your home doesn't mean you should. I don't say this just for personal precaution. I saw this so people can act selflessly and self-quarantine at the first sign of problems. Most of the people reading this are probably healthy people in their 20s-50s. The virus doesn't pose too much of a threat to us. But these people can also be prime carriers of the disease and increase its spread. If you or someone in your house gets sick, you really shouldn't be going out in public to buy groceries even if it is technically still possible to do it.

And for the record here is a 12 day old article that says Italy has had 650 cases and 17 deaths[1]. The CDC website currently has us at 647 cases and 25 deaths [2] and plenty of other places are reporting higher numbers[3]. I don't think I am raising a false alarm here.

[1] - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/27/8099845...

[2] - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html

[3] - https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/live-blog/coronav...