I'm considered essential and was talking about this with a coworker today... I live on the edge of a state and both the state I live in and the one 10 miles away are under orders for all non-essential workers to not work for the next 2-3 weeks. I understand the rationale, flattening the curve, we have to take decisive action, etc, but it also makes me wonder how long this can go on. Not criticizing it, but if we really are only in the early stages of all this, that would suggest things are going to be even worse 2 weeks from now, not better, meaning shutdown will be even more important than ever. However, I can't really see the economy being shutdown for months at a time... Just doesn't seem really possible. For example, I commute to work. What happens if I hit a deer? I can't get my car fixed, I can't rent a car, and I can't buy a car. At some point we're going to have to start allowing at least low level activity, probably well in advance of the peak of covid-19. I guess nobody really knows when that will be though since we're all playing this by ear. Kind of a different subject, but this pandemic kind of makes me think it's only a matter of time (decades or possibly centuries) before a more deadly virus emerges that wipes out most of the human race. We're so interconnected now this thing has spread across the entire world in weeks even with moderate preventative actions. If it was a deadly virus that was contagious during the incubation period, we'd be completely fvcked.