This is why it is offensive when any member of our government, expert or not, addresses us chiefly as carriers of a pathogen to be kept indefinitely in our homes. Keeping us in our homes may be necessary in extreme circumstances, and it may be necessary in these circumstances, but officials should be extremely reluctant about it. At a recent White House briefing on the virus, one of the medical experts began scolding Americans, saying that based on the experts’ models, the virus curve was not bending enough because people were not following the rules of distancing to a sufficient extent. The President interrupted to praise Americans for the active steps they were taking for the country, including not just those staying at home but those millions who were performing necessary tasks. (The next day, that same expert told Americans that they should not go to the grocery store, forgetting I guess that we pathogen-carriers need to eat.)