will continue as long as long as there is at least one infected person within a population who is exposed to others

Public closures, a ban on gatherings, quarantine notices and orders for isolation have become increasingly common as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States. Officials in Washington state and San Francisco are limiting the number of people allowed to attend public gatherings. The governor of California joined them on Thursday in urging the cancellation of all events with more than 250 people in attendance. The governor of Kentucky, a Bible belt state, has asked churches and other religious institutions to temporarily cancel services. But if it seems these actions are infringing on individual freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, think again. You dont have a right to assemble against the backdrop of known public health risk, James G. Hodge told McClatchy News. Officials typically have to go through legal processes to close an establishment or shut down public gatherings, Hodge said. But under a state of emergency, everything is expedited. Its not that we dont have time for First Amendment interests, its that we must act fast, he said. What was opened today can be closed tomorrow. That doesnt mean communities in the U.S. will see the kind of large-scale lock-downs happening in Italy and China, Hodge added. But there are circumstances under which a voluntary recommendation can become involuntary. A man in Missouri left quarantine to attend a father-daughter dance at a nearby hotel, McClatchy reported, prompting county health officials to warn he must remain in his home or they will issue a formal quarantine that will require him and the rest of his family to stay in their home by the force of law. When someone opts to evade such recommendations, Hodge said, public health authorities can seek a court order mandating their compliance. Some of those basic liberties are going to be truncated for a brief period, he said. Most Americans understand the need for that.

The Rockefeller Foundation published a report in May 2010 in cooperation with the Global Business Network of futurologist Peter Schwartz. It was called Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development.Every day world mainstream news reports more people in more countries diagnosed positive for the coronavirus illness, now called COVID-19. As the reported numbers grow, so does widespread nervousness, often in the form of panic shopping for masks, disinfections, toilet paper, canned goods. We are told to accept the testing results as science-based. While it is next to impossible to get a full picture of what is taking place in China, the center of the novel virus storm,

The first scenario, titled, Lock Step, describes a world of total government control and authoritarian leadership. It envisions a future where a pandemic would allow national leaders to flex their authority and impose airtight rules and restrictions that would remain after the pandemic faded. The first half of this scenario already has unfolded. Will it continue as predicted?