Social distancing, not travel bans, is crucial to limiting coronavirus’ spread
Aggressive actions to prevent — or at least to slow — the spread of COVID-19 are being taken across the world. Universities are cancelling in-person classes, while academic conferences and political rallies are postponed. Shops are shuttering. Sports leagues are suspending seasons or competing in empty stadiums. Such “social distancing” measures, as they are called by public health experts, are considered essential in controlling a viral pandemic (SN: 3/11/20). What’s not helpful at this point is banning travel from other affected countries, experts say, such as the U.S. ban on most European visitors announced March 11 by President Donald Trump. “I recommend that people voluntarily cut back on non-essential travel” — a form of social distancing in that people would be avoiding crowded airports, train stations and bus depots, says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “But I do not expect that travel bans will meaningfully impact the trajectory of the outbreak.” The virus is probably more widespread than we...