But China shows us you can't just extrapolate the exponential curve. As cases grow there will be a response and China shows us (if you trust the numbers) the r

But China shows us you can't just extrapolate the exponential curve. As cases grow there will be a response and China shows us (if you trust the numbers) the response makes a big difference. There may be a short term exponential growth but with contact tracing and various quarantine measures that curve may decay (e.g. many of the contacts may catch the virus, their families might, but the following transmission could be reduced). I actually stocked up (we always have lots of bulk dry foods anyways) so I can stay home if needed but there's really no clear picture of what's going on. If there is widespread transmission coming from asymptomatic people that would mean this is a lot less dangerous than people think, maybe all these people coughing in the office actually have covid19... If there isn't than why worry yet. There is some evidence that suggests this doesn't transmit very well (e.g. many people quarantined through close contact tracing did not catch the virus) yet there is some contradictory evidence (e.g. the cruise ship or larger clusters.). The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. If you live in an urban area with millions of people what would be a reasonable threshold of cases to isolate yourself completely? My feel is that it's worthwhile being cautions and also assuming the actual numbers are ahead of the curve we see. As long as the projected numbers are still small relative to the overall population then washing your hands, being careful what you touch (your face and shared surfaces), and reducing unnecessary close contacts with random people are likely good enough safety measures. As the numbers grow you can consider completely eliminating contact with others though that can be pretty difficult.