Infectious diseases spread by human contact. Reducing contact between infected and uninfected people should therefore slow down spread. We can use this time to

Infectious diseases spread by human contact. Reducing contact between infected and uninfected people should therefore slow down spread. We can use this time to gather information about this variant in order to make better decisions about how to deal with it. The precautionary principle dictates that we act by assuming that a very bad outcome is likely until we get more information. A very bad outcome (which we don't have enough information to rule out) is hospitals being overwhelmed with sick people, so that some patients are left untreated, with a greatly increased rate of dying as a result. The reason this is possible is because there are a large number of mutations in this variant, which might allow it to bypass people's immunity. This can make immunity acquired through previous infection or vaccination ineffective.