I texted my family. And then I made a list of everyone I knew that I’d been in close contact with (which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as being less than six feet away for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period). I called those friends I knew to be infrequent email users, and then sent individual emails to about a dozen others.

One friend quickly wrote back, “You’re so courageous.” Another, “That’s integrity.” Honestly, I didn’t feel courageous or virtuous; I felt disappointed and sad. But I did what I hoped others would do in my shoes, which is to disclose their infection to those with a need to know, and to quarantine. That might mean canceling a vacation, taking time off from work, skipping a wedding, or, as in my case, missing the holidays with family.

Ann McGuire, director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine, insists that “we all must give up some individual liberties, including our privacy, for the benefit of the community … so that others can take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their loved ones.”