Stop the virus. A nationwide shelter-in-place or quarantine should take place for the next eight to 10 weeks. According to Chinese data, this would mean the number of Covid-19 cases would peak in four weeks or so and then decline over the next four to six weeks. So, as hard as it will be, everybody but crucial workers will have to remain inside until roughly June 1st.

Make reasonable exceptions. In counties with few cases of Covid-19 and the ability to test and trace infected people’s contacts, normal life could go on as long as people believed to be infected are quarantined and those who are known to be infected are rapidly isolated.

Mobilize public health resources. During the eight weeks of shelter-in-place, the federal government needs to produce and distribute enough tests so state and local health officials can check as many people as possible, even those without symptoms, and determine the true extent of infections. We should also push the Food and Drug Administration for rapid approval of blood tests to determine who has antibodies to coronavirus, and is thus immune, and then deploy millions of them.