Nukes are interesting in that, rounded, 100% of their bad side has been in our imaginations. In the real world, nuke tech has been better than the alternative 100% of the time, bombs included.

I take it he is not talking about work in general, to include telework, but to force all to come in close proximity to each other at the physical workplace, no social distancing.

As it happens, perhaps ironically, this is exactly the current state of affairs at the front office of many USG departments right now. Not leading by example, not following advice or orders given to the general population, and probably very “bad optics” if most people knew. “Distancing and closures for thee, not me”.

In their defense, there is no good substitute to working face to face, when you can’t trust electronic comms to stay private and confidential, and when you may be legally prohibited from using genuinely secure tech, but not from keeping in-person conversions secret.

Like Fukushima. People, particularly the elderly in care homes and hospital patients, died as a result of the disruption caused by the evacuation. If they had been left alone, they would not have died. In fact nobody died of direct nuclear disaster consequences. One staff member died of a heart attack, and several others got their annual dose during the emergency and got the next year off work, that’s it!

I suspect the unforeseen second order effects on society and the economy of the current measures will be worse than the actual disease.

I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.

Split the difference. Do a little social distancing and wait for herd immunity to kick in. Same as all the other pandemics. See you all after the end. We’ll binge watch the Walking Dead and laugh.