As coronavirus disease spreads throughout the United States, policymakers are contemplating reinstatement and relaxation of shelter-in-place orders. By using a model capturing high-risk populations and transmission rates estimated from hospitalization data, we found that postponing relaxation will only delay future disease waves. Cocooning vulnerable populations can prevent overwhelming medical surges.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; epidemiology; hospital bed capacity; mathematical model; pandemics; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; zoonoses.