CNN News:新冠疫情肆虐 全球26亿人居家避疫
An increasing number of people are under stay-at-home, shelter-in-place or straight lockdown orders. The government of India, the world's second most populated country, has made it illegal for people to leave their homes. More than 1.3 billion residents will be expected to stay put for 21 days.
In the United Kingdom's lockdown, people are allowed to go outdoors but only to get groceries, go to the doctor, exercise or go to work if they can't do that from home. If they're caught breaking that law, they'll be fined $35 on the spot.
In the U.S. there are now 16 states whose residents are under stay-at-home orders. That impacts 142 million people or more than 40 percent of America's population. And looking at the world as a whole, the AFP News Agency estimates that more than 2.6 billion people — that's a third of the global population — has been told to stay home. This is all being done to encourage social distancing, keeping people apart from each other, because coronavirus spreads so easily.
How long will all this last? No one knows. Some experts say it could be weeks, some say it could last for months. There are some medications already in existence that could be useful in fighting COVID-19 but they're still being studied. And doctors say people should not try to self-medicate with them as some have already overdosed or died doing that.