[Judith Anne]

Wages may rise, but there are sure to be other problems. For instance, I'm a nurse, and I struggle to give a sense of personal and yes, loving, care, dressed at times in mask gown and gloves. I make eye contact and perform any extra service I can to ease the isolation of those in isolation. I talk, I try to take the mystery out of it, increase the little comfort measures...

How am I going to do that in a space suit? Gonna be tough. How do I tell the loved ones, you can't kiss your wife, you can't kiss your child, it won't help your mom for you to get sick, too...No training in the world prepares you for that...no law can mandate that...

[wretchard]

One Australian doctor who heads a department in a Hong Kong hospital is living precisely the kind of life you describe, and has been doing it since the outbreak of SARS. He lives apart from his family. His meals, laundry, etc are handled separately. The medical staff in many Hong Kong hospitals have refused to go home for fear of infecting their families. People naturally dread living like this. But there is no escape into the general public, because the public is already buying masks. People in Hong Kong handle ATM buttons with the corners of their wallets or tissue paper. Public pools are closed. Movie theaters are half empty.

My guess is that if the epidemic gets bad enough, there will be no getting away from it. People might as well earn a buck and run the risk as not earn a buck and run the risk anyway.