Eric Lipton and Jennifer Steinhauer, NYT

Articles from the author

COVID-19: The story of the birth of social distancing

The idea by two US scientists was first dismissed before becoming official policy

Members of the US state National Guard use a chlorine bleach solution to clean toys in a children's play room at the Jewish Community Center of Mid-Westchester in Scarsdale, N.Y., on Monday, March 16, 2020, to help prevent spreading the coronavirus. The concept of social distancing is now intimately familiar to almost everyone but as it first made its way through the federal bureaucracy in 2006 and 2007, it was viewed as impractical, unnecessary and politically infeasible.

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