The psychological strain too will be real for many，and the strength - or lack - of our social bonds will come to the fore.
Loneliness is already a serious mental health problem in this country. Around a quarter of Australians live in one-person households and the rental market in big cities means many of us live transient existences， with little opportunity to build community networks or get to know our neighbours.
For many， going to work provides vital human connection. The small interactions of daily life - trips to the shops， a chat while walking your dog - are not just perting， they're sustaining.
Already in China during this outbreak， so too we have seen a wellspring of creativity as people stay connected however they can.
Live-streamed DJ sets to turn apartments into satellite nightclubs， online book clubs and recipe forums where millennials can learn to cook together are some of the ways people are not just fighting boredom but are staying tethered to the outside world and each other.
What hit me hardest though was the sound of hundreds of residents chanting “Wuhan jiāyóu” out their apartment windows during the long nights of the government lockdown.
It remains a message of human solidarity in the face of isolation and adversity， and a reminder that even if we must be physically alone for periods during this outbreak， it will be fortifying - essential even - that we do it together.
当年客居纽约，赶上一个格外凄冷的冬天，我在匆忙赴会的途中滑倒在结冰的路面上，摔坏了脚踝。
漫卷的风雪，加之纽约人常以倨傲心态对待铲雪一事，这意味着每次我架着拐、跌跌撞撞地哪怕只是挨到街角的商店都是在拿生命冒险，所以我干脆放弃了挣扎。一连几周，我几乎没有离开公寓。
最近，新冠病毒横扫全球，越来越多的人做好了有可能居家隔离的准备，我时常回想那段孤独的足不出户时光。
在中国，已有数以百万计的人在这段强制封锁期无奈地宅居了太长时间。在澳大利亚，越来越多与感染者有过接触或从中国或伊朗回国的人正主动居家隔离。随着首批社区传播病例的出现，我们中恐有更多的人步其后尘。