[n0rbwah]

I can't speak for all western countries but in my country (France) if the government tried to impose quarantine on the same level as China, I'd expect riots.

People here aren't as docile as Chinese people and don't fear their government. If a city was quarantined like Wuhan with the situation turning to shit, many people would take to the street to protest instead of staying nicely confined at home.

And if the government's repression got too harsh there, you'd get protests all around the country in support.

That's why I haven't heard anything from my government about potential large-scale quarantine. They know that here it probably would make the situation worse.

[mytailorisrich]

> People here aren't as docile as Chinese people and don't fear their government

Don't underestimate the sense of doing what's good for the community and the patriotism of the Chinese people (and I'm sure many others).

I think they understood what was at stake and what had to be done, and did it but not because they are "docile" or because they "fear their government".

[n0rbwah]

Yes, people here aren't that eager to make sacrifices for the greater good. Unless it's other people doing the sacrificing.

[baq]

1) martial law will deal with eventual riots.

2) i wouldn't be so sure that quarantine measures would be such universally disliked. it'll take a couple deaths and a few tv interviews with medical personnel with an overwhelmed hospital in the background to sway the public emotion in the containment direction. it better be executed well, though, or riots become a serious proposition.

[pjc50]

This is France we're talking about. There's already been a recent series of riots where a number of people have suffered debilitating injuries from the heavy riot control tactics - 24 people lost eyes!

Where do you escalate from that? Machine-gunning people in the streets?

[gdy]

I hope by 'docile' you mean wise and responsible.

[saiya-jin]

Ah yes the famous french protests just about anything they don't like on a given day. It would be supremely stupid and arrogant to go to mass protests when facing such quarantine due to deadly virus like this one, but I have no doubt that's exactly how it would unroll en France.

[n0rbwah]

IMO, this virus isn't as deadly as that. It was reasonable for China to implement such measures because 1) at the time they didn't know how bad it was and 2) their people are actually quite compliant with what their government asks them.

But now, we know this virus isn't ebola's death rate combined with measle's R0. Large scale quarantine like in China is probably overkill and quite risky if your population isn't as docile as populations in authoritarians regimes.

Closing schools, cancelling mass events and asking people to work from home if they can is a more measured approach. Even without that, the apocalypse isn't coming anytime soon.