This sort of advice prevents major unwarranted disruption to society.
The downside of such advice though is that some people will be exposed to the virus.
Statistically it seems that the government advice makes sense - "some people might be exposed/die, but that's a reasonable cost for avoiding panic".
So I got to thinking that maybe it's not in the interests of individual people to follow government advice. Maybe the wisest thing is to stay home for a month or so and see what happens. Sure this is more cautious than the government advises, but it's also the best possible way to avoid infection.
What do others think?
You don't really even know how effective "stay home for a month or so" will be.
IMO governments are taking too much time to give people advice on basic measures against this (or really, any) virus.
The basics are: Wear a mask and wash your hands properly as often as you can. If it's possible, sanitize with 70% alcohol solutions (better than 90%), and surfaces with bleach. Be aware when you're touching your eyes, nose, penis and butthole (yes, I had to say this).
The problems are: Wearing a mask works as vaccines. They are useful when most people wear it, as it's mostly protection for other people. A typical light mask is a weak method of protection because you can still breathe the virus if someone sneezes in front of you. The air has to come from somewhere, and it's not a filter mask, so every aperture is a chance. Not to mention that you aren't wearing goggles.
Now, even if we were as disciplined in the west, which I highly doubt because I don't see people giving a fuck about this, some people is going to transmit to others no matter what, for a variety of reasons. So it's mostly buying time so we get an effective vaccine.
If you're young and healthy, think about your parents or grandparents. Or maybe your children.
We don't really know how much we should trust the current data, but as today:
The mortality rate is about ~50%
The letality rate is about ~3%
Now, when people is debating about this virus they are referring to one of those two figures. I won't give any of you more information that you can get on wikipedia on what those rates mean, but maybe you should know that those two rates exist and people is confusing them.
Also, I'd watch closely the rates of confirmed cases and deaths, because previously it looked like an exponential function by both, but it's true that there isn't enough data yet to know if we should freak out about this, and it could plateau depending on several factors. Current efforts in China should have some impact in this numbers, at least for now.