HArd choice between exaggerated and insufficient

As the covid-19 panic spread across the world, a thing caught my attention.

 President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has imposed a national quarantine that prohibits any foreigners from entering country to try to keep out the new coronavirus. He also stated that public and private schools would be closed for 21 days.

Yes, most countries are debating the same options too. No big news there.

But what caught my attention was the fact that El Salvador has no confirmed cases of the virus. So why did the 38 year old presindent take such measures?

While, the policy in El Salvador may be debated, the president’s tweet made a lot of sense.

Any measure we take now will appear exaggerated. Any measures that we want to take later will seem insufficient!

I bet Italians regret not taking exaggerated measures earlier… And anything that they’re doing at the moment probably feels insufficient too.

The idea hiding here is profound.

Most pre-emptive activities that aim for security, quality, certainty or health (and yes, software testing too) first seem like exaggeration.

But the ones who survive, and the ones who succeed accept this.

They always intelligently invest in pre-empting problems and preparing for those that are hard to avoid.