“‘There were two words between ‘shut’ and ‘up’ initially, said Dr. Howard Markel, who directs the University of Michigan’s Center for the History of Medicine and who played a role in shaping the policy as a member of the Pentagon research team. ‘It was really ugly.'” The NYT with an interesting look at The Untold Story of the Birth of Social Distancing. “It took a high school science fair, George W. Bush, history lessons and some determined researchers to overcome skepticism and make it federal policy.”