It is clear from the messages being issued by public health officials and government figures that the coronavirus crisis is moving towards a new phase that will see the rate of infection increase.
Following an emergency Cobra meeting yesterday, Boris Johnson said the spread of the virus was likely to become 'more significant' for the UK in the coming days.
British government sources also said it would be months rather than weeks before the coronavirus outbreak peaks.
The question now is just how many people will become ill and how the health service and the wider economy will cope.
Nicola Sturgeon was more specific than Mr Johnson, warning that more than 200,000 Scots could end up in hospital in a 'worst-case' outcome. This forecast is in line with expert predictions that a high proportion of the population could be infected over a prolonged period.
It is also stressed that for the majority of people, this will be a mild illness but the real concern is for the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.
With only two cases confirmed on the island of Ireland, the Republic's chief medical officer said the risk of infection spreading here is still low.
Dr Tony Holohan defended the decision to close a secondary school for two weeks after a student was diagnosed following a visit to Italy, saying it was a 'proportionate measure'.
It is right that the health of pupils is the absolute priority but the refusal to name the Dublin school in the interests of confidentiality proved unsustainable when it was quickly, and inevitably, identified on social media.
It has to be recognised we are in the early stages of this crisis and the authorities are doing their best to balance the right to privacy of a patient and the public's right to be told what is going on.
But there has to be a sense of realism regarding the world we live in and the proliferation of information from a variety of sources.
It should be possible to give greater detail about confirmed cases without breaching confidentiality.
Health minister Robin Swann said yesterday 'complacency is our enemy' while also warning against panic.
The best safeguard against both extremes is to keep the public fully informed about all aspects of this emergency.
