The problem is the travel related to these festivals
No it's not. The problem is people's irrational fear.
You are 100% missing the picture.
If as many people got COVID-19 as get the flu, there would be 6 - 10 million deaths per year. It is only a matter of time - perhaps a few years - before COVID-19 gets to that level, but most scientists think it will. There is strong evidence to suggest that this coronavirus is more transmissible than the flu. Its a race to develop a vaccine before it kills too many people.
Regardless of any of that, think of it this way:
If everyone participated in a 100% quarantine for 8-weeks, the virus would die on the vine and would cease to be a problem. Since that isn't realistic, the best we can do is limit the spread of the virus by a combination of social distancing, isolation and quarantine.
Cancelling large and moderately sized gatherings is an important step towards that goal. Since we can't and realistically won't cancel everything, the spread of the virus won't stop. We can slow it down by canceling or deferring some things, by washing hands, by teleworking etc. But ultimately the virus will spread to the same number of people. These strategies will keep the number of infected at any one time to a relative low, but lengthen the duration of the outbreak. The benefit is that our medical infrastructure won't be overtaxed, and will be able to treat the (lower number of) patients.
Ultimately we need the vaccine. Until then,
expect your life to change.
