Stay at home.

Three simple words that mean so much.

At last night's solemn coronavirus update in Canberra, prime minister Scott Morrison implored Australians to shake off any indifference, or in some cases, disregard for safe social distancing principles.

For the good of our country, and the good of ourselves.

If we truly want this pandemic to pass more quickly, and for fewer among us to become seriously ill or die, we need to respect the seriousness of the threat posed by the virus, and equally, what the experts are telling us to do.

Mr Morrison has laid out a new plan that bans gatherings of more than two people, unless they are from the same household, and essentially, we should only be outside or homes if we need to travel to shops, if we cannot work from home, or we have a medical need to do so.

We can also exercise in the great outdoors - but not in groups of more than two.

It seems we are creeping ever so slowly to a lockdown, but we're not there yet.

Mr Morrison's demands of the Australian people late yesterday echoed those from leading Bendigo medicos, who have united to call for this community to lift its game.

When an intensive care and respiratory medicine specialist such as Doctor Emma Broadfield, or any of her colleagues who came together for yesterday's media call, asks us to do something that is for our own good, we should all listen.

It's two weeks today since the response to this crisis was so dramatically ramped up, and everyone acknowledges we have a long way to go.

Significantly, there are very early signs that the incidence of COVID-19 across Australia might be slowing, but it only takes a few idiots, a single careless or selfish action, and the fight to flatten the coronavirus curve could be significantly impacted.

That impact is measured in the number of reported cases, and sadly, the number of lives lost.