"The quicker we stop the spread, the quicker we can all go back to our normal lives"

Actually no, it's the opposite. "flattening the curve" means spreading the period of time infection spreads to not overwhelm the medical services at any one point. So the quicker we slow down the spread, the longer it'll take to get back to normal.

The idea we can completely stop the spread at this point is unlikely, the best we can do is slow it.