The prosperous steered clear of hospitals.
Hello!
What is the meaning of this sentence, "The prosperous steered clear of hospitals."?
Much of the ingenuity present in 19th-century hospital and building design was
driven by a panicked public clamouring for buildings that could protect against
what was thought to be the lethal threat of miasmas - toxic air that spread disease.
Miasmas were feared as the principal agents of disease and epidemics for
centuries, and were used to explain the spread of infection from the Middle Ages
right through to the cholera outbreaks in London and Paris during the 1850s. Foul
air, rather than germs, was believed to be the main driver of ‘hospital fever’, leading
to disease and frequent death. The prosperous steered clear of hospitals.

Question

The prosperous steered clear of hospitals.
Hello!
What is the meaning of this sentence, "The prosperous steered clear of hospitals."?
 Much of the ingenuity present in 19th-century hospital and building design was 
driven by a panicked public clamouring for buildings that could protect against 
what was thought to be the lethal threat of miasmas - toxic air that spread disease. 
Miasmas were feared as the principal agents of disease and epidemics for 
centuries, and were used to explain the spread of infection from the Middle Ages 
right through to the cholera outbreaks in London and Paris during the 1850s. Foul 
air, rather than germs, was believed to be the main driver of ‘hospital fever’, leading 
to disease and frequent death. The prosperous steered clear of hospitals.

Answer

'Steer clear of xx' is a common idiomatic phrase meaning to avoid or keep away from something or someone.

It's easy to understand if you think about its literal meaning. Imagine that you are steering a boat and you know there are some dangerous rocks nearby. If you steer clear of the rocks, you manoeuvre your boat in a wide arc to make sure that you keep a safe distance away from the rocks as you sail past the area where the danger is.

Likewise, wealthy people made sure that they kept away from the supposedly unhealthy air of hospitals.

So, in fact, we have two natural everyday phrases here:  'keep away from' and 'steer clear of', both meaning to avoid.  If you want to intensify them, you could add 'well' e.g. 'keep well away from..' and 'steer well clear of x'...

I hope that's helpful.

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