Coronavirus in the real world

The United States is going to go through a bad patch in the next 6-8 weeks. What we can expect, based upon extant evidence: 1) a rapid expansion of Covid-19 exposure in the population (and attendant deaths); 2) rapid deployment of testing; 3) a severe contraction of the economy; 4) a significant disruption in our day-to-day lives.

The United States is about two weeks behind Europe in the spread of the virus, where 22,105 confirmed cases and 943 deaths.
Situation update for the EU/EEA and the UK, as of 12 March 2020 . The US has conducted 11,000 tests to date.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to argue about this
Now, the question is, where do we go from here? First take personal responsibility. Don't make it political. Don't promote fake information.

I think the best course of action is for people to do their part in drastically minimizing contact in large groups and be diligent in keeping good hygienic practices to avoid getting sick. We need to get tests available and make it as easy as possible so people can tested; this way we have a better understanding of how big the spread is. One of my concerns is the lack of testing keeps us blind to how prevalent this really is given the fast spread we've seen in other places. Leveling out the mass spread is key to preventing this from being an absolute crap show.

ElChupacabra said:

I think the best course of action is for people to do their part in drastically minimizing contact in large groups and be diligent in keeping good hygienic practices to avoid getting sick. We need to get tests available and make it as easy as possible so people can tested; this way we have a better understanding of how big the spread is. One of my concerns is the lack of testing keeps us blind to how prevalent this really is given the fast spread we've seen in other places. Leveling out the mass spread is key to preventing this from being an absolute crap show.

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I think your avoiding large groups thing probably not going to be that effective since big blue high density cities are where it has its strongest foothold. If you live in a multiunit building in NYC and it gets in your building, there is no realistic way to bunker from it.

Drawdown said:

I think your avoiding large groups thing probably not going to be that effective since big blue high density cities are where it has its strongest foothold. If you live in a multiunit building in NYC and it gets in your building, there is no realistic way to bunker from it.

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Yeah, it's definitely a challenge in high density cities, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't still minimize the risks they take.

NWRatCon said:

The United States is going to go through a bad patch in the next 6-8 weeks. What we can expect, based upon extant evidence: 1) a rapid expansion of Covid-19 exposure in the population (and attendant deaths); 2) rapid deployment of testing; 3) a severe contraction of the economy; 4) a significant disruption in our day-to-day lives.

The United States is about two weeks behind Europe in the spread of the virus, where 22,105 confirmed cases and 943 deaths.
Situation update for the EU/EEA and the UK, as of 12 March 2020 . The US has conducted 11,000 tests to date.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to argue about this
Now, the question is, where do we go from here? First take personal responsibility. Don't make it political. Don't promote fake information.

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I don't think we can substantively count on #2, soon.

ElChupacabra said:

Yeah, it's definitely a challenge in high density cities, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't still minimize the risks they take.

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Desiccant dehumidifiers would be the only thing giving the people a fighting chance.

Drawdown said:

Desiccant dehumidifiers would be the only thing giving the people a fighting chance.

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and not licking door knobs, or picking their noses....

ElChupacabra said:

and not licking door knobs, or picking their noses....

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Wouldn't matter that much. You walk to drop your garbage in the chute and you are toast when all the air from all the snot rags in the trash came funneling up. Your building air would need to be dehumidified and would need something comparable to a MERV 13 or better air filtering system.

US hospitals will run out of beds if coronavirus cases spike (USA Today).

"Norwegian Air has announced the cancellation of 4,000 flights and the temporary dismissal of half of its 10,000 employees ."

The moment when a trillion-dollar Norwegian "airbag" would be very useful, but it is invested in falling shares of US companies .
Sad...

With schools around the country closing, this is another issue that needs to be addressed: providing education, reduced cost meals, child care expense. The coronavirus may be accelerating consideration of these issues.