March 18, 2020

Sunny Day covid-19: day 6 | US: GA | info | act

The news keeps coming in, and none of it seems to be good. Most headlines are grim, some suggesting that this social distancing will, in many ways, become the new reality of our lives. Maybe the most frightening is from a person living through the crisis in Italy. She writes:

“ Writing this from Italy, I am also writing to you from your own future. From our state of emergency, we have been watching the crisis unfold in the United States with a terrible sense of foreboding. Please stop waiting for others to tell you what to do; stop blaming the government for doing too much or too little. We all have actions we can take to slow the spread of the disease — and ensuring that your own household has enough canned goods and cleaning supplies is not enough. You can do a lot more. You should do a lot more. Stay away from restaurants, gyms, libraries, movie theaters, bars and cafes, yes. But also: Don’t invite people over for dinner, don’t let your kids go on playdates, don’t take them to the playground, don’t let your teenagers out of your sight. They will sneak out with their friends, they will hold hands, they will share their drinks and food. If this seems too much, consider the following: We are not allowed to hold weddings or funerals. We can’t gather to bury our dead. ”

And the New York Times writes: “U.S. Virus Plan Anticipates 18-Month Pandemic and Widespread Shortages.” They use the word “grim” a few times.

Some suggest that we’re not going back to normal: “This isn’t a temporary disruption. It’s the start of a completely different way of life.”

“ So how can we live in this new world? Part of the answer—hopefully—will be better health-care systems, with pandemic response units that can move quickly to identify and contain outbreaks before they start to spread, and the ability to quickly ramp up production of medical equipment, testing kits, and drugs. Those will be too late to stop Covid-19, but they’ll help with future pandemics. ”

Isn’t this what Bernie has been saying? Better health care. Seriously, rich people, while better off, are not immune—especially when the stock market crashes.

To try to save himself, ’rump wants to give everyone money. I don’t think there’s anything magnanimous or responsible about this: I see it as just a ploy to save his ass. What a scumbag. What a failure.

Pocket published some essential reading on the Coronavirus. I put a link in my daily counter above.

Well, it’s sunny and warm outside, so I’m going to take my motorcycle down for its first-year service. I probably shouldn’t, but at least I’m not going to the beach.