I hope you're mood lightens up enough so you can be terrified like the rest of us!

(I jest)

This. Oregon is now saying there are likely several hundred people with the virus and it's been around for weeks without us knowing. Think about the exponential spread of hundreds of people not known to have the virus. The first three they caught 1) worked at an elementary school, 2) worked at a casino and 3) went to a high school basketball game, respectively.

Here in San Antonio the mayor is all pissed, and rightfully so, at the CDC for releasing a woman from quarantine before the results of her final test came in. The results were weakly positive. After being released, she went to a local mall and spent a couple of hours at the food court. I am sooooo glad I hate malls!

In Houston, my home town, a rumor was started WEEKS AGO that a restaurant worker in "Asiatown" tested positive and the businesses and restaurants have really suffered.

I read the other day that at least one researcher believes Seattle is basically where Wuhan was in early January. My niece and her family live in Seattle. :(

Speaking of Seattle: https://twitter.com/emeraldcitycon/s...093273602?s=20

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESckLsJU...pg&name=medium

Some NY Banks are increasing the ability to work from home. A friend of mine is a KYC compliance officer, and his company, Mizuho Bank, is encouraging folks to work at home. Likewise with ING.

The continued sanitation of trains and subway stops continues. Even some of my clients, which are 3PL and International Logistics are implementing policies that if your sick... like sick at all (even flu)... to stay home.

Its going to strain supply chains in some cases should this get out of hand.

SXSW just cancelled here in Austin. $350 million dollar hit to local economy. Many people are very upset about this. Downtown bar and restaurant scene will be hardest hit along with hotel operators. Overall, I think it was the right decision. Still........, SXSW played a huge role over the past two decades role in branding Austin as a happening city. Cancelling is going to take a toll on Austin's psyche.

It's the right (and smart) move.

I agree. It will almost certainly prevent some spread of the virus. It is definitely a wake up call for locals who are still very complacent or disbelieving.

Wow, guess I was wrong. I'm glad people will get their money back.

Seattle is the epicenter for this virus in North America right now. It's kinda scary. They must have been the first in the country to come in contact with it going undetected for months. Why else is it so bad there?

Epicenter probably just moved south. Cruise ship holding off San Francisco has now confirmed 21 covid-19 cases. Ship will dock at an undisclosed location (presumably in Bay Area) where patients will be removed and other passengers screened and then probably some kind of quarantine. I think there are over 3500 passengers and crew on board. What a nightmare!

SXSW has been cancelled which is crazy. Likely due to international nature of event and liability issues.

So far at least two conventions have been cancelled in Chicago.

A CPS Special Needs Assistant was just diagnosed in Chicago. She went to work sick.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coron...ihm-story.html

The ship is sailing south “along the California coast” to a non-commercial port. I know of only two possible non-commercial ports capable of docking a large cruise ship. The most likely is Naval Base San Diego. Long Beach Naval Shipyard could have before its closure in 1997 but I’m not sure of its condition now.

San Diego makes a lot of sense: It’s the home of one of the largest Naval Hospitals as well as other military bases including Camp Pendleton where infected but not too sick people could be quarantined.

This is terrible. Besides going to work sick, she was a passenger on the Grand Princess over two weeks ago. That's the same ship currently sitting with 3500 passengers and crew off the coast of California that has 21 confirmed new cases on board. It probably means a similar boatload of infected passengers disembarked 11 days ago and scattered all over the country.

Not crazy at all and entirely predictable. Just about all upcoming conventions and trade shows in San Francisco have been cancelled and I expect that to happen everywhere. Next will be pro sports games played without fans in empty stadia.

A server at my favorite Tex Mex restaurant was noticeably sick yesterday. As he waited on me, he kept touching his mouth and nose, and as he worked, he coughed a lot. I asked him why he didn't stay home, and he said he had to make a living. There are likely millions in this country in the same position. But I believe it will soon be the case where customers won't patronize any such businesses. The manager/owner wasn't present but I left a message. Haven't heard back.

As someone else said here, at my age I can't afford to be around people who have respiratory illnesses.

Most likely the infections on the ship occurred on the last voyage to Mazatlan, Manzanilla and Puerto Vallarta. Of the 21 positives aboard so far (testing isn’t complete), I believe 19 were crew members which makes sense since the crew but not most of the passengers were the same on the last trip as on the current one which was to have been to Hawaii.

This not only means what you said—that a bunch of infected passengers got off and spread around the country, but it means there’s a source of infection in Mexico that no one’s talking about.

I posted earlier about the fact that as of Monday Mexico had done less than 100 tests countrywide. It is known to have 6 infected people. But likely there are foci of infection all over that country nobody knows about.

Mexican? See above.

Well, just found out my alma mater Johns Hopkins played today’s intercollegiate basketball game in an empty arena. The pros are definitely next.

This from the linked Wapo article below: "The situation with the Grand Princess is particularly fraught because authorities are also racing to track down passengers who took an earlier voyage on the ship last month to Mexico. A 71-year-old man from that trip later died in California from covid-19."

The Chicago woman is now the second known patient from that earlier Grand Princess voyage.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...b81_story.html

So far the NY Auto Show is still on, but I fear they will cancel it. The Javits Center has taken measures to sanitize or improve the general hygiene of the facility, but we shall see.

Possible exposure over in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn AG office. In the days coming, we'll probally see more cases.

Deblasio ordered mandatory testing for public workers. So teachers for example.

The tourism industry is huge in this city, and with the warmer weather on its way, its really going to curtail this years tourism numbers and economic output.

THANK GOD!

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...JhMVpqa0U2WCJ9

Saw my first sold-out displays of hand sanitizer today when I went to the grocery store. As for me, I'm trying to buy a little extra this and that here and there, in addition to whatever I need for what I'm making for dinner tonight. Today, for instance, I picked up two packs of chicken breasts when I only needed one, plus a couple of pounds of ground beef that I didn't need immediately. Stocking up slowly and calmly...

Meanwhile, at the hospital where my husband is doing my clinicals, they took the batteries out of half of the hand sanitizer dispensers because they can't find refills.

Read a good article the other day about why the US may be hit particularly hard due to the lack of paid sick leave and preponderance of gig workers (Canada isn't much better in this regard either). Between the choices of losing their jobs or potentially risk transmitting the virus to others, most people will probably choose the latter.



Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...=pocket-newtab

Just heard an interesting program on a French radio about "Typhoid Mary", a cook that used to work for wealthy families in NYC in the early 1900s.

She carried the typhus virus but was unaffected by the disease. Whenever she prepared food that was uncooked, she would pass on the disease and 3 people died and 50 plus were ill from it. She was quarantined and ordered by court to find other employment but continued her "vocation". A judge finally ruled on forcible confinement for the rest of her life, 26 years. Ouch.

A local hotel industry exec who posts on the Austin forum reports that his hotel and most other local hotels are contemplating layoffs and severe cost cutting measures. The SXSW cancellation left a huge hole that pretty much wipes March off the books for local hotels and downtown entertainment and food establishments. Supposedly there have been multiple convention and business meeting cancellations scheduled for later in the spring and summer. Austin built several thousand additional hotel rooms downtown (with more in the pipeline) over the past three or four years. Convention and tourism is probably now our second largest employment sector. I guess the same story will play out in place after place over the next several months.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE- Took a drive down South Congress and through downtown this afternoon. I was surprised and pleased to see the sidewalks filled with pedestrians and the local businesses doing brisk business. It is a slightly chilly but sunny afternoon here in Austin. The bars and restaurants with sidewalk service were all looking busy. Obviously there are still a lot of visitors in town for the weekend. It would be nice to see activity of this sort remain somewhat normal in the days and weeks ahead.

I don't have quantifiable data, but I've gone to my local grocery store (Studio City area of Los Angeles) every morning for the past three days and it seems quieter than normal. Especially this morning, being that it's Saturday. Inventory of everything but hand sanitizer has been great, until this morning when the Clorox wipes-types of products was low. Tons of toilet paper, even some on sale. Whereas my local Costco has been out of TP and sterilizing wipes for a week. Oh, gas has dropped about $.20 per gallon in the past three weeks.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Vf...=w1283-h962-no

Only saw two people wearing masks... fortunately there weren't very many old people there (with one notable exception...)

Not sure what you're saying. I'm there about 3 times per week and I haven't noticed any of the employees being away in quite some time. But I do have concerns about anyone working who has a respiratory illness, whether Hispanic, Anglo, or whatever.

My gym has been quiet this week. Maybe half the normal crowd. I guess people are concerned about touching workout equipment that others have used. Seems like if someone is concerned, they should wipe down the equipment before using it. Many people do that anyway.

The strange thing is that two Chinese restaurants I frequent have been nearly empty during the lunch "rush". My favorite one isn't even run by people from China. They're as American as I am. Their heritage is Cambodian and they've never been to China. I guess there are people who are afraid of Chinese food just like those won't drink a Corona.

I'm saying I think Mexico has a bigger problem than anyone has noticed right now and in future will have a very major one because there is very little governmental capability there to oppose spread of the virus. That being the case, where I live right up against the border, where Walmart and the local fast food joints are well partonized by Mexicans and a signficant number of local residents including restaurant staff cross the border regularly, if there's unobserved spread in Mexico it's going to cross the border.

To be fair, though, it's a question in which direction the virus crosses first. An American tourist apparently brought it to Costa Rica and may be doing the same to Mexico.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...3LNEQP3F7NIHMA
:rolleyes:

In NYC we've gone from just a few cases to over 100 in a few days. I work for the City University of New York and there are rumblings that the whole CUNY system may shut down for a week before April but I have not yet heard of any cases at a CUNY school. They're mostly confined to Westchester County at this point.

Well, we just got back from the grocery store 30 minutes ago, and besides not having any hand sanitizer, which was expected, they're also without toilet paper. We only wanted some hand sanitizer for a road trip this weekend, but I had been to three different stores this week and didn't see any.

^^

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/how-t...ing-it-at-home

I have one quibble about this. Commercial rubbing alcohol is not 99%--it's usually no more than 70%. What I bought at CVS is only 50%. This is because alcohol is hydrophilic--even if it's pure (99%) when you buy it, as soon as you open it it begins to absorb water vapor from the air and generally reaches a concentration around 70% where it stays (this is why, for example, about the strongest alcoholic beverages you can buy are around 150 "proof" or 75% alcohol). I still think it will work though.

Went to the barbershop on Friday - busy. Walked past a nail salon a few minutes ago - every chair was occupied. I've read that those types of services are the first to see business decline/stop in an epidemic. Seems like life is pretty normal here in Los Angeles.

Check the hotels. It's the tourist industry that's feeling things the worst right now. SF hotels are emptying out and laying off staff due to convention/trade show cancellations.

Next may be people who work at sporting venues if they start playing games without fans.

• Video Link

This Saturday was really busy in Manhattan. I mean yesterday. Like busier than any other Saturday this year even. Today Sunday seems a bit slow, but not especially so. It was the weekdays last week that seemed kind of slow. I wonder if that's because people are starting to work from home.

Conventions are not a big part of NYC's tourist base. And travelers usually buy tickets months before their trips? So I think most people who already paid for their airline tickets are still coming. And maybe all the NYC residents who hang out in Manhattan on weekends are still doing so.

I guess it will feel slow again starting tomorrow, especially since more and more people are going to be working from home. I have friends in finance who are working from home as company policy starting tomorrow.

This seems more and more like a threat primarily (or almost entirely) to the very old. It's easy for me to say because I'm not in that group, but. The PM of Italy said something to the effect of "we have to do this [huge quarantined areas] to protect our grandparents"

Businesses are going to be impacted in the NYC area if they are hiking prices aka price gouging as a result of this situation; in the form of fines. Amazon recently started cracking down on this. I remember seeing hand sanitizer going for $40+.

Some of the local places in NJ around my area are restricting or capping the number of items some folks can buy.

A little wishful thinking there? The main opposition party leader in Italy has it. The PM could be thinking he's next.

Sure anyone can catch it. But it seems mild (like a regular flu or maybe a bad case of the flu) for most people. I read a day ago (maybe this has been superseded now I don’t know) that just about all of the people who died from corona in Italy were over 80 years old.

It still has a death rate 10 times that of the flu for people under 50. And it might not kill you, or even make you ill, but it could very well kill Granny after you go visit her.


From a piece in the New Yorker:

“... people will continue going to big events and say to themselves that this virus might only hurt people over the age of eighty,
not me and my family,” Mina said. “They won’t change their behavior in a way to help slow down this virus.”

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily...he-coronavirus


If you want to help slow down the virus and prevent it from killing more people, you have to act as if it will kill you. Even if it most likely won't.
It's not just about protecting yourself, or whether you really even need to protect yourself. It's about doing what's needed to slow down the spread of this virus. It's Public Health 101.

There are easy recipes for homemade hand sanitizer.

Here's one...
• Video Link

the 4th big upcoming conference at chicago's convention center just cancelled due to coronavirus.

so far that's 100,000 attendees that won't be coming to chicago in the next couple of months. 100,000 hotel rooms unfilled. 100,000 expense account restaurant meals that won't be eaten, 100,000 uber rides not taken, and the ripples keep on rippling.

and perhaps just the tip of the iceberg. :(

I've noticed that at my gym too. I just wash my hands immediately after I workout, can't do much more than keep your hands clean and don't touch your face... at a certain point, if you get it you get it. It seems like the vast majority of people recover, so I'm still not too concerned for myself. I do worry about being a carrier and spreading it to older/compromised people, though.

I noticed yesterday on a trip to Target that they were completely sold out of chlorine bleach. They still had non-chlorine bleach, but the chlorine ones (which is what you need for disinfectant purposes - the other is only good for whitening).

I've never seen 50% alcohol in a CVS, and I would be very surprised if any health-related alcohol-only (or, rather, alcohol and water-only) sold for disinfectant purposes was lower than 60%, since 60-90% is considered the most effective concentration range for disinfectant purposes. Exceptions would usually have other disinfecting agents in the ingredients.

Also, at least in the U.S., the rubbing alcohol (ethyl or isopropyl alcohol) in any national chain will be a minimum of 70% because in the U.S., to be called "rubbing alcohol," the concentration *must* be 70% or greater. Usually you can also find 91% at larger stores.

As an FYI, while isopropyl, other propanols, ethyl, or methyl alcohol will kill coronaviruses, ethyl alcohol is somewhat better for a wider range of viruses.

Finally, if using alcohol to disinfect skin or organics with any oil on the surface, the surface should either be cleaned with a detergent first, or cleaned with a mix of a detergent and alcohol, as alcohol has little to no detergent action and therefore won't properly disinfect anything with oil on it. That's why most recipes for homemade hand sanitizer includes at least a little dishwashing detergent. And why I personally dislike using hand sanitizer - because the detergents leave a residue I dislike.

At Saturday's MLS match between Atlanta United and FC Cincinnati, the announced attendance was just over 69,000 although judging from the number of empty seats, that doesn't seem accurate. There were quite a few more empty seats than I typically see in estimating the difference between 'tickets sold' and 'reported attendance' info. The fan pages show no interest in not attending future matches.
The only person I saw with a mask was on the train to the stadium.

There was an article in today's Atlanta Business Chronicle about the NCAA Final Four, scheduled for the first weekend in April at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. In part, it said: