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.

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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...
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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: