Corona - in summation in Good lord, this is a book

OK, the worry is any of us getting the virus on our clothing or in our system and then passing it along to others before we know we even have it.

These escalating efforts at (society guiding us toward not doing the typical things we do) may help considerably once we as a North American society actually begin those limitations).

Somebody could have sneezed on a door handle just before you arrived, and your coat brushes against the door handle, picks up the virus there, and then you take it to your mother’s house and somehow transmit it to her.

That’s why it’s best that even the healthiest of people don’t go flitting all over town and then to visit other people. Ceasing that impulse is what everyone can do right now, to help the cause.

The numbers will take care of themselves… mainland China’s daily new cases are little more than a trickle now, about 3 months after they conceived the virus (and that is certainly not because everyone who could get it already has it by now).

New cases reported by China between March 2 and March 18 were a modest 1076 (added to the 80,026 they had as of March 2).

American confirmed cases on March 2 were a meager “86”. As of the morning of March 18, that number was 7663.

From March 14 to March 18 the U.S. confirmed cases of Coronavirus snowballed from 2496 as of early on March 14 to an ominous 7663 as of early March 18. (9379 late March 18) (nearly 4X at the end of 5 days)

That data may indeed be partially a function of more tests… more tests given earlier to probable candidates… and other such non-scientific factors.

When your young kids go to school each day just to trade germs with one another it doesn’t usually possess the capability of killing your grandmother in a couple of weeks… but this is different, and if you have those same kids out playing in groups while school has been cancelled for the time being, you’re not helping your grandmother’s chances.

On the true pandemic scale, this rapid escalation doesn’t seem capable of threatening the flu which killed 675,000 in the U.S. alone a hundred years ago. (imagine having a war parade in Philadelphia back then with 200,000 in attendance to trade germs like your first grader).

Most of us can take much comfort from the fact that the death toll is not snowballing exponentially. There have been 177 official deaths in all of The Americas through the evening of March 18. 68 of those were in one U.S. state in a far corner.

Our collective ability to limit going out, and limit the number of people we get near to when we do go out is helping a great deal when we stay dedicated to our self-limitations.

If you want to deliver stuff to your elderly relative/friend… go get the stuff tomorrow… then return to your home for (ideally 6 or 7 days, but I know you…) … and then go directly to the elderly friend/relative and drop off the stuff then. (Go get your nails done on the way home from that trip, if you think you really have to)

As for your 401K… the market will likely get back to a productive path as soon as this whole important exercise we’re sharing comes to an end. Now that we know the potential span of a day’s trading has been redefined in epic fashion, it is entirely within the bounds of realistic that the market will march forward in remarkable fashion once the all clear impulse is reached.

It isn’t as if Microsoft and Amazon have become relatively worthless as companies during March of 2020.

Now maybe the people here on Prosebox aren’t exactly in the wheelhouse of people who can’t figure out to stay home and stop circulating through society so much for a few weeks, but everybody KNOWS someone who is out there exacerbating the problem. Perhaps if we all got really good at explaining that the area of concern is them (or anyone) transporting this strange, new virus for days before they know they have it then maybe we can get through to them and inspire this uncertainty to go away sooner than it would have otherwise.

Consider, too, that the virus is uniquely hounding wealthy countries whose residents can and do dart around the globe as if it were nothing. Everyone knows that if the thing got a significant foothold in Africa, it could wipe-out millions for reasons of just the poor medical capabilities in many places there. But then again we don’t perceive the locals in those areas to jump in their Range Rovers at will to drive off helter-skelter to spread germs across the land.

Observe that cruise boats and airports are hotspots for this whole social explosion… and they are frequented by people who can afford to get up and go all over the place. A quick glance at Africa on the map revealed just 14 deaths there so far from coronavirus… but South Africa has a lofty 116 cases as of late on March 18, so fate is coming.

But, there is still hope for Africa if people there are less inclined to keep moving around at their leisure to spend time in hopelessly overcrowded cities while spreading germs they don’t yet even know they have.

France, Italy and the USA are places where people love to GO… and they are filled with residents who love to travel all over the place, and it is not coincidental that they have been hit pretty hard. (“Most” of the fatalities in Italy due to the virus occurred in people who are older than age 80)

On the brighter side, there is Japan… which had 26 official cases back on February 11. Today they have a respectable 889. (compare to the USA going from 86 cases on March 2 to evening on March 18 with 9379 cases)

Try to resist with all of your effort the idea of you or anyone in your family going out and being with other people. Bringing supplies to your aged relative is great, but the most appropriate way is getting the supplies today, bringing them home to your house and then waiting 6 or 7 days before bringing them directly to that relative after that point. (Don’t go if you’re sick by then)

Your life won’t likely end, your 401K won’t make you wish it would have, if you can wait a decent amount of time for what will be an impressive economic bounce-back once the coast is clear. But this is a scenario where we can all help the cause, each by doing our little part.