The
pandemic situation remains fluid.
Statistics
(and real numbers) are showing us that this pandemic has many of the same
qualities of other epidemics. There appears to be a limited period in which
cases (and deaths) increase before they level off. In China and South Korea,
the numbers are leveling off after about eight weeks of rapidly escalating
rates. Another month should tell us a great deal about the Covid-19 life cycle.
Today
140 countries (down 10? in 24 hours) have reported 160,482 cases (up 12,680), 6,063
people have died (up 521) and 75,943 have recovered (up 3,371). Canada has 253
reported cases (up 53). While the number is growing in Canada, it is still a
very small number when you think about how big our country is. I think the cases
are under-reported as there are many countries with very few, some not believable.
The
rate of infections is following along similar patterns as past pandemics. China
seems to have reached a plateau as the rate of new cases – and deaths – are much
reduced. The situations in Italy and Iran are still of great concern.
We
found grocery stores short on a few things yesterday. There is still an air of unrealistic
panic among shoppers, but we are sure that will settle down in a few days. This
morning most shelves were filled or being filled again, at least for milk which
I picked up early.
More
companies, institutions and service providers are sending out notices about
what they are doing to combat or slow the spread of infections.
Everyone
is getting caught up in the situation, what with meetings cancelled, travel
restricted, businesses cutting back, etc. My wife had a short trip to the coast
scheduled for today which we cancelled – as much because its bloody cold here this
weekend. But there is a concern that you could run into someone in an airport
coming back from someplace carrying the virus with them. So, yes, you could say
we are in somewhat of a panic mode too. It is very early in the spreading stage
to know where it is really going and how many people it will infect but it is
doubtful that we will see major escalations over more than a few weeks.
Probably
the biggest impact the disease is having on the world right now is on the
financial side. The stock markets have collapsed. With large gatherings stopped,
income from sporting events, concerts, conventions, theatres, travel, hotels, restaurants
and bars and many other leisure-related activities is curtailed. Companies are
sending people home and, in many cases laying them off. We could see the economic
fallout for many years as governments ramp up spending (mostly through
borrowing) to keep people working and fed.
The
news networks are full of coverage about the pandemic, of course. Well, with no
sporting events going on, what do we have to watch? Netflix will get a workout
this week for sure! You can only watch bad news for so long.
Maybe
I will get some of that reading done that has been stacking up. Curiously, most
of it concerns famines and other nasty things that went on during the past
centuries as I research a few family history-related subjects.
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