Saturday, February 29. Good medicine.
Day 36. Leap Year! What a lucky thing it is to have an extra day.
Brunch is the most important meal of the day.
I wake up at 9, make coffee, and teach 10-12. It's a fun class. While I'm making brunch, Xiaolin gets suited up and goes out to get a package by herself. I'm shocked, a worried dad who's waiting for a teenager out on their first date. She returns with our new stuff, no big deal. It feels like a big deal.
As the warm sun peeks in through the windows, we let the dogs sunbathe on some cushions, and we change from heavy PJs into sleek, light ones. Although Spring technically starts on March 20, it already feels like a cool spring day. They say in Chongqing we only have two seasons: summer and winter. For most of the year, the furnace of China chugs along about 40C.
We teach another class from 2-4. We work well together, and the kids are happy and fun.
Today the number of cases new cases outside of China again exceeds the new cases inside China. COVID-19 is on every continent except Antarctica, now in 59 countries. Today Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, and Wales reported their first cases. France, Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan are exploding with new clusters.
The counts we are seeing in the US are statistically improbable. A whistleblower in the US calls quarantine measures "corrupt," claiming health officials at both Travis Air Force base and March Air Reserve were untrained in quarantine procedures and flew commercial flights out of the area.
Reports suggest the crashing stock market could cost Trump reelection. This tradeoff sounds tempting, but we don't know the damage COVID-19 can do yet. It may be more expensive than you think.
Xiaolin and I have a nice Chinese food dinner with lots of green vegetables and rice. As the day wears on, I get frustrated by the last class, but I get through it.
I call my father and get the news back home. Costco in Ottawa is giving out Lysol wipes to everyone before they enter, but some people don't want to clean their hands and hold up the line to argue. Darwin awards or public health menace? Some shoppers are wearing masks already. Empty shelves are common; water, cleaning products, and other critical supplies are sold out. In Hamilton, a good friend reports shoppers at Walmart's push around carts full of toilet paper, soup, and pasta. Masks are long gone.
Some countries are under-reporting, others hiding in semantics. Perhaps they hope to avoid some of the economic damage and stigma of infection. Thailand has frozen its COVID-19 case number, but the number of 'viral pneumonia' cases looks like a hockey stick. Italy, already the slowest growing GDP in Europe, has decided to no longer count the positive test results that aren't showing symptoms. We must presume these people are still contagious.
Around Europe, people are selling masks for 30 euros or 200 for five. Some experts have suggested it would be safe to rotate 10 masks. Ten days should be enough to kill any virus that might remain.
In front of congress, the head of the CDC reports they aren't recommending prepping. Their website tells a different, more reasonable story: people should mentally prepare for closed schools, a limit on mass gatherings, self-isolation, and non-essential jobs to be furloughed.
As the stock market slowly weeps, many analysts expect a freefall in the next few weeks, and supply chains will be disrupted. Buy what you need now, including things for headaches, colds, and fever. Unless you're critically ill, you will want to stay home.
With all this dark news, this headline left me gasping for breath: "Coronavirus outbreak at cyber goth rave kills zero." At least the industrial crowd and the burners already have enough gear to get by. I always felt like those desert parties were preparing me for something.
Midday, I switch gears from doom and gloom news to Critical Role, a four-hour Dungeons & Dragons podcast. I'm going to start an online game with some friends, and that keeps my mind on hobbies for most of the day.
At night we watch 'Carriers,' which feels like 5D in this climate. Before bed, we watch Blades of Glory, and we laugh our guts out. That's good medicine.
