I'm putting this here because the stupid ass democrat fucks seem determined to make this a political issue. That plastic creep Joe is fundraising on the back of it. And Bernie sees an opportunity to scream "free hospitals and free testing" without giving any thought to how that could actually be accomplished. Fucking morons.
Anyway, this page has the best information I've seen. It shows the trends and gives you a real idea of what's truly happening sans the breathless CNN doomsday hype.
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6My perception has changed after studying this map for a few days. At first I was extremely dismissive of the entire thing and thought the decision to suspend activities was an extreme overreaction. I do still think we've completely overreacted -- there's no need to watch people fucking fighting over cans of fucking SPAM at Publix, and cancelling the College World Series and March Madness was a bridge too far -- BUT, I get it. After looking back through this map, day by day and seeing how it has gone? I understand the rationale.
The primary things to remember:
1) This is a new (which is why they call it "novel") virus. That means we don't have any inherent immunity. For that reason, we are more likely to be infected after contact.
2) Italy is a case study for why we have to do what we are doing. Because of the "novelty" it does spread fast. Each infected person will typically infect three others. Do the math. 1, 3, 9, 81... and then you have a problem.
There are problems with that, however. You can't keep people isolated forever. And there's no indication that we are close to "curing" it. Still, it's the right move at this time. So keeping people aware and apart is a good step. The one thing I wish the government could do is simply EXPLAIN why we have to do what we are doing. This just canceling shit comes across like a full-on panic move and is what's setting the crazies off.
I talked to someone who I consider extremely rational yesterday. Solid conservative, never known him to have an overreaction to anything. He wondered aloud "what are they going to do with all the bodies? I don't think they can get them buried fast enough, so I figure we'll just have to go to cremating them all. Are they just going to pick up bodybags at the curb and stack them up somewhere until they can get to it?" He's convinced there will be "millions" of deaths by July. He's getting his fear from the Internet. Reading all kinds of bullshit, insane theories.
I was shrieked at by someone who used to work for me who tried to tell me that Trump and Pence both have the virus and are actively trying to infect Pelosi, Schumer and others in order to keep the democrats from taking control of this situation and eliminating the virus in America. If it weren't for Trump, nobody would even have it. I lit her up. We are no longer friends and I'm fine with that. She is part of the problem. I'm never going to speak to her again.
I'm sick of hearing people scream that "nobody is being tested!! We probably all have it and don't even know it!!!" That's not true.
Social media is the bane of human existence. It has turned a moderately serious illness which could be managed by basic self discipline and hygiene into a global panic. Without social media and the 24-hour news cycle which requires fuckholes like the ones on CNN to manufacture one "oh holy shit" crisis after another, this would be an entirely different situation.