The reason to self-quarantine is two-fold. 1. To minimize the chance that you get the virus and 2. to slow its transmission. It uses our bodies to get to other bodies. If we don't have it, we can't transmit it. If we do, if we don't move around we can't transmit it. #
Only go out to get food and other supplies, and to work if you can. That's an ideal of course, not achievable in most countries, esp not the US, which doesn't have health care for all, or paid sick leave, or for that matter a functioning government. #
Hope that essential services can be maintained, electric, water, the supply chain for food, health care. Expect lots of outages. Hope is really all we have at this point when it comes to maintaining our way of life. #
If the government can't implement massive testing, we have to do it. We'll need excellent data management functions so we can do all kinds of queries on the data, to determine what comes next. #
I have to say this, we should get Trump out of the loop of this, he's much more lethal than the virus. The government that comes after Trump, hopefully very soon, must implement a TARP-like program to vastly expand health care funding and funneling money to people who can't go to work because they have the virus, to help slow transmission. Also to parents who have to stay home to take care of kids who aren't going to school. #
The rate cut by the Fed was insane btw, if we get out of this, we're going to need the ability to drop interest rates to stimulate the economy (experience from Katrina, a stopped economy is slow to restart). The rate cut can't do anything to stimulate an economy that is coming to a halt for non-market reasons. If people have more money in their pocket (they won't but if they did) they aren't going to go to Walmart to buy a new fridge and risk getting a virus that might kill them. #
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)