Panic Now, and Avoid the Rush?

Or, take a deep breath, center yourself, and look around your OWN neighborhood.

In my neighborhood (admittedly not a dense one - most people have 0.5 to 1 acre of property), most everybody is fine. We're an old neighborhood - average age is Senior - but generally healthy and getting around without a problem. The ones who might be most affected, should they contract the virus, are sensibly staying inside, shopping at less crowded times (or, having groceries/pharmaceuticals delivered), and staying away from others - even, if necessary, kin. That's hard for us in the South. Even harder, we're not generally going to church.

In my own circle:

• Kids and grandkids are fine, staying close to home. ONE kid got the flu in February; he was tested for Type A, and had it. Not tested for KungFlu - no test available at the time. However, his symptoms - felt like he'd been hit with a brick, coughing (dry), headache, some fever - indicate that he very well could have had the virus (either together with regular flu, or because his positive test for flu was a false positive). My daughter and her husband imposed strict quarantine within the house. My son-in-law (heavily OCD about cleanliness) took care of disinfecting everything he touched, and no one else got sick. I told him he should make a video about his protocol for cleaning - he is ruthless!
• Extended family good so far. A nephew had a different medical problem, and - 3 weeks after entering ICU - died. One other nephew with flu requiring hospitalization for several days, since recovered. Could it have been a mild case of WuFlu? Maybe - he's generally healthy and in his early 40s. Either way, we're so glad it wasn't worse.
• Friends - very few on social media reporting infection (either them or their family). So, I'm cautiously hopeful.

So far, almost all of the sick are:

• Older - 60+ is where the big jump in deaths seems to be
• Sicker - have one or more co-existing conditions - this is where younger people succumb
• Urban - I wouldn't be surprised to see a correlation between apartment living vs. single-home and infections
• Traveled in crowds recently, or abroad
• First responders or medical staff

No, that's not everyone. But, it's by far the largest group of those seriously affected.

NYC, NOLA, the cities of the Western Pacific mainland, and LA are hot spots. They have the majority of the cases. The other, less dense cities and suburbs have relatively few. Many of them had indicators like the ones listed above.

Loosening the shut-downs for areas outside of major urban areas might be a good idea. Of course, those that had jobs in nearby cities would have to either move into the city, or stay home. No commuting into the Hot Zone, and bringing it back to less-affected areas.

So, are Aesop and his co-bloggers at The Raconteur Report, and others suggesting that the Zombie Apocalypse is nigh, right? Is this about to balloon out of control?

Sorry, guys. Not that is evident on the ground. Not for most of the country. Those places most affected are neck-deep in Democratic Governance. The incompetence of their administrations has taken what would have been a blip in the matrix into TEOTWAWKI - for THOSE places, and other nearby cities without the good sense to put a fence around them, and keep the disease within.

There are good people whose lives will be destroyed - either directly, through infection, or indirectly, through the economic collapse that will be necessary to bring this under control. Some of that could have been anticipated. Some of that is due to voting Left, and enjoying the "good times", while not caring whether provisions had been put aside for the hard times to come - like:

• Emergency equipment and materials - rather than tossing all the available money into alternative energy and rail lines to nowhere.
• Training on handling infected patients - many patients are still being transported in unsafe ways.
• Incorporating proper isolation procedures within a home environment into school health classes (SO much more important to have them learn about anal sex and the wonders of trans identification!).
• Coordination between the major cities and the state and national governments - too many Leftists are still wasting their time sniping at Trump, rather than discussing their NEEDS rationally. And, I say NEEDS, because, delightful as culture can be, it is NOT a need.

And, hard times ALWAYS come - sooner or later.

The worst outcome will be in those communities that swivel to blame the rest of us for their own feckless behavior. We warned them about allowing Leftists to take over. Some of their own saw the light, and left - BEFORE this all hit. 

I certainly do feel sorry for all of those who didn't manage to make it out; many of them were trapped by jobs, circumstances, or bad luck. Those who saw the problems of Leftist government, but were not able to leave, deserve our sympathy.

For the rest, those that sneeringly put us Normals down as crude, stupid, and paranoid, they will likely experience what you might call The Bitch-Slap of Hard Experience Over Unicorn Wishes (TBSHEOUW - call it Tib-She-OW!). 

Life, for them, is gonna be grim, hard, and without pity.