Charlie and I have decided to cancel our April trip to Mexico with Jeff and Carol due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We are both in the 70-79 at-risk age group where the mortality rate is 8 percent (based upon statistics from China). That mortality rate jumps to over 20 percent in the 80-89 age group. That’s pretty scary. Air travel is a risky behavior right now, and we’d be smart to avoid airport crowds and recirculated Covid-19 particles in the economy class section of the aircraft.
It’s being called “social distancing” by epidemiologists. Presidential candidates are canceling events and opting not to shake hands…which is a political staple. (No baby kissing, either!)
Better to be safe than sorry.
Besides, I haven’t been able to purchase a bottle of hand sanitizer for a couple of weeks now! People are hoarding the stuff, along with Kleenex, toilet paper, Top Ramen, etc.
(C’mon, Man…you’d think it was the End of Times! And, actually, it could be for some old farts (like us!). Interestingly, our neighbor John was supposed to put his 89 year-old father-in-law in a local nursing home this week. I’m sure that plan has been canceled; it could be a death sentence.)
This means, of course, that we will be canceling our Springtime RV trip to Southern California, too, which means that we will miss not only (a) a week’s vacation in Mexico with our son Jeff and wife Carol, but also (2) our granddaughter Jessica’s graduation from Cal Baptist University’s School of Nursing. It will also mean that eldest son Tim and wife Shanon will not be vacationing in our RV at the beach in Oceanside (dog-sitting) while we would have been in Mexico.
An all-around bummer…that probably cost the economy $3,000 of our money.
The Manning drama is but a very small example of the ripple effect that is commonplace in the world right now, as the coronavirus wreaks medical and economic havoc. People’s lives and plans are changing.
For example, it is the time of the year for many large events, like the Coachella Music Festival, college basketball’s Final Four, professional golf’s Masters’ Tournament, and so forth. Some will be canceled or crowd-limited. Fans that would have attended are going to cancel hotel reservations, airline flights, rental cars, etc. Restaurant meals that would have been eaten now won’t be. All of the hourly wage working stiffs who support these industries (cooks, janitors, luggage porters, taxi and Uber drivers, mechanics, domestics, band “roadies”, et al) will take a hit, which will affect their ability to put food on the table.
Some of the “working poor”, people living paycheck-to-paycheck, might lose their homes or their cars. Or, their marriage. That’s what happens when bills can’t be paid.
(One of the complicating factors of this epidemic in our country is the fact that about one-quarter of our workforce (i.e. the lowest-paid, the service workers that one comes in contact with at airports, restaurants, crowded venues, etc.) do not have paid sick leave available to them. So, they work even when they’re sick. I remember when I was a young, working stiff in college…I worked and attended classes even when I had the flu. This is one of the reasons that the coronavirus will/has spread so quickly in our country.)
All of this will affect corporations’ bottom lines and investors’ decisions. Some businesses, like the cruise industry, may take a mortal blow. Las Vegas, where large conventions occur every month, has got to be hurting. The airline industry is taking a kick to the crotch. All of these impacts involve dollars lost to the economy.
“It’s just the flu!”, “It’s a hoax!”, “It’ll be gone by April!”, etc. These were the reassuring words of the Surgeon General’s boss, Doctor-in-Chief Donald Trump, a few weeks ago. It’s no biggee, he said, and said that the coronavirus was a plot by Democrats to sully the Trump Administration and his re-election chances in the Fall.
Trump also announced, erroneously (as usual), that “Anyone who wants to be tested can do so.” Health officials noted, after this Presidential statement, that the demand for testing kits vastly outstrips the availability of such kits at this time.
This is what passes for leadership in today’s world.
When the Covid-19 coronavirus eventually burns itself out (probably not by April, at the rate it is going), it will have left a lasting mark on the economy, on people’s confidence in the face of epidemics, and on voters trust in government officials. Lessons will have to be learned from this drama, because viral outbreaks like this occur every couple of years. Government and society needs to get better at halting the spread of misery like this.
At least one would think that.
It will be interesting to see who President Trump blames for this scourge on “his” economy. I’m guessing Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server, but he could opt for Obama, illegal Mexican fence-jumpers, James Comey, those devious Ukrainians, or some disloyal staffer.
Or, he could Tweet that it was a good thing, part of a genius plan he’s devised to Make America Greater.
It’s worked before.
(UPDATE: On 3/12 the President blamed Obama for the Trump Administration’s inept response to the coronavirus threat.)