Coronavirus Follow Up

There are now declared states of emergency all over the USA, Seattle, Portland, New York City, Washington D.C., San Diego, Los Angeles, etc. What it means is that cases are springing up in areas thought to be free of a history of cross-communication with infected sites and people domestically and worldwide. As quarantine measures are imposed, schools, worksites, and travel sites are being shut down. The apparatus put in place by the U.S. President has no authority to act upon anything other than federal agencies and its actions thus far have been inept communication of a few salient facts including warnings. Some information from qualified medical and public health people, but muffled and distorted by the political motivation to minimize and reassure.

The world economy's response to the coronavirus epidemic's curtailment of trade routes and other financial interactions is to plunge. World markets fell precipitously and by and large continue to fall although experiencing upsurges periodically. The economic damage done and continuing cannot be stopped by any individual country's actions. Today's massive rally in the healthcare area led to an almost 1200 point increase in the DJI. Since this has no impact on the disease itself, we cannot be surprised if there is another precipitous drop tomorrow. Volatility is the most we can expect from the markets.

Staying away from crowds and crowded areas, getting up to date with flu shots, washing hands, keeping hands away from one's face, etc. must be continued. I don't think that Covid-19 is just going away. I believe that it will be joined by other viruses and bacteria in bringing down the lofty human numbers (7.8 billion) that threaten mother earth.