Thirty-second Entry

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Saturday, April 18th, 2020

Light rain.
On a late morning run, I noticed more storefronts have been papered over from inside. I poked around online looking for reports of looting. I found nothing other than an $800,000 heist at Piaget; most of that value was a single necklace and two $100,000 watches. But that was in February, another era.

It is illegal to go jogging in South Africa. There are many places “under lockdown” around the world where people are not allowed outside. I am grateful that is not the case here.

“We are getting there,” said Governor Wolf of Pennsylvania, when talking about Covid testing. He explained that people who are sick can get tested—or will be able to at some point. Could someone simply walk in and get tested? “We are nowhere near that,” he replied. He also mentioned that a few companies have reopened, and some of their employees do not want to come to work.

Complexity increases, often where it is not expected.

Reports say young children are going for checkups 20-30% less than the old normal. This means they are not getting vaccinated against common diseases. In addition to measles, which has been on the rise, health authorities are concerned about whooping cough and meningitis. They did not mention polio, which 91-year-old Noam Chomsky recalls from his youth remembering the fear that surrounded the disease. Chomsky pointed out that the famous Salk vaccine was developed by the US government — not private industry. There was no patent on the vaccine so anyone could use it for free. Imagine that.

Incredible
Incredible