I am happy I am a hermit now.

Peter Noone

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What did you expect, given an educational system that doesn't teach people what "exponential" means?

Craig Anderton

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Just to add to your database, the real reason there's a run on toilet paper is because whenever one person sneezes, 100 others shit their pants.

Best,
C Darryl Mattison

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I live in Atlanta and was in Vail for the Burton US Open with a group of four guys and two of us got sick. On top of this, there was another group of seven from Atlanta and all of them got sick with one person admitted to the hospital and is recovering in ICU.

Coronavirus tests were (and still are mostly nonexistent) in Georgia. Doctors didn’t call back. I called St. Joe's emergency room for advice and they suggested we call the Georgia Public Heath after hours hotline. Good advice but the number was disconnected!

It’s been a rough couple of weeks but luckily my symptoms were relatively mild. That said, I passed whatever I had to my wife and it hit her hard. She's been sick with classic symptoms for 7+ days. Even with all this information (my travel, classic symptoms, etc.) her doctor thinks she has a sinus infection. Whatever #doctorfail

99.9% chance I got the virus in Vail and passed it to her but we will never know since we can't get tested. Stay safe...

Jeff Cramer

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Passing by Walmart, Target, Ollie’s, Bargain Hunt, and more stores—they are busy. People here in Nashville are not understanding or chose not to take this virus seriously.

Sasha Mullins Lassiter

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I was going to write you yesterday after reading the story about Watt, Bob, but I was too frustrated and incredulous. My wife is a G.I. oncologist and just happened to be on hospital service this week. she is on the front line of this. Me, I am telecommuting from home while also watching our three children, ages six, three, and one. We have not been out of the house since Sunday, except for a brief period of time when I let them play outside in our yard.

The situation is terrifying, heartbreaking, and, as you said, people need to take it seriously. She and her fellow physicians see a storm coming unlike anything we’ve ever seen. On the Facebook groups that she is a part of with other physician moms they have all resigned themselves to the fact that they will all know somebody who dies from this. We are imploring our parents to stay in their houses except if absolutely necessary and, thank God, they are listening. And your new story creation has been fantastic. You may be screaming into the void, but keep screaming. Unfortunately this is going to get worse before it gets better, and unfortunately a lot of people are going to have to die before naysayers realize this. I hope to God we don’t turn into xenophobic bigots and start rallying against the Chinese. This could’ve easily happened elsewhere.

All for now. Thank you. Please stay safe

Travis Wilson

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I’m Type 1 diabetic and two months short of my 65th birthday

Thanks for sending these links Bob

Randy Schaaf

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Amen!

Two of my friends currently have it. One of them has been laid out for a week and says its bad, is having trouble getting help etc and he's one of the fittest people I know and is just over 40. He was also at dinner with some other friends whom he had to inform, and well, that wasn't a good call to have. All have kids, elderly parents etc and so they are all having to make the same calls and quarantine.

My other friend had it milder but still had to quarantine himself from his wife and daughters for a week so far. This is no joke.

Our first responders need everyone to stay home. Do it for them if not for those you love.

This is why you should stay home.

Benji Rogers

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Yes, it is serious. But I can tell you firsthand that a fairly YUGE chunk of Florida still thinks it’s a plot to hurt Trump.

Vince Welsh
President
Teacher Education Institute, Inc.
Sanford, FL 32771

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thanks bob.
we are in new zealand - neil and i were stationed in mebourne while i was wrapping tour here. i got them over to NZ on the last flight outta dodge and we managed to nab an air bnb on the north island. everything here is creeping along as usual - schools and shops aren’t closed and there are no cases up here yet - but who knows. we think it’ll flip any day. we are extending our visas and renting a house.

in the arts and music world, there’s already a freefall. it is fucked. i’m trying right now to help create a massive resource aggregate for all affected artists. all hands on deck. i’ll send you progress.

stay safe

Amanda Palmer

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Here in Australia it’s now being taken very seriously which infuriates me. Went to the shops for groceries in Sydney yesterday and passed by the beach along the way to do so where there must have been easily 500 people at the beach. Serious measures need to be taken and enforced.

- Dave Ash

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Bob, You are totally right! My partner and I have been self quarantined for more than a week now and are not socializing with any of our friends or going out except to get groceries. I work in retail and have been laid off for now which is probably a godsend. It's going to be a while before this virus subsides. Not weeks, but months. Like you said I wish more people would take this thing seriously because that's the only way we are going to be able to curtail the spread of this virus. This is like nothing we have seen in our lifetime. We shouldn't wait until someone we know catches it to change our course of action. We should do it now.

Alan Oreman

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1. China is manufacturing masks and gloves. We should be flying cargo planes daisy-chained to get this stuff to hospitals.

2. NY today...gatherings of middle aged adults on the street chatting away 3 feet apart. A week ago I worried about being uncool. Now I am worried about dieing.

Michael Alex

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I was thinking about this , like we all are. The lack of large medical equipment like ventilators seems to be one of the most serious issues as it scales up. As China has this more or less under control I imagine they may have excess equipment. Yet Trump has to behave like a toddler and insult the Chinese (whether the right wing press agrees or not) and clearly creates no incentive or motivation for them to want to help us.

Don Strasburg

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2 years of state disaster preparedness meetings for what?
Part of the problem is what to do is being figured out on the fly. Im dying to see the minutes if those meetings....

RJ

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Here in Silicon Valley we've been shut down for a while. My company and other big tech firms have been a couple of weeks ahead in having employees work from home and distance themselves prior to local edicts.

When I see people willfully flaunting close contact in Nashville, Florida and elsewhere it scares the shit out of me.

All the work we are doing to distance ourselves - at great personal and business sacrifice - can be quickly undone by dumbasses.

Appreciate the support for sanity.

Greg Estes

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Walked over four miles in my neighborhood to Palisades Park, through the park and back home. Shocking to see so many people out, like it was a holiday! Over 95% of folks ignored social distancing. A number were working out with their personal trainer. A group of young folks with their dogs having a picnic in a big blanket. People hanging out on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes chatting. Only some of the old folk were concerned enough to walk six feet apart. One guy in his phone was saying “ well, there are only a few cars here” meaning SM. Drives of high end cars pulling up for curbside pick up at Tony Montana Avenue restaurants! Some things never change!

-Melissa Ward

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Keep seeing news reports of major cities and pubs and restaurants still busy,

This will just continue the spread this virus.

We had a well stocked freezer and store cupboard and we haven't left the house (except to walk in the garden to keep our three year old from going stir crazy) for more than a week now....AND DON'T PLAN TO EXCEPT FOR ESSENTIALS FOR AT LEAST TWO MORE MONTHS.

We are not preppers, just two professionals who can work from home.

We are using tech to keep in contact with family who all live abroad - and so far so good.

Keep pushing the isolation message - this will be over sooner if we all do our little bit.

People call this a war, but you know, its a lot easier sitting on the sofa - than having shots fired at you!

You stay safe,

Michael Wilson

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Thanks for your voracious reading and then reporting. I don't have the stomach for all the news and appreciate that you do! Just wanted to send a report from the field after reading your post last night. It's true that there have been a high concentration of reported cases in the mountains of Summit and Eagle Counties. Thankfully, we were the first to have businesses forcibly closed. However, the reality is that we have NO good data because there is NO TESTING going on in Colorado. A loved one started showing symptoms on Sunday March 15. We immediately got a doctor's prescription for a test. We have not been able to get a test and there is no testing in sight. There was ONE public testing site for the ENTIRE STATE last week. That site was last open on Saturday March 14 from 10:00am-2:00pm. There has been NO PUBLIC TESTING FOR SIX DAYS. You can only get a test if you are having an emergency or have a preexisting condition such as lung cancer. It's definitely true that the mountain communities have limited medical facilities and are threatened by an outbreak. But we truly have no idea how many people are infected. I hope our governor follows Newsom's order to shelter in place. (Governor Polis has been doing a very admirable job thus far.) The federal government is inept and Trump is afraid to order a lockdown because of the effect on the economy. As usual, he cares more about his numbers than people's lives. But I'll leave it there before going on a rant.

I hope that you and Felice are safe and healthy. Hang in there and keep up the great work. We'll be skiing A-Basin when it reopens this spring/summer and hiking for turns until then.

Best,

Dave Ratner

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Sun Valley too - 17 cases most in the state by far and only 20k people in the county.

Nani Stoick

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Sun Valley (Blaine County) just went "shelter in place."
Last week, only Idaho and West Virginia had zero cases. That's a pretty fast change

John Hummer

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Same in Park City, UT. Most of the cases are here. Town shut down right before the rest of the state did. Ski season shut down Monday and sadly it’s snowed more and snowing now.

Despite that, haven’t been out of the house since the shut down that started Friday and solidified on Monday.

And the fun of yesterday’s earthquake which as a long time LA resident didn’t really bother me. Though a lot of people here really freaked out.

Stay safe Bob.
Jody Whitesides

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Hey Bob howbout the youngins puke their guts out and the oldest get the treatment. They do hope to die b4 they get old.

Sidney Cooke

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Bob: I appreciate your daily newsletter observations. Thoughts from a geezer follow.

l'm over 65, had emergency open heart surgery 6 years ago when an upper part of my aorta ruptured with no warning. About a 5% chance of survival. Family told to call loved ones.

Consequently I take my extra "overtime" seriously. One month in ICU hooked up like a science experiment, and another in rehab starting with re-learning to lift an empty spoon so I didn't spear my chest, will readily clarify what matters in your life.

Hint: it's your family and loved ones, and being a contributor and not a selfish taker in your society. Combat the bullies at every quarter.

Vote, dammitt! I worked in a country governed by a military junta in the mid-70s. You'll never take the right to vote for granted again.

The U.S. has a strong individualistic ethic. Bootstrapers. Admirable in many ways, but some of us are showing our selfish ass in public these days.

Respect your extended family you beach goers, hoarders, and deniers, etc. Life on a ventilator for you or any of your big common family, waiting around to die because of your selfishness, is the peak of being the ugly American.

Stay safe,
G2/Glen Grissom

Publish or not, your choice. Wanted to put my thumb on your In-box scale to counter Wingnut Nation flooding it.

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As you know,
I live in Edwards (Vail adjacent). Our town shut down.The ski resort and all the hotels are closed for the foreseeable future. People are behaving the way I would hope the whole country would . All the restaurants, bars and almost all the businesses are closed. Most of the restaurants are take out only.
Some will deliver.
The grocery, pharmacy, gas station, post office, liquor store and most importantly the pot shop are open.
I have not seen my son and his family for the last week, except on face time. They live less then a mile away. My grandson is finishing his freshman year at CU online.
My granddaughter is finishing her freshmen year in high school on line as well. It’s feeling like the show that was on HBO June 2019
Years after Years. Check it out.
My wife Ellen and I are self quarantined. She is in the red zone . In her 70’s with a respiratory illness. We’re in a science fiction movie that’s not looking that good.
I go out to shop, get the mail ( we don’t have mail delivery) and walk the dog.
I’ve been spending my days trying to reschedule concert tours for two of my clients that were booked for April and May. Not knowing when this shit storm is going to end makes this an exercise
in either optimism or futility.
I hope you and your family are safe. Take care.

Ron Stone

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Thank you, Bob for that. Due to a preexisting health issue, I fall into the high risk category for getting this thing. Seeing people in my building turn “social distancing” into “stay home and invite people over” has been really upsetting. I’m sitting here listening to two Netflix parties as I write this.

Please keep me anonymous. Thank you. Meanwhile I’ll be sending you really good thoughts and prayers.

______________________________________

It’s not your life it’s my life that depends on it...you may not show any symptoms but be spreading it! It hits some carriers real soft

Thx
Serge in Arlington, VA

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Agree 100%. My dilemma, admittedly a "first world" problem, is that I have a housekeeper who comes every 2 weeks during ski season, less often the rest of the year. Should she come? I don't really NEED cleaning next Wednesday, but she might need the cash.

My pantry's well-stocked, but the other day I bought a gift card from a restaurant here in Park City that is giving 100% of the proceeds of all gift cards while they're shut down to their staff. I don't even go there hardly at all. But it seemed like the right thing to do. And tonight, I got take-out dinner from restaurant that I do frequent, again, to provide a little support. Shockingly, they were offering the meal at 50% off, so they got a VERY BIG TIP (which I am sure is their intention). Again, it seemed like the right thing to do - I didn't NEED a meal, I have plenty of options at home. And it was delish.

Going out only for groceries, mail (PO Box), bank (drive-through, my iPhone app isn't working properly), and gas. Spending a lot of time at home. Luckily I really like my home. Talking on the phone with family and friends; living alone, this helps me feel not so isolated. And plenty of work dealing with event postponements and rescheduling options, though nobody really knows when things will re-start.

I heard yesterday that MLB moved back their opening day to May 15, at the earliest (it had been April 15).

Toby Mamis

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Good Morning Bob,

Coincidentally, my wife is a supply chain lead for a multinational distributor. She gets hourly requests for disinfectant wipes, sanitizers, and masks - all of which do NOT exist at this point. 3M has started to convert many of their manufacturing lines to make more masks, and less scotch tape etc. Several of the liquor distilleries have actually converted their production lines to start making hand sanitizer instead of booze. We are seeing industry respond. I’m not sure if government has forced them, or if they’re doing it of their own accord. Either way, this is a positive thing.

Tim W
in Calgary

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Thanks for taking the responsibility to get the word out about how dangerous this virus really is.

While I split my time between my jazz business (and insufferable passion of mine) and the diagnostic imaging industry, I’ve spent the last four decades thinking about viruses. Long before my tenure as a University of Florida professor, I was a microbiology major in college tinkering in a lab when I had an epiphany that while on the surface it would seem logical that the biggest threat to our human race would be along the lines of terrorism, world war or a nuclear holocaust, the most universally lethal threat is actually a virus.

While I’ll spare you my theory on why viruses are here in the first place, let me just say that these little genes that we call viruses—beyond the cause and effect that we observe clinically in the short term—are responsible for more infirmity, disease and world-changing events than most people realize.

The dots are only beginning to get connected. What makes Covid-19 so threatening is that it appears almost “perfectly engineered”, as if it checked all the necessary boxes; built for survival, easy to transmit and can lead to a cascade of system failures making it so hard to treat.

STAY HOME!

Michael Fagien

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First off…stay safe, stay healthy….stay isolated….

Up here in Canada municipalities, provinces and the feds are working to get everyone to Flatten The Curve.
Some places are slower than others to react but slowly it seems everyone is getting on the right page.
But we only have 10 provinces and 3 territories to get on board….and a population of 36 million people.

The US is 50 states and 330 million people….all in pretty much the same land mass as Canada.
This is where the numbers get scary especially for us north of the border.

If we do everything we can up here to shut things down…people stay inside…social distancing….there is still the fact that if only 10% of the US population doesn’t “get it”, that’s the same as the population of Canada!!!

And I see some states down there are offering Mortgage breaks and loosening the restrictions on Unemployment insurance.
We have already done that up here nation wide!!!!

The Feds got rid of Employment Insurance wait times and the major banks up here banded together to offer mortgage relief where possible.

I have family and friends in the States and it scares the crap out of me how they will fare.
Oh for those who are telling me to “relax and this is just the flu” etc….

I saw what is happening coming a few weeks back…my wife is a Public Health Nurse with a masters in Public health policy from the LSHTM.
She was there for SARS and H1N1….

No one knows when this will settle down…but we all need to get on the same page to slow it down and flatten the curve!!!

Rob Johnston

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We are hoping this will change the over-the-top neutering of Force Majeure too. We are seeing people respond to that in multiple ways.

Really everyone is trying to work together to reschedule shows, which is really how it should be. But if the shows are cancelled and not rescheduled, then we’ll get into that dance about deposits, refunds and if anything further is owed.

We sent back a contract a month or more ago and crossed out the clause that said regardless of the Force Majeure terms, the band will be paid in full if they are present and ready to play.

Last week, one week before the show and shortly before our whole public performance meltdown, they send the contract back and say “We need to reinstate that clause. We assume you are ready to pay the band in full if they are there and ready to play.”

We weren’t ready to do that months ago, when a cancellation was unlikely. Why would we sign on to do that when a cancellation was imminent. (Not like the band was inclined to show up anyway. And to be fair, we are working on rescheduling this one too.)

We are actively booking shows for the summer and we are being told - given the situation, we expect you to confirm that you will pay the band in full regardless of what happens this summer. I know the bands are suffering and we are sympathetic, but if we have no revenue streams, we are not going to be able to pay bands their fees for months. And summer is an iffy proposition right now. We can’t book a dozen shows now that are all going to cancel in 3 months and pay them all in full.

Anyway, I hope other presenters are pushing back on these Force Majeure clauses. Promoters would be happier to take care of bands if we weren’t being raked over the coals. We don’t want to see bands hurt either, but there needs to be a little more compromise here.

Since this opinion is obviously not well embraced by the big agencies who have been steadily deconstructing the Force Majeure clauses, and we do need to keep working with them, I kindly request that you don’t publish my name.

Thanks!

______________________________________

From: Russell Rheingrover
Subject: Re: Trump On The Coronavirus

Hi Bob

So much to say....first off this pandemic is only in week two of a multi month event for the United States and already some of my family is in self quarantine and my business is wiped out.

In full disclosure I own a ticket broker business with employees and my business imploded Monday.

First the shows/events started to get canceled or postponed. Then StubHub, Vivid, Ticketmaster and every other reseller changed their payment terms to payment upon event taking place instead of upon ticket delivery strangling our cash flow.

Next Ticketmaster and Live Nation said they would not refund for any canceled events until sometime in April.

In addition there are the groups invoking their T&C that this is an act of god like Ultra and SXSW and not refunding at all.

My company can not survive for 3 to 6 months without any events taking place or cash flow and this will ripple down to having let employees go.

The hotels we work with have already cut major staff and everyone is going to be financially hit in some way by the virus.

All the business stuff pales to the fact that my family has been exposed to the virus.My Brother in Law and my Neice were at a wedding last weekend where there a person that was found positive for Covid this week. The both are at their homes under self quarantine

That's the real rub... the virus is here and we have no idea and without an adult in the room to lead the Country we are going to get wiped out by this tsunami of hurt (medical and financial) coming our way.

My Brother in law is waiting to get tested but unlike the BS we are being fed by Trump and Pence there are no tests to be had.

And no this is not end of days but for many in the United States it will be. We all need to suck it up and shut it down by staying home. No contact is the only way to stop this.

For all you Trumpers out there who thought how could it hurt voting for him....well your chickens have come home to roost for all of us in the worst way. Lying is not going to fix this issue and it has not magically disappeared as we were told it would.

Be safe and be well and we will see you in 60 days on the other side of the rainbow.

Russell
President
Jiffy Tickets

______________________________________

Not dissimilar (here in Ireland); we are, I think, fortunate in that we are a small, island country. Thus, the population can be addressed directly and factually (whatever the 'facts' might be) by the health experts and we tend to accept what they are saying. The numbers are rising, of course, and we have not got to the point - yet - where everybody knows somebody who is affected in some way. In other words, most of our feelings are speculative.

Fortunately, data so far is that two thirds of confirmed cases are under the age of 55, i.e. more than likely to have a couple of weeks of discomfort rather than being in any greater danger. Those of us of an older disposition have not yet been instructed to remain at home, it is an advice rather than a legal requirement but just yesterday our Dail (parliament) put in place emergency legislation to enable just such a diktat to be enacted, not just for over 70s but for the population in general.

The craziest thing so far is that while we in the South closed schools, restaurants, instigated working from home, etc. etc, the bible bashers in charge in the North, across a political but physically non existent border, looked to their historical mainframe to the East, i.e. England, and followed their inaction and kind of laissez faire approach, something that, like the US, has done a volte face in the past couple of days. In the North, even McDonalds took it upon themselves to close down to all except drive through but the authoritities continued to insist schools should remain open. Finally, the schools will close at the end of today. Madness.

The economic devastation is all around us; Government has agreed that those who have lost their jobs - in almost all cases they are the already dispossessed or disadvantaged - will get 203 euros per week, via payments to their employers, mortgage repayments have been suspended for three months, they are working out some deal with private landlords so that tenants renting will not face eviction if they cannot pay rent. In reality, given our history (the so called Famine of 1840s and
centuries of evictions by English landlords), if, in current circumstances, a landlord tried to evict some poor unfortunates I think there would be riots. Anyway, they reckon up to probably 300,000 will lose their jobs, that in itself is - excuse the language - fucking mind blowing.

Physical health, mental well being, economic survival, maybe even structural damage in terms of society, everthing is being and will be hammered. All we can do is be responsible, self distance, self isolate even. There are idiots here, like those on Spring Break in the US, mostly young, who insist on gathering but they are few and far between, thankfully. We are now heading into the worst of it over the next three or four weeks and we are about to see how the health and other systems cope. About 30,000 former health workers have responded to a call to arms, brave volunteers in a citizens' army.

All I know, based on evidence from other countries, is that this will last probably til June and the consequences will be felt for the economy and therefore for the population for some years to come. We barely know each other, me, you, Felice, but I send love from across the ocean and sincere best wishes that you and she will both get through this.

Fachtna O' Ceallaigh

______________________________________

This is what is chilling to me.

FOUR weeks ago Italy had three known cases of the virus.

TWO weeks ago it had developed into 1700 cases and thirty four deaths. That did not seem too alarming to most people - TWO weeks ago

NOW there are 41,000 cases and 3400 deaths including 900 deaths in the last two days in Italy.

In the US today- 14,000 cases and 190 deaths.

Where will be in two weeks??

Russell Carter

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