Red alert, day 24. Lockdown, day 14. Suffolk has 231 confirmed cases this morning, neighboring Essex has 792 cases and Tower Hamlets has 339 confirmed cases. The UK has 47,806 confirmed cases (of 195,524 tested), and as of yesterday 4,934 patients have died. Late tonight it was announced Boris Johnson is in the hospital for tests.
Good news: the United States still has a free press. Bad news: it hasn’t changed the situation. Can we start that second impeachment process yet?
Even doctors on social media cannot reach a consensus on whether the rest of us should mask or not mask as protection; a main argument against it is that it might give a false sense of security and induce taking more risks. The compelling argument in favor is of course that it could contain coughs and sneezes and protect others. My dorm alumni list, still a high-noise information channel where posts regularly trip the Gmail spam blocker, has been discussing the propulsive power of coughs and sneezes in great detail. One guy who was a professional beatboxer had some shocking statistics about singers being able to shower audiences. There is apparently also a choir (the Skagit Valley Choir) that was a hotspot.
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a doctor, has rejoined the medical register and will take weekly shifts.
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the virus. If cats start getting it, will the US swing into action, as they haven’t for people?
I went to Sainsbury’s and found it just about as fully stocked as on an ordinary Saturday, except for some of the pasta shelves. A Suffolk Constabulary video from Felixstowe said ships were still docking at the port.
My Zoom schedule remains full. Unitarian service from Bedford, regularly attended by at least 200 people including some that I like to see. The Passover story was discussed from both the Jewish and the ordinary Egyptian point of view. Incidentally, even Quakers and Buddhists are using Zoom. I look forward to the John Benjamins volumes on online religious practices that are sure to appear in a few years. Also the second weekly concert by Ipswich folkies Honey & the Bear; the Queen’s address; Eastercon meeting; Mary Anne’s crafting hangout (she was industriously constructing face masks), and Sipping with Stacey (friend from third grade). When there’s this much on, I didn’t expect to make it to all of these, especially since I am reading dissertations today, but it is so nice to have an online virtual town, city, nation. I am seeing more people than I have in years.
LATER: Social media reactions to the Queen’s speech ranged from “class act, ma’am” to suggestions she might, you know, pitch in and sew a few face masks.
