Earliest Time Frame For Safest Booking Post Coronavirus....?

We (also Cdns) are indeed worried about the U.S. as well. With more than 68,500 diagnosed cases, the United States has the third-highest national total behind Italy and China. The virus has rapidly spread across every U.S. state as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, killing at least 1,031 people.
Are people finally deciding to stay home in physical social isolation? Are people doing their part by slowing the spread together, being less selfish and understanding the ramifications of infecting a large population of people by community spread? Yes, our jobs and income are temporarily at risk... and who knows what the 'new normal' will be and what companies survive... and how we will need to adapt. Experts are saying many folks may be younger, healthy and able to fight off COVID-19, but we may unknowingly pass the virus on to someone who cannot. There will be a continuing surge of positive cases as test results finally come in. NY governor Cuomo says their hospitals require personal protective equipment, 30,000 ventilators ... federal gov't sends 400. Is now really the time for politics? Physical social distancing is all we have right now to help the fight... and it's a great way to serve our respective countries and communities. Let's all be kind to each other and remember to thank the folks on the frontlines of this (healthcare, supply chain/delivery, retail, first responders, etc)

One of our grandkiddo's texted us this ...

 

I've brought that up around various friends and folks and right now, its super taboo to even think like this in the US not to mention Los Angeles where we're from.

Every life is important obviously and social distancing is a good idea for a while but....watch the suicide rate climb this year and next for those devastated financially and unable to cope. Rational thinking has left the building lately.

 

From a recent letter by Bill Gates (yes, yes, we all know he's an unimaginably wealthy multibillionaire and philanthropist... it is however, a thought-provoking article, offering views that we may not have fully considered).
We thought it was an interesting read. Apologies if you've already seen it. :

As of Monday, the disease (COVID-19) has killed more than 16,300 people worldwide and around 372,000 have been infected.

But multi-billionaire Gates, 64 - who donated £85 million to combat the virus last month - believes that despite the chaos, there is "a spiritual purpose behind everything that happens".

The letter, entitled 'What is the Corona/ Covid-19 Virus Really Teaching us?', has been shared thousands of times since it was originally posted on Monday.

Gates begins the letter, saying: "I’m a strong believer that there is a spiritual purpose behind everything that happens, whether that is what we perceive as being good or being bad.

"As I meditate upon this, I want to share with you what I feel the Corona/ Covid-19 virus is really doing to us.

1) It is reminding us that we are all equal, regardless of our culture, religion, occupation, financial situation or how famous we are. This disease treats us all equally, perhaps we should too. If you don’t believe me, just ask Tom Hanks.

2) It is reminding us that we are all connected and something that affects one person has an effect on another. It is reminding us that the false borders that we have put up have little value as this virus does not need a passport. It is reminding us, by oppressing us for a short time, of those in this world whose whole life is spent in oppression.

3) It is reminding us of how precious our health is and how we have moved to neglect it through eating nutrient poor manufactured food and drinking water that is contaminated with chemicals upon chemicals. If we don’t look after our health, we will, of course, get sick.

4) It is reminding us of the shortness of life and of what is most important for us to do, which is to help each other, especially those who are old or sick. Our purpose is not to buy toilet roll.

5) It is reminding us of how materialistic our society has become and how, when in times of difficulty, we remember that it’s the essentials that we need (food, water, medicine)as opposed to the luxuries that we sometimes unnecessarily give value to.

6) It is reminding us of how important our family and home life is and how much we have neglected this. It is forcing us back into our houses so we can rebuild them into our home andto strengthen our family unit.

7) It is reminding us that our true work is not our job, that is what we do, not what we were created to do our true work is to look after each other, to protect each other and to be of benefit to one another.

8) It is reminding us to keep our egos in check. It is reminding us that no matter how great we think we are or how great others think we are,a virus can bring our world to a standstill.

9) It is reminding us that the power of freewill is in our hands. We can choose to cooperate and help each other, to share, to give, to help and to support each other or we can choose to be selfish, to hoard, to look after only our self. Indeed, it is difficulties that bring out our true colors.

10) It is reminding us that we can be patient, or we can panic. We can either understand that this type of situation has happened many times before in history and will pass, or we can panic and see it as the end of the world and, consequently, cause ourselves more harm than good.

11) It is reminding us that this can either be an end or a new beginning. This can be a time of reflection and understanding, where we learn from our mistakes, or it can be the start of a cycle which will continue until we finally learn the lesson we are meant to.

12) It is reminding us that this Earth is sick. It is reminding us that we need to look at the rate of deforestation just as urgently as we look at the speed at which toilet rolls are disappearing off of shelves. We are sick because our home is sick.

13) It is reminding us that after every difficulty, there is always ease. Life is cyclical, and this is just a phase in this great cycle. We do not need to panic; this too shall pass.

14) Whereas many see the Corona/ Covid-19 virus as a great disaster, I prefer to see it as a *great corrector*

It is sent to remind us of the important lessons that we seem to have forgotten and it is up to us if we will learn them or not.

 

When I see headlines like 80,000 will die in the U.S in the next few months, I wonder wouldn't we get to herd immunity by that point?

 

If the bowl of m&ms has 328000000 m&ms in it then you must at 328000 deadly ones to be 1 in a 100. How many m&ms would you like to eat??? Just saying I do not want even one.

 

I'd not read Bill Gates' letter yet, so thanks for putting it up.

 

Sorry but I hate that it bothers you that someone risking there life working on the front line is still getting paid when you are not. How would you like to go to work every day knowing you may die or bring home a virus that can kill a member of your family. I guess MONEY is more important then the human life. Sad world we live now days. Prayer to all first responders Thanks for what you do.

 

Ethical trap in this discussion at either extreme position on or of the issue...

It's easy, and perhaps correct, to say lives are more important than jobs, sure.

It's also correct to say that, if the economy grinds to a halt due to the stay at home orders... that we could end up just as bad or worse.

Yes, I get it that the complete grinding to a halt extreme is most likely impossible, but the financial damage is real and people are already feeling it. Yes, I know that if they were one of the unfortunate ones who have been very seriously ill or passed away due to CV their point of view would be different from the other..... what's the current statistical model showing... the other 9,998 out of 10,000... but that doesn't change the unfortunate fact that if you are one of the 9,998 (someone check my math, isn't that right if it's at a 0.2% rate?), and you can't work from home doing what you do since it's really not possible to do your job in a stay at home situation, and you don't have the savings and/or family to pay for things.... and things still have to get paid for.... Those people have a Very real problem. As bad as dying? No. Pretty damn bad possibly? Sure.

Note: I am a fan of the current stay at home plans around the world. I'm not saying those should just go away tomorrow. But, I'm used to looking over the next hill to spot the oncoming issue... and this is one big oncoming issue.

 

Your math is faulty as you presume 1 percent based on the total population and not the actual number infected which is massively smaller and actually how mortality is calculated. You have to be infected before you could ever possibly die from it . Me personally, none would kill me and would not kill the vast majority of the population. Thus the overly whelming majority could eat them all and none would actually kill them. depending on your own personal health and age maybe none would kill you either. The false dilemma created by this silly scenario is that one or more would definitely kill you which is not close to reality. It’s a scam example that has used many times before in other areas to exaggerate the dangerous of something.