Day 36 Retrospective

Day 36 (yesterday) was an exciting day for the Northeast and US Germ Boats. New York’s caseload jumped to 76, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency. Acela service between NYC and DC was cancelled until late May. Bloomberg reports bad times for our lobster industry, what with the bottom falling out of the Asian giant edible spider import market.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts now has our own tracker, which still lists yesterday’s stats of 13 cases. An infectious disease conference in Boston (CROI) was moved online, because apparently not everyone in the biotech sector here is completely insane.

Vice President Pence accidentally announced 21 confirmed cases aboard Germ Boat #6, the Grand Princess. Also, a Germ Boat #7 was christened when a “medical matter” (that is, a suspected coronavirus case) trapped passengers aboard the Carnival Panorama in Long Beach, CA, until a negative test result could be obtained. (The following cruise was shortened by one day.) PlagueBlog recommends against taking cruises at this (or any) time. At least one more death has been recorded for #2, the Diamond Princess, as well, bringing the official total to 7.

Another LAX screener was diagnosed. The US hit 19 deaths and Brazil hit 17 cases (two in Rio). MasterCard closed its offices in NYC and São Paulo due to a coronaviral connection between the two. The SXSW conference that several tech companies pulled out of earlier in the week has been cancelled.

A relatively new Chinese hotel in Quanzhou housing quarantined case contacts collapsed, killing at least 10. The Pope started streaming to keep crowds from gathering to see him, and the Vatican confirmed its first case.

Poland’s sixth case apparently caught it from the first case on a bus. The leader of the Italian Democratic Party fell ill. A cluster of 60 cases in Spain was linked to a funeral. The Netherlands reported their first death and a total of 182 cases.