Day 37: The Band Plays On

The Associated Press reports on our elderly presidential contenders campaigning on, including a quote from a Bernie Sis who thinks coronavirus is just "to distract people." In other news, Oregon has declared a state of emergency, presumably to distract people, and Twitter reports two more retroactive deaths at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, WA. The total case count for the US is 475.

Massachusetts insurers will be fully covering coronavirus testing, but then they're used to paying for the weird stuff. YMMV if you live elsewhere in the US. It's a good thing, too, because our Department of Public Health has announced 15 new presumptive cases (all from Biogen's battiness), increasing our count to 28 (with 23 directly linked to Biogen).

New Jersey is up to 6 cases. Vermont announced its first case yesterday. The New York Times now has a US case map.

The US State Department joins PlagueBlog in recommending against cruise ship travel. Though their purview is international travel, their advice is surprisingly unqualified:

U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.

Speaking of plague ships, Germ Boat #8, the Regal Princess, is currently pacing back and forth off South Florida after being refused docking in Fort Lauderdale pending testing of two crew members formerly of Germ Boat #6, the Grand Princess.

Israel (with a case count of 39, only one untraced) is quarantining all arrivals, while Micronesia has closed its borders completely. France has banned public gatherings of more than 1,000 people, except for protests. (It's unclear whether this is a civil rights exception or a final solution to France's protest problems.)