Extra

The lengthy commentary by Cody R. McGillivray scolding us all for sheltering in place probably awakens in a certain ratio among us a sense of something familiar. Isn't there some lunacy in letting the economy fall apart while going stir-crazy indoors if we're lucky enough to have a door to close?

Only if you're unconcerned about being an asymptomatic carrier. You may elect to take your chances with exposure since you're feeling well, or if you like the sense of adventure. But the person who picks up the shopping basket behind you may not want to risk their family, their neighbors, or themselves. 

Just as with the common cold, this virus may be passed between asymptomatic people, some of whom may never present with symptoms. Just as the common cold can make the rounds of a dinner party while everyone at the moment of exposure continues to feel perfectly fine, so too can coronavirus easily pass from person to person. By touching common surfaces it can find a new host and take three days to do it. 

Of the 10,000 people dead in Italy, count on it that a certain ratio grabbed and kissed European-style on both cheeks had no idea what was about to happen. Now there aren't enough coffins to keep up. 

We are all first responders right now since the only option, absent any vaccine or treatment, is to make sure we do not pass the virus between us. Cody McGillivray may wish to make his own decisions about his own exposure, but I am thankful the people he encounters are at least trying to caution him about making life or death decisions for others. 

The economy is not a person with a finite amount of time to live. And anyone deeply concerned about how to take a tanking economy and wants some good ideas about how to address it should, while shelter-in-place provides the opportunity, read about the New Deal.