The Week the Earth Stood Still (COVID-19)
March 17, 2020. Last week began almost normally with COVID-19 infections few and far away, single cases making news. "Best wash your hands and not shake hands, but no fear." Then, day by day over the week, the drumbeat crescendoed to what feels like hysteria but makes precautionary sense, like wearing a seat belt even if you've driven for years without a crash. Here in Fredericksburg, Virginia, it's all precautionary. Because the virus incubates for days and spreads from people without symptoms, next week's precautions have to be made yesterday. And because nobody's immune, it spreads explosively under normal conditions, doubling every week until it infects most of the population. The mortality rate is modest, maybe one percent (we don't know because mild cases go unreported), but that's much more lethal than flu. As I write, there's only one case in Spotsylvania County--one out of 134,000 people and that one quarantined--so...