COVID Updates

As of April 15:

For the first time in the history of the US, all 50 states have declared a state of emergency.
Schools in all but 5 states are closed for the remainder of the school year (or "until further notice").with students getting remote instruction for the remainder of the year. A handful are listed as "recommended closure" but I don't think there's really any kids in the US that are going to school as if things were normal.
The governors across multiple states are discussing when the region can consider beginning to reopen.

President Trump has declared that he has supreme power to order businesses to reopen.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. He has been the voice of sanity from our government. He doesn't cowtow to anyone, and during press conferences if (when) any of the talking heads starts spewing utter stupidity you can see him in the background trying desperately to control his bemusement. That kind of reaction hits home with me - he isn't doing it disrespectfully. There's just a WHOLE lotta stupid going around in some areas. But the important thing is that he is providing sane, rational, scientific advice on how to control and manage the situation. He doesn't go down the path of conjecture, or "we'll pay this away" (yes, there are people who think that's a good plan). He just sticks to the science. I'm sure he will be the victim of political sabotage at some point, but the man deserves the highest honor we can give him.
Insane tidbits:

Some pastors decided to hold in-person Easter services in spite of all the warnings. But most people simply had Easter at home. Churches are offering virtual/filmed services every week, and Easter was much the same.
The nightly talk shows are also going virtual. They have remote live video chats with their guests. Even Saturday Night Live had a virtual host (Tom Hanks, all the way from his home in Australia.
Police have been formally reminding people that they need to wear pants to go outside and check their mail. Yes, that is not a typo.
All sorts of animals are coming out. There's reports of deer, coyotes, big cats, mountain goats... all roaming suburban and urban streets as people hunker down in their homes.
There are also ALL sorts of crazy conspiracy theories about COVID including (but not limited to):

It was caused by the US Government
It was caused by Bill Gates
It is a result of 5G technology
It is a biological weapon developed by the Chinese
It was developed in Canada then stolen by Chinese spies
It is the result of a meteorite explosion in China in October 2019
It was caused by someone in China eating a (possibly live) bat from one of the open markets
It was deliberately created from HIV
Corona beer is somehow responsible... seriously. Their sales have tanked.

You really can't top conspiracy theory craziness, so I'm going to leave this here for now.

In The Oubliette