# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758 "2020-02-11T01:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 39
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/762 "2020-03-13T08:20:36Z")
p.s. The idea that China created this virus in a biowarfare lab and then released it in China intentionally is also loony. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/763 "2020-03-13T08:41:42Z")
A loony SciFi-horror scenario I expect to hit social media if it’s not out already: Here’s a COVID survivor. They’re recovering, so their veins are filled with immunized blood. Desperate yahooz capture and drain the poor devil to self-vaccinate, probably badly. Sure, it won’t work. But will it happen? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/764 "2020-03-13T10:34:06Z")
**RioRico** : Do you remember the SciFi flick _Andromeda Strain_? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/765 "2020-03-13T11:07:16Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I guess you all missed the part about where I said that the CDC should pay for the tests. Yeah, I did - where did you say that? You went right to the assumption that masses of people were all going to run out to the nearest hospital. For what? Fun? Entertainment? I don’t know anyone who goes to the doctor for fun. > [@UltraVires](#): > > This video clip suggests to people that they can run to the hospital right now and demand a test. The tests are limited right now. Doctors will not test you if you don’t meet certain factors. Sure, rich people, Senators, and basketball players get the tests and pay for them, but they are a very small part of “everyone in the whole country.” See, that’s the problem - rich and powerful people get tests. A nurse who was treating someone with the infection was told she couldn’t get the test even though she had symptoms and was sick because she’d been wearing PPE while treating said patient so couldn’t possibly have covid-19. If you’re rich or important or connected you get a test. If you’re a peon you don’t. Even if you should. The people rushing out and demanding tests are the people who can (and presumably do) pay for them, but that should NOT be the criteria for medical care of any sort. It should be apportioned by NEED, not by WEALTH. > [@UltraVires](#): > > She should have let the CDC post guidelines about who should ask for a test and who will get a test. Those guidelines have been up for weeks. Try actually looking at the CDC website before spewing such untruths - I’m presuming ignorance on your part. Go read the website, I promise it won’t give you “liberal cooties” or whatever you’re afraid of. The problem was not a lack of guidelines, it was a lack of access. Poorer people couldn’t get the test NOT due to lack of guidelines but due to LACK OF MONEY. > [@UltraVires](#): > > That’s all. I did not say that the CDC should not pay for these tests under the right circumstances. But I guess the Congresswoman got to flex her muscles and show her liberal street cred. That’s what we don’t need right now. What we don’t need are more conservatives dithering about how this is going to cost money. IT HAS ALREADY COST MONEY. It has already cost some people their lives. If we don’t start testing people without regard to whether or not they have thousands to pay up front we will NOT know the true extent and picture of what’s going on in this country. Your requested guidelines ALREADY EXIST and have existed for weeks. But they aren’t being used because in this country you don’t get access if you don’t have either money or good insurance or both. This is STUPID. It is CRUEL. One more time, it is STUPID. What is the end goal here for conservatives? To have the ICU’s overwhelmed and people dying at home and declare “well - they haven’t been tested so they can’t possibly have covid-19 - WINNING!” This is like saying they people should only have fire department services if they can afford to pay for them. The problem with that: fire spreads. If they slum burns down it might set the rest of the city on fire, including the fancy mansions. In fact, this used to happen in history. That’s why everybody gets a fire truck when they need one regardless of income. Because putting out fires in slums does, in fact, protect the rich. Also, it’s the right thing to do but I realize not everyone is moral. Viruses spread. Let the slum become a death zone and the virus will then spread to all the tasty, tasty rich hosts next door. That is why it is in YOUR self interest to see that poor folks also get tested and treated appropriately. Yes, even if it costs \*\>gasp!\< \* money. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/766 "2020-03-13T11:10:52Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Someone brought up a point I hadn’t thought of in another thread: everyone keeps saying that the point of quarantining and social distance now is to flatten the curve so that the medical system isn’t overwhelmed all at once. But what is preventing the infections from going down, then shooting back up to pre-dip levels and overloading the medical system THEN? Presumably, after 30 days we’ll have a pool of people with immunity who can then keep the world running without getting sick again (yes, I’m aware there have been some issues with that, but right now nothing is certain). If you relax social distancing and other such measure and the infections start to spike again then you have to reimpose them to prevent an overload. Yes, we could, potentially, go through multiple cycles. Yes, this is going to take awhile. Yes, there is going to be a financial cost to all this, as well as social, on top of the human suffering and death. This is why pandemics suck. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/767 "2020-03-13T12:50:02Z")
As this is the sharing news reports thread I’ll throw [this](https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/218769/coronavirus-updates/covid-19-update-transmission-5-or-less-among-close) here. > [@](#): > > The transmission rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was 1%-5% among 38,000 Chinese people in close contact with infected patients, according to the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, Zunyou Wu, MD, PhD, who gave an update on the epidemic at the Conference on Retroviruses & Opportunistic Infections. > > The rate of spread to family members – the driver of the infection in China – was 10% early in the outbreak, but fell to 3% with quicker recognition and isolation. The overall numbers are lower than might have been expected, and an important insight for clinicians trying to contain the outbreak in the United States. > > Patients were most infectious at the onset of symptoms, when they spiked a fever and started coughing, but their ability to spread the infection dropped after that, Dr. Wu and others said at a special COVID-19 session at the meeting, which was scheduled to be in Boston, but was held online instead because of concerns about spreading the virus. The session has been posted. > > Transmission from presymptomatic people is rare. Shedding persists to some degree for 7-12 days in mild/moderate cases, but 2 weeks or more in severe cases. … ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/768 "2020-03-13T13:08:11Z")
[The Nara deer find this quite queer](https://soranews24.com/2020/03/13/nara-deer-leave-park-head-to-station-for-food-as-tourist-numbers-tumble-due-to-coronavirus/). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/769 "2020-03-13T13:15:50Z")
This also is[an important article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/opinion/coronavirus-school-closing.html?searchResultPosition=1) for people to be aware of. > [@](#): > > Facing an accelerating spread of Covid-19, Italy and Japan have closed schools to impede the epidemic. Some communities in the United States have done so too, agreeing to significantly disrupt people’s lives on the theory that it will prevent deaths and serious illness. > > But there is no clear evidence that such measures will slow this outbreak. … > > … There have been very few reports of children contracting Covid-19. It’s not clear why. It’s possible that children do get infected, but so mildly that it is not noticed or tested. > > If children don’t experience severe illness from or contribute to the spread of Covid-19 — and so far we have found no clear evidence that they do — it’s likely that school closings will have little effect on its spread. > > Not all affected countries have closed schools. Singapore, which has been heralded for its response to Covid-19, decided that closing schools would do more harm than good. … > > … Though there may be an inclination to present school closings as a well-established tool to protect public health, their full impact is simply unknown. > > Downplaying the disruption these measures may cause or overstating their benefits can erode public confidence in government at a time when it is needed the most. > > Jennifer Nuzzo is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor at the university’s school of public health. Also [this](https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/06/were-learning-a-lot-about-the-coronavirus-it-will-help-us-assess-risk/) - > [@](#): > > South Korea, which is grappling with an explosive outbreak, has likewise seen small numbers of infections in children and teens and no deaths in those age groups. Of 6,284 cases, only 0.7% were under the age of nine; 4.6% were ages 10 to 19. A bigger chunk of the total cases, 29.9%, were ages 20 to 29. Even in that age group, South Korea reported no deaths. > > “Even when we looked at households, we did not find a single example of a child bringing the infection into the household and transmitting to the parents. It was the other way around,” Van Kerkhove said. “And the children tending to have mild disease.”… The cautionary tale of doctors’ actions [after President Garfield was shot](Though there may be an inclination to present school closings as a well-established tool to protect public health, their full impact is simply unknown. Downplaying the disruption these measures may cause or overstating their benefits can erode public confidence in government at a time when it is needed the most. Jennifer Nuzzo is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor at the university’s school of public health.) really must be a cautionary tale to be remembered: a well intended desire to DO SOMETHING for something that might be very very bad, does not mean that the things being done are not more harmful than helpful. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/770 "2020-03-13T14:07:22Z")
[A Facebook group gets an assignment: Help Jared Kushner combat coronavirus](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/13/jared-kushner-combat-coronavirus-facebook-127941) > [@](#): > > Just before midnight Wednesday, a doctor asked a group of fellow emergency room physicians on Facebook how they would combat the escalating coronavirus outbreak. > > “I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House,” Kurt Kloss wrote in his post. > > Advertisement > The next morning, after hundreds of doctors responded, Kloss explained why he sought the suggestions: Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, had asked him for recommendations. > Kloss, whose daughter is married to Kushner’s brother, sent Kushner 12 recommendations Thursday morning. > > **The Facebook crowd-sourcing exercise showed how Trump‘s team is scrambling for solutions to confront the outbreak after weeks of criticism for the administration’s sluggish response, a shortage of tests and the president’s own rhetoric downplaying the pandemic. It is now expected to consume the final year of Trump’s first term and threaten his campaign for a second term.** > > Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to lead a task force to combat the spread of the coronavirus two weeks ago. But in recent days as conditions worsened and criticism mounted, Kushner took a more active role, according to two people familiar with the situation. The Trump Administration… writhing in its incompetence… is going on _Facebook_ for solutions to the pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/771 "2020-03-13T14:08:06Z")
[The Greek Olympic committee suspended the rest of its torch relay [today] because of the “unexpectedly large crowd” that gathered to watch despite repeated requests for the public to stay away to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/13/olympic-torch-relay-in-greece-suspended-because-of-virus/111420022/) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/772 "2020-03-13T14:15:04Z")
More GOP malfeasance: “The House is expected to pass a coronavirus aid bill, but it won’t get to Trump’s desk until Monday night at the earliest because the Senate recessed yesterday for the weekend.” > To be fair, the recess scheduled for next week is cancelled, but… seriously: A. When does the weekend include Thursday night and Friday B. Don’t these idiots know there’s a pandemic? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/773 "2020-03-13T14:16:10Z")
> “Not official, but Brazilian outlets are reporting Pres. Jair Bolsonaro’s #corona test came back positive.” (Report is in Portuguese.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/774 "2020-03-13T14:22:00Z")
Sorry, guys, but this thing is moving so fast… More GOP malfeasance and cruelty: [Trump administration blocks states from using Medicaid to respond to coronavirus crisis](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-13/trump-administration-blocks-states-use-medicaid-respond-coronavirus-crisis) > [@](#): > > Despite mounting pleas from California and other states, the Trump administration isn’t allowing states to use Medicaid more freely to respond to the coronavirus crisis by expanding medical services. > In previous emergencies, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the H1N1 flu outbreak, both Republican and Democratic administrations loosened Medicaid rules to empower states to meet surging needs. > > But months into the current global disease outbreak, the White House and senior federal health officials haven’t taken the necessary steps to give states simple pathways to fully leverage the mammoth safety net program to prevent a wider epidemic. > > That’s making it harder for states to quickly sign up poor patients for coverage so they can get necessary testing or treatment if they are exposed to coronavirus. > > And it threatens to slow efforts by states to bring on new medical providers, set up emergency clinics or begin quarantining and caring for homeless Americans at high risk from the virus. > > “If they wanted to do it, they could do it,” said Cindy Mann, who oversaw the Medicaid program in the Obama administration and worked with states to help respond to the H1N1 crisis in 2009. > > One reason federal health officials have not acted appears to be President Trump’s reluctance to declare a national emergency. That’s a key step that would clear the way for states to get Medicaid waivers to more nimbly tackle coronavirus, but it would conflict with Trump’s repeated efforts to downplay the seriousness of the epidemic. > > **Another element may be ideological: The administration official who oversees Medicaid, Seema Verma, head of the government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has been a champion of efforts by conservative states to trim the number of people enrolled in Medicaid.** > > The steps that California, Washington and other states hit hard by the epidemic want to take would likely increase the number of people enrolled in the program. > > **“Medicaid could be the nation’s biggest public health responder, but it’s such an object of ire in this administration,” said Sara Rosenbaum, a Medicaid expert at George Washington University. _“Their ideology is clouding their response to a crisis.”_** Emphasis mine, JT ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/775 "2020-03-13T14:28:34Z")
Imagine being the Surgeon General and reading in Politico that Karlie Kloss’s dad’s Facebook group is above you on the organizational chart, even _after_ you cravenly claimed trump was healthier than you are. LOL. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/776 "2020-03-13T14:37:15Z")
Latest Austrian news: [ul] [li]Several entire districts in Tyrol have been placed under a two-week quarantine.[/li][li]Shops nation-wide have been ordered to close on Monday and to remain closed until further notice. Exempt from the order are grocery stores, drug stores, pharmacies, post offices, and banks. [/li][li]As of next week all bars and restaurants may not stay open later than 15:00.[/li][li]All flights to Switzerland and France have been suspended. Apparently the land border to Switzerland is being mostly sealed as well. (Details are yet unclear; a government press conference on this matter is in progress.)[/li][li]The Czech Republic has now completely sealed its border with Austria. No one goes in or out.[/li][li]Austria’s chancellor has announced that all employed parents with children are entitled to a special leave of three weeks at 2/3 pay.[/li][/ul] Personal observations: Panic shopping (known here as _Hamsterkaufen_, or “hamster buying”) has begun in earnest. I visited a nearby supermarket this morning at 10:00 to pick up some yogurt and the line to the cashiers stretched all the way around the inside of the store. Many food items are completely sold out (mostly canned, dried, and frozen goods), but overall there is still plenty remaining. Day-cares are now requesting that children stay home if possible, and turning away children who show any cold-like symptoms (runny noses, coughs, etc.), even if the cause is known to be a pre-existing non-coronavirus condition. Those exhibiting symptoms of the virus are not permitted to visit doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals, but are instead required to call 1450, the nationwide medical advice line, who will make a preliminary assessment over the phone and, if warranted, dispatch someone to the person’s home to take swabs for a coronavirus test. However, callers face hold times of upwards of four hours before anyone is available to answer and take their details. So it seems this is a rather dangerous bottleneck. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/777 "2020-03-13T15:12:46Z")
In local news, the first case of community contagion has been identified in San Antonio, TX: > **[Public health emergency declared after first coronavirus case confirmed in...](https://www.kens5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/first-case-of-coronavirus-in-san-antonio-confirmed-outside-of-lackland-quarantine/273-dd5a7ac7-fc45-418e-aa57-d218cc1bcc4b)** > > Before this case, 11 cases of coronavirus had been reported from among the evacuees brought to federal quarantine at JBSA-Lackland. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/778 "2020-03-13T15:18:18Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Wonderful. My people leaving on vacation tonight cannot get out. Corporate says they cannot cancel their vacations. They have to burn vacation days here in the Kingdom. Good grief. Does your employer usually not allow people to cancel vacations? That just seems petty. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I thought he even stifled coughs or sneezes a few times. He’s met with at 1 person who has been diagnosed with the virus. I don’t know if he has it but I’m sure he gets tested frequently… Today’s NYT news summary said that the white house has announced that trump and pence won’t be tested. Seems bizarre, but maybe they will just be secretly tested. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > 'Twill be hard to keep it a secret if he’s on a ventilator for a time. Naw, I bet it will be kept secret until/unless he actually dies. They we’ll find out. > [@steatopygia](#): > > Supposedly the Mayo Clinic has opened a drive through testing site, and I just got a .job offer from Denver for a drive through with a start date of 3/13. Getting there. Only two months late I’ve heard about one here, as well. Hopefully we can ramp-up access to this. Drive-thru seems like the ideal way to do testing of people well enough to drive. Keep them away from other people. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/779 "2020-03-13T15:49:06Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Today’s NYT news summary said that the white house has announced that trump and pence won’t be tested. Seems bizarre, but maybe they will just be secretly tested. Maybe they can’t find a test? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/780 "2020-03-13T15:52:40Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > \ > > Naw, I bet it will be kept secret until/unless he actually dies. They we’ll find out. > > \ How would we know? Hell, they could just stuff him, slather on a fresh coat of orange and play a recording of his gibberish in front of a camera. Or **Smapti** could do a ventriloquist act. Could we really tell the difference? In other breaking news, MSNBC just reported that Miami’s mayor tested positive after attending an event with Brazil’s President, Bolsonaro. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/781 "2020-03-13T16:00:17Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > This also is[an important article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/opinion/coronavirus-school-closing.html?searchResultPosition=1) for people to be aware of. So the editorial is saying if the virus is brought into a school by a parent or an adult staffer, it’d just fizzle out as a dead end? And if there’s even a small risk to kids, parents are going to want to know, and they likely won’t tolerate any (as is their right). So how would she reassure those parents enough to make them willing to take existing risk with their kids? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=38) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=40)