The enemy at home is more threatening than the enemy abroad. September 11th drove that point for most of us. Coronavirus is doing it again. When it was in China, it wasn’t our problem.
Now it is our problem.
The Chinese, Korean, and Italian experiences give us some indication of what to expect.
And no matter what our leaders choose to do about the pandemic, the virus isn’t paying attention. It is going to take every opportunity to find new people to infect.
SAR-CoV-19 moves fast, and it kills fast.
Worldwide, every week, the number of new cases of COVID-19 triples. As of Monday, we know there are already 31,000 infections and 400 deaths in the USA.
For perspective, in a week, expect 93,000 cases, 279,000 a week later, 837,000 the next week, and in a month 2,511,000 cases of COVID-19 in the USA. Mortality experiences so far, range from about 1% in Korea to about 5% in Italy. Ours is currently 1.29%.
32,392 dead Americans in a month, at the current rates. A month later, unabated, it could be 2.6 million. That’s close to the 2.8 million American deaths from all causes in 20171.
Infectious disease experts tell us that our best defenses against this enemy are simple things, like adequately washing our hands.
And social distancing, but it is tough for people to do. We like to get in each others’ space. We need interactions.
For your convenience, we’ve increased office payroll so that we can provide the highest possible level of service and support during these difficult times.
We are also maintaining safety. Mark, Ian, Mona, and Jackie are working exclusively from home. Rose is covering the office, and I’m splitting my time between home and office.
We prepared for this type of business disruption for years, thanks to all of our experiments with technology. We get together by video conference every morning and afternoon.
If you’d like to join us online, click this link https://zoom.us/j/169175694 between 4:00 & 4:30 Pacific any weekday afternoon, through the end of this crisis[ If you’re unable to join the meeting, call or email2. We’d love to video conference with you. And we’ll help you get it working if we can.
As for the markets and the economy, we’re monitoring the situation and using technology to keep you informed, especially as we make prudent adjustments navigating this maelstrom.
If you’d like to know what we’re thinking and gain our perspective, join our daily town hall (online) meeting at 4:00 every weekday afternoon.
Bender out.
1https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
2If you’re unable to join the meeting, call or email.
3https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-How-Do-I-Join-A-Meeting-
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