Go to your local restaurant, bar, grocery store (...)

This may already not be the best advice in regions where community transmission is a serious issue. But small business owners are often flexible and creative and you may want to encourage them to tap in other resources like home delivery of grocery products or prepared meals to the more vulnerable groups in the local society. It will help their business, prevent gatherings of large groups of people in a confined space and help those who are in self-isolation to protect themselves against the virus by providing them the opportunity to stay healthy with a steady supply of food.

We as internet-savvy people could even play a positive role in this by setting up a web presence for these mom and pop businesses to help them reach out to the local community.

This may already not be the best advice in regions where community transmission is a serious issue.

I think that is well understood, and suitable precautions taken, of course.

We as internet-savvy people could even play a positive role in this by setting up a web presence for these mom and pop businesses to help them reach out to the local community.

Exactly the kind of thinking needed. :)

With a growing number of jurisdictions in various countries (USA included) banning gatherings of 50 or more, mom and pops will really be impacted, though supposedly essentials such as grocery and pharmacies are excluded.

Some of these fixes are worse than the concerns.

- mom and pops will really be impacted -

We are starting to see price gauging locally, and that is not good.

Local "dollar store" raised prices on plastic gloves. For me it is spring time and time when i use them while planting a garden extensively. I brought 'last years' pack of gloves to the store today with a label that says 99c. Same as they have on a shelf for $2.99, exact same thing, and asked them whats up? Response was: Oh, that is a wrong price...

To the point that local Police making rounds and taking notes now, for real real. Grrrrrr....

Go to your local restaurant, bar, grocery store (...)
This may already not be the best advice in regions where community transmission is a serious issue.

Consider this as a way to help a local business you care about: Buy a gift certificate to be used at a later date. Maybe much later, depending on how the coming storm plays out, but some help with cash flow might help the business survive.

Some of these fixes are worse than the concerns.

Wrong, @Tangor. The fixes are deplorably inadequate, considering that the concern is a new disease, growing exponentially, that may kill millions before it burns out.

Buy a gift certificate to be used at a later date. Maybe much later, depending on how the coming storm plays out, but some help with cash flow might help the business survive.

Great idea. Positive thinking like that is needed at a challenging time like this.

@buckworks ... such scare tactics are part of the problem. Even MERS and SARS (more virulent) never achieved those numbers! The 1918 Spanish Flu did ... but that was a time and beast of a different color under conditions of global war where everything was at a strain (and little knowledge of virii and how to treat the symptoms.

At present COVID-19-SARS-2 (which is what this is) has the following stats from World Health Organization (WHO):

[epidemic-stats.com...]

The numbers are: 170247 infected, 6526 dead 3.8% (mortality rate) and 77786 recovered 45.7% (recovery rate) ... the latter number is expected to improve over the next few days as more come off the "infected" list, ie: test negative, the disease having run its course. One reason the latter number does not move as quickly is the number of testing kits remains limited world wide and are generally used to test for infection, not for "now negative". I used to work in the medical field, so this is not just BS...

That said, "social distancing" (ie, stay home and away from others) will significantly reduce the virus spread and save the medical industry some overfill strain with new cases---but killing the rest of the economy as a result is not a really good idea.

We can agree to disagree if you like. I recognize that this new flu is NOT a desired thing and can be fatal, particularly for the elderly and ESPECIALLY for those with existing health conditions, so all care must be taken ... But millions of deaths?

There hasn't been a "millions killer" contagious disease since 1918, though there are diseases that HAVE killed millions OVER A CENTURY of data tracking. Just not in one year.

COVID-19 is not one of those millions killer flus... and containment seems to be having a good effect (stopping global travel between nations).

As for small businesses, support them if they are open ... sadly a number of city, county and even state level administrators are shutting them down and there is nothing "you" can do to help in that situation.

Draconian.

@buckworks ... such scare tactics are part of the problem.

A far worse problem is soothing statements from people who don't understand exponential growth. It's a grave, grave disservice to sow confusion about how seriously we need to take this thing.

COVID-19 is not one of those millions killer flus.

It will be, at the rate it's spreading. It's in the early stages of an exponential growth curve and the story will get A LOT worse before it gets better.

sadly a number of city, county and even state level administrators are shutting them down

Not sad at all. A serious quarantine / lockdown is the one thing that might save us. Half measures will not do the job.

We'll talk again in a year and see who was closer to the truth. :)

Nothing I said was "soothing"... the disease is real and people can die of it ... but the actual number of deaths is on a curve to be no more fatal than the common flu which kills 17,000-40,000 per year.

I only question estimates of 1.6 MILLION deaths per year. SARS and MERS, both coronoaviruses and far more deadly, and EBOLA have never achieved anything close to that number.

@tangor, it won't take a year to find out. Either this pandemic spreads very fast, or it will die out quickly.

While I hope that you are right, the situation in Italy shows that we are talking about a potent virus with yesterday 368 casualties on a country daily average of all deaths of 1750. So about 20% of all people dying at this moment in Italy are because of COVID-19. This is a countrywide average in a country with a universal health care system on a Western level. In the most affected areas like Lombardy, this percentage is significantly higher than 20%.

This death toll of 368 doesn't take into account people dying of other causes because they can't receive proper treatment due to the strain on the health care system. It also doesn't count the people who survive but will have reduced lung function, as reported in studies in China and Hongkong.

but the actual number of deaths is on a curve to be no more fatal than the common flu which kills 17,000-40,000 per year.

That is where you are wrong.

What we are facing and various jurisdictions are, for better or worse, preparing for and muddling through is the potentiality of Covid-19.

The current state of knowledge is this:
* ~70% of exposed people contract it.
* ~20% of those contracting it require hospitalisation.
* 5-10% (depending on demographics) require incubation for 2-6wks.
* the US has a quarter to half of the ICU beds per capita of other industrialised countries.
* death rate if over 80 is 15-20%
* death rate if have cardiovascular disease is ~10%
* death rate if have diabetes is ~7%
* death rate if have chronic respiratory disease, hypertension or cancer is 6%.
* current overall death rate is 2.3%.
* those serious enough to be hospitalised suffer permanent scarring of the lungs and 10-30% loss of lung capacity.
Note: while there are certainly many more mild unreported cases that would bring this overall rate down it is also almost certainly true that the actual number of deaths in China and Iran (and the eerily silent North Korea) are greater than reported.

If the fairly draconian procedures being instituted work people will say they were an over reaction. :)

Unfortunately, I expect the US to see a very sorrowful next several weeks. The ‘west’ largely frittered away a 2-month warning and consequently losses to be more Italy and less Taiwan or Singapore.

Best wishes all.

* ~70% of exposed people contract it.

Making things even more complicated is asymptomatic spread ... in other words people can spread it before they know they are sick.

The crisis is already past in Wuhan, folks are going back to work some 105 days after the reports began. Check the numbers. Italy, with all best hope, will see a plateau and reductions over the next few weeks, though those still struggling with the disease continue to be at risk for mortality. Age populations makes a difference in outcomes as well. The travel and business restrictions WILL have a beneficial effect.

Coronavirii are common (in fact, the common cold is a coronavirus).

Next year the media will have something else to panic about and memory of COVID-19 will rapidly diminish, just as it has for Ebola, H1N1 (still active), SARS (no new reported infections in 4 years), and MERS, with very low numbers of infections in recent years.

COMMONSENSE is what is required, not fear and panic, as nothing will remove the intellect and ability to do action faster than fear.

The medical industry world wide has gotten better at dealing with these outbreaks, though the lack of transparency during the initial stages of COVID-19 could have been MUCH better ... travel restrictions would have been put in place a lot earlier (perhaps that's why the info was contained for so long?).

Wash your hands. Avoid large crowds. Otherwise live a normal life. Take some time to educate oneself on the historical data regarding coronavirii of all types over the last 50 years.

That said, any death is a tragic loss. Deaths from a "bug" are even more heartbreaking. Not glossing anything over, then again, I am not willing to be stampeded into panic over something that will, in time, become part of the human genetic immune system, as these things have over the eons.

The crisis is already past in Wuhan,

Because of their draconian measures. People over there did a helluva lot more than "Wash your hands. Avoid large crowds. Otherwise live a normal life."

Their peak may have passed (for now) but it is not over by a long shot.

Heh. Also waited some 40 days before saying there was a disease and adamantly refused any aid from WHO or US or UK ...

They did overcome, and that's a good thing for their population!

As noted above... coronavirii are common. They are everywhere. Always have been and always will be. Can't change that fact of science. Occasionally one will mutate and be more infectious than ever. That's when measures (including ordinary sanitation) come into play.

Fortunately the medical industry has become better with coming up with vaccines, treatments, and protocols.

Governments are becoming more nimble in their response.

We will get through this. I mean all the "we" on the planet.

Getting back on topic, as this thread was meant to be what we can do. Let's leave speculation at the door.

I'm hearing a number of novel ways entrepreneurs and small businesses are being innovative in dealing with the challenges.

If the fairly draconian procedures being instituted work people will say they were an over reaction.

I’m reminded of the Y2K bug and its no-win premise: if you take the appropriate actions to prevent bad consequences, people will sneer that it was all a great to-do over nothing. And if you don’t take appropriate action ...

Anyway, I had to go to a local store yesterday, because I was out of betta food and why should the poor guy starve. As long as I was there, I bought an extra sack of cat food. I can always eat rice and beans, and I’ve got enough flour for many loaves of bread, but the smaller critters need feeding.

There's a case in Greenland now. Yikes. The map at jhu is generally good about showing exactly where things are happening--the US, for example, is covered with variously sized red blobs--but on this one they gave up and just marked the exact center of the country, which I find unlikely.

Incidentally, the formal plural of virus is viri if you’re uneasy saying “viruses”. For some reason I was thinking it’s 4th declension, plural virûs. Oops.

Don’t forget to wash your thumbs!

Most government and community services were closed this past weekend as were schools and daycares.

So far restaurants and stores remain open as usual. Of course in our fairly remote bit (less than 1-person per sq km in an area the size of France :)) Canada there is only one known case of COVID-19 so it’s more a matter of minimizing crowd contact and washing hands more than usual. And check in on the twice daily provincial virus spread updates plus keep an eye out for local county/city emergency notices/updates.

I do remain in contact with colleagues in Far East and Europe including several that have been and many that are currently in self quarantine (four have had the virus). Having someone to vent at (other than family) is, apparently, an appreciated service.

The next 2-3-months look to be a pita for North America, if the China timeline holds.

I’m more interested and occupied in assisting/supporting individuals. If a business dies it can be reincarnated, a person I’m not so sure.

an area the size of France

Size of France, hm, Yukon?

less than 1-person per sq km

Over here we’ve got 1% of the population of the Netherlands in about ¼ the area (I looked it up once as a handy comparison), which works out to more than 10x your density. So far the only COVID case in the county is one person who had visited China earlier in the year, and who has since recovered.

A friend called to warn me to allow extra time at the grocery store, because there have been fistfights at the register--I mean at a specific named store in our town, not Some Store Somewhere Out There, relayed at third hand--and they’re limiting the number of people allowed in. You don’t think about retail establishments as having a legal maximum occupancy like a restaurant, but I guess everything does.

We are doing fine.

We're in that "older" population that gets talked about in this thing, the people they say should go home and stay there for a few weeks or months.

We have habit of stopping at a local gas station almost every day to buy a newspaper. Until now we'd buy the paper and head for a cafe, now we buy a paper and go home again. Yesterday we didn't get to the station.

Today one the cashiers asked if we were doing OK because we didn't show up yesterday, and they offered to do grocery shopping for us if we needed help.

Here's the thing, while our daily interactions are friendly, we aren't "friends". Most days our interactions amount to mutually saying "Thanks and have a nice day".

That makes it all the more touching that they would even notice we missed a day, let alone offer to help with our shopping.

That's an example of what one can do, simply take notice of people around you and offer help if you can and if it's needed.

@lucy24: grew up in Yukon but currently northern Alberta, which was my reference.

Blink and things change. Province just closed all bars, casinos, and nightclubs. Restaurants now limited to max 50 patrons or half capacity whichever is less at a time.

Grocery stores well stocked (certainly no prob this past morning when I stopped in for fresh apple fritters and cinnamon buns (two of the main food groups) and all say replenishment not a problem although say even busier than Christmas.
Note: yes I do share. Mostly.

<ontopic>
One local company here is buying and pre-paying diner vouchers at local restaurants and distributes them under health care workers to use when life turns back to normal again.

Just heard about a small brewery that is doing home deliveries of beer. Great idea, especially as demand from pubs has dried up.

Heh ... (beer deliveries) ... we're seeing local govs shut down all alcoholic beverage (locations or creation). Is this to have alcohol available to make hand sanitizer? Nah, the breweries here are already doing that ... and some are actually giving it away for free.

We have restaurants that have phone call-in for closed in seniors for free dinners delivered from 4-8pm. One meal a day is better than none. As one owner says: "No one will miss a meal on my watch."

Hope the pockets are deep enough for that generosity as it will likely be a 30 day or more commitment, and likely to be scammed by 100 fold. BRAVO! KUDOS! THUMBS UP! CHEERS! All of those accolades are heartfelt and sincere ... I can't do that. Would if I could.

These days, my tryke and I (I don't drive any longer due to eyesight) do grocery shopping for three others (a bit older than I) once a day. Keeps me trim, keeps them safe, and keeps activity in the mix. And the basket holds up to 75 lbs no problems. Even bulky toilet paper, too!

Web wise my current sites are not geared to address the virus issue, other than perhaps provide some entertainment here and there. That said, the school closures have created a different problem, and one that will likely come back to bite us all in the a$$ ... the little kiddies are running around loose on the streets and the likely community spread will continue apace ... but the folks in charge truly believe they have made things safer. (Try to corral a kid under a shutdown and see what happens... like puppies and kittens they will get out, in trouble, and "share the wealth".

fresh apple fritters and cinnamon buns (two of the main food groups)

Huh. I thought the food groups were
sugar
salt
starch
grease
alcohol
but perhaps Canada has a different list.

My website has been dead. I don't think anyone is thinking about doing their assigned readings--after all, who will know?

I had to nudge our art studio director to cancel studio for the time being. Initially I thought it was silly, but then I thought about it further and decided that seven people in a small windowless room is probably not the ideal setup.

Left to their own resources, children do not congregate in groups of thirty, let alone several hundred, sharing the same air.

but they do the old Clariol commerciual .. I told one and they told another and they told another and .... (Exponential).

And no washy hands in between. :) or is it :( ?