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Ohio has only a few confirmed deaths simply because they havenât been able to do the tests:
We literally didnât even have any testing in Ohio until about a week ago. This is a concern. It would be nice if we had faster turnaround time. Our lab at Summa is looking at developing the test within our institution, but thatâs going to take several weeks.
~ President of the Infectious Disease Society of America
A worthwhile chart is this one from Tomas Pueyo on the cases in Wuhan:
Notice the lag between actual and confirmed cases. Also notice how the âdraconianâ shutdown stopped the exponential growth curve early. In Ohio, they have taken much longer to get testing rolled out, and they also havenât locked down the state. Combining these facts and you can imagine a chart like the above where the blue bars keep going through the roof while the orange bars are dragged to the right, and you get the âconfirmed deathsâ to âactual casesâ ratio mentioned.
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I just learned something new: Muting a thread does not allow it to surface in Latest, even if you have participated. 
So helpful for restraint!
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Also it looks like South Korea is on the verge of controlling their outbreak with very aggressive contact tracing, extensive testing (highest per capita in the world) and quarantining (with no lock-down needed). Other countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have also kept things under control with similar approaches (all have had experience with SARS in the past). One would expect numbers of new cases in Italy with their lock-down to appreciably dip within two weeks because of the lag effect referred to above.
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This quotation from a scientific article by American Museum of Natural History, 2016, will help to illuminate more on this topic:
"Being Healthy Means Having a Balanced Microbiome
Scientists now understand that a diverse and balanced microbiome is important to a personâs health. We need
that diversity and balance for a strong immune system. Some scientists think that babies who do not have
much contact with microbes get more allergies, asthma, eczema, and other health problems. Studies also
suggest that the microbiome plays a role in obesity and depression. In fact, the microbiome is so important
that it is like another organ. It is a part of the body that serves necessary functions, just as the skin and kidneys
do.
Remember, the human body is an ecosystem. We need to preserve ecosystems in nature, and that includes
our own. We need to preserve the human microbiome. "
From what I have observed (being both an ecologist by scientific training, and Dhamma-practitioner ) that most people donât view their bodies as living ecosystems, and they donât think holistically, and so go to extremes by destroying microorganisms on their own bodies and in their homes with harsh chemicals. They act like farmers or foresters who spray the crops or forest plantation infested with weeds, and destroy beneficial insects and poison other species too up the food web. Collectively we can now see the ripening of such actions or kammas (actions of mind-speech-body) all over the world - their results over long time. But we can also see ripening of more wholesome actions and results, that need to be supported. That gives energy and inspiration not to just let go and give up, but with compassionate heart direct our actions in the right way to help.
So sad about the poor cleaners. Yes, not using harsh chemicals is best for everyone.
âAustralian childrenâs book author and illustrator May Gibbs (1877-1969) drew this scene featuring a kookaburra and one of her gumnut baby characters - both wearing eucalyptus leaf âsurgical masksâ - for a poster for a public health campaign in New South Wales during the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic.â
I received that from a friend on Facebook - but surely its message is good for everyone - Forest Dhamma?
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as far as I have understood, itâs not really known to what extent the microbiome is important, but I do like probiotics; in fact right now I am in the process of making a huge casserole of natto. My favourite 
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I am finding that this is an opportunity for me to practice mindfulness outside the period of meditation. For example I have already caught myself twice today touching my nose, when I had resolved not to touch my face with my hands (even though I wash them frequently). Itâs going to be a good practice for me just to remember at all times the instructions not to touch my face.
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To put things in perspective, according to the Smithsonian Institute, around half a billion people were infected with influenza during the 1918-1919 flu pandemic and as much as 5% of the worldâs population actually died. Presently, Johns Hopkins University estimates that around 0.0024% of the worldâs population has contracted Covid-19, and many people do not show symptoms.
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@Metaphor comparing infection rates to those of prior epidemics is of limited value when a large chunk of the concern is over the number of infected individuals vs the number of ICU beds/equipment available for them and others who might need them. It doesnât matter if the infection rate is low compared to 1918 if we can only adequately treat some of those who need it, or fill up beds needed by people having other medical emergencies.
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Just when I was feeling so heartened about how well most people were handing this crisis, I saw some really disappointing footage on the news 
Along with the queues for food in America, there were queues, of mostly young men, to buy guns⌠literal queues going down the street. I couldnât think of a more un-beneficial response 
Wuhan, China, confirms only 1 new coronavirus case for 2nd straight day; Every European country confirms cases
China reports 1 new domestic Covid-19 case, 20 imported cases
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In Italy 475 people died today.
No one had the change to hold a dying loved oneâs hand.
May peace be one day with their families & friends.
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America is unfortunately quite a rumor-mill. People hear that there are food shortages because the stores donât have time to restock, and they get frightened. I think it all started with the news reports of Italy quarantining the entire country and enforcing it with police. People got worried they wouldnât have supplies, and the snowball started rolling. Hopefully it will die down once the run on supplies abates and the warehouses can catch the stores up again. Everyone has been pretty civil from what Iâve seen and heard.
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Unfortunately people here in Australia are stockpiling too, and not always being civil. The Prime Minister made a speech in which he said, âStop hoarding. Itâs unAustralian. Be civil to each other.â
The media finds the worst instances, but even I heard a lady in a supermarket (with empty shelves where paper goods, rice, pasta etc should have been) loose it, and stand in the aisle yelling, âEveryone else has got it. Why canât I get it?â ⌠I didnât hang around to find out what âitâ was.
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The bit that shook me was the guns
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Itâs OK, they are just preping for the imminent zombies. 
I wonder if there is any mileage in spreading metta to COVID 19 and also to all those who are so scared by it, that the only response they see is to go out and buy guns? Or is that a step too far for metta?
May all beings be free of dis-ease. May COVID-19 too, be happy and live at ease.
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This crisis is certainly bringing out the best and worst in human nature. Supermarkets here have had to introduce rationing because of excessive stockpiling by some customers. My local supermarket is now reserving the 6-9am slot for elderly and vulnerable customers, which is good to see.
I am fortunate to be retired and financially secure, but there are lots of people here in the UK facing imminent unemployment or job insecurity. We are fortunate to have the NHS, though as in most places, there are concerns about the health services being overwhelmed by a surge in seriously ill patients.
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Yeah, thats the United States. It may be good to keep in mind that there are âgun peopleâ and gun culture. And that this is a relatively small part of the population. And that their social media bubble pluss agressive marketing creates a very different reality than those outside.
It makes for a good news story, though. I dont know if itâs any consolation, but for sure 90% of the people buying guns already own many already.
The measures of social control that are being put into place fit perfectly into their fantasy that they need to be ready to battle the government.
And, yes, i think they would be a good target for our metta. Pardon the pun.
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As a practicing Buddhist, doing my best to uphold the First Precept, I am disturbed by the scorched earth strategy that authorities are taking towards disinfecting every last surface with which humans might come into contact in the pursuit of eradicating Covid-19. I have seen images of crews in cities in Asia, for instance, who are spraying down everything in sight with disinfectant, killing every last thing in their path. In many places around the world workers have been employed to wipe down surfaces with disinfectant on a regular basis.
All around us there are millions of microscopic organisms, many of which are beneficial to each other and to humans. The human body itself is full of beneficial bacteria that aid in digestion. All of the disinfecting going on with the aim of eradicating Covid-19 is wiping out entire microscopic ecosystems.
I get that all manner of human activity threatens the existence of the microbiome around us. This conversation has come up before in this forum with regards to the debate over whether the First Precept requires a vegan diet. Tilling the land to grow crops disturbs the world of microscopic organisms. So obviously, human existence (or the existence of any animate species, for that matter) comes at the expense of other living beings (a horse swatting a fly can kill the fly). But there is something unsettling about the indiscriminate mass disinfecting campaign in response to Covid-19 that seems so at odds with the Noble Eightfold Path.
Edit: It also is rather disturbing, and rather un-Buddhist-like, the way that captive species were kept in wildlife markets in China which allowed the Covid-19 virus to spread from one species to another, in ways that would not have occurred in nature.
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