The World vs. SARS-CoV-2, 4/3
U.S. big bucks turn global face mask hunt into ‘Wild West’ - In France and Germany, senior officials said the United States was paying far above the market price for masks from No. 1 producer China, on occasion winning contracts through higher bids even after European buyers believed a deal was done, and Brazil’s health minister reported a similar incident. [Reuters]
Buying Face Masks and Other PPE from China Just Got a LOT Tougher
American states’ responses to the coronavirus follow party lines. Republican-leaning governors are slower to impose restrictions than Democrats [Economist]
Most experts agree that wearing a face mask can stop some virus-laden watery droplets that are thought to be a main coronavirus vector and are expelled into the air when a person coughs, sneezes, just breathes out [Financial Times] or talks [CNN]
Location Data From 131 Countries To Show How Coronavirus Lockdowns Are Working [Googler.com]
Location Data Says It All: Staying at Home During Coronavirus Is a Luxury
On March 14, Zahara cut itself off from the outside world as a dangerous coronavirus spread its tentacles across Spain. The mayor decided to block all but one of the town’s five entrances. Since then, the country has recorded more than 100,000 cases and 10,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. In Zahara, however, there has not been a single recorded case of Covid-19 among its 1,400 inhabitants. […] “There is no car that comes through the checkpoint that’s not disinfected. Every Monday and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. a group of around 10 people are out in the streets to disinfect the town, all the streets, plazas and outside homes.” A local business is paying two women to make grocery and medical deliveries to reduce the number of people out on the streets, especially those most vulnerable to contracting the virus. [CNN]
What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage
