The headline is a reference to a 1985 novel written by Nobel prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez. Namely, Love in the Time of the Cholera.

China did not immediately inform the world that the Corona virus was out there.

We know that the current virus is not the flu, but the two do share certain symptoms, and we will remind you that not every case is a death sentence. Chances are, it started spreading before the city of Wuhan was quarantined, especially given the fact that the US has already seen 21,000 deaths from the ‘flu’ this season – much higher than normal – and million upon millions of instances where people recovered, despite the fact that they were bereft of the magical properties seemingly imbued by hording large amounts of toilet paper.

But things have changed:

1. The term ‘social distancing’ entered our vocabulary and like ‘google’ before it, ‘zoom’ entered the patois.
2. There Is A Saint Corona, And She Is the Patron Saint Against Epidemics
3. If you’re a fan of Mexican beer, switching to Dos Equis will not make any difference, in attempting to prevent the corona virus. Don’t laugh. Sales of Corona are down.

Here’s a must-read, from an ER doctor in upstate NY: An Idiot’s Guide to Corona. The virus, and we’ll include her first point, again, for perspective: “Take it easy. The worst part of all this is the fear. More people die from the flu, car accidents, or guns. As of Saturday, March 7th, 19 Americans had died from Covid19, compared to 1177 every week from the flu, 746 from car crashes, and 294 from gunshots.”

According to the Washington Post (How the coronavirus compares with the flu), “As of early March, the coronavirus outbreak had infected more than 100,000 people and killed more than 3,000 globally, the majority in China, where the illness was first detected in December. More than 750 people in the United States have been diagnosed, including at least 25 people who have died. By comparison, influenza — known as the common flu — has infected as many as 45 million Americans since October and killed as many as 46,000, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Then there are the things we don’t think about, that could potentially be leading to the spread of this disease. This month, New York joined several other states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Vermont – in banning the use of single-use plastic bags in order to “mitigate harmful impacts to oceans, rivers, lakes, forests and the wildlife that inhabit them. It can also relieve pressure on landfills and waste management,” according to NCSL. We may also be Greening Our Way to Infection. “These reusable tote bags can sustain the COVID-19 and flu viruses—and spread the viruses throughout the store,” notes City Journal. “Researchers have been warning for years about the risks of these bags spreading deadly viral and bacterial diseases, but public officials have ignored their concerns, determined to eliminate single-use bags and other plastic products despite their obvious advantages in reducing the spread of pathogens.”

We’re sure that you do wash your reusable grocery bags, but do keep in mind that beginning in 1992, the Federal government started passing a number of regulations in the name of energy conservation. As a result, your water is now 120 degrees, or just slightly higher than the temperature at which yeast blooms. “But raising the temperature above 120 degrees is recommended by many health experts to reduce the risk of exposure to bacteria,” says SFGate, “as long as cautionary measures to avoid scalding are implemented, as well… The American Society of Sanitary Engineering recommends setting the temperature of home water heaters to 135 degrees to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, a range shown to destroy bacteria.”

If you live in a city, in the name of energy conservation, your hot water temperature is between 110-120 degrees, the perfect range to breed bacteria and pathogens.

We know that hand sanitizers and ingredients for making your own – namely, rubbing alcohol (mixed with aloe vera) – are in short supply these days, but there is something that may currently be in your home (we assume nothing, considering the run on toilet paper): vinegar. “US studies have found that vinegar destroys a host of household pathogens, including the flu virus as well as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria which causes tuberculosis,” says – yes – Better Homes and Gardens (Does vinegar really kill germs?). Not a bad idea to spray some on your reusable grocery bag – et al – after washing it.  Once again, we remind you to think outside of the dispenser. In this case, literally.

In this time of social distancing, we will also remind you that Millennials are officially the loneliest generation. With no real friends, despite having been ‘friending’ people for years – a verb that has virtually disappeared, but not before the damage was done – we wonder if the so-called digital natives might also be the click-bait generation, clicking on ‘trending’ news that’s spoon fed to them. Note to self: it’s called Buzzfeed. Do not click on every so-called newsflash that pops up on your screen. Fear lowers your immune system.

Most importantly to entrepreneurs, as investor Nisa Amoils reminds us, (Early Stage Technology Funding In The Time Of Coronavirus), as for technology and the seeming current investor bear market, it’s not necessarily game over: there are cases where the game is very much afoot. Says Amoils, “Technology trends are not going to stop moving forward in a crisis – in fact they will accelerate in many areas. Think of the Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and other technologies that are currently being used to assist in the Coronavirus crisis for instance. In China, Blockchain startups popped up to assist this quarter. Innovation is born of necessity. It’s a matter of looking in the right places at the right time.”

This just in: First coronavirus vaccine trial set to begin in the US. Or as we always say in the newsletter, help is on the way.

Onward and forward.