If you look closely enough, you’ll almost always find a silver lining somewhere, and so it goes with the Wuhan Flu. That said, as happens whenever it comes to silver, there are invariably some spots that are tarnished. Still, if you’ve tired of all of the Daily Corona Death Count stories, here are some points you might have missed, including a few silver linings:

People are certainly cooking more at home. You can’t exactly go out to restaurants these days, but many do deliver, and head’s up: Maryland restaurant owner: ‘Delete all the delivery apps’. They do take “25-30% commission rates” and restaurants are having a tough enough time as is trying to survive. As we’ve mentioned before, meal kit Blue Apron’s stock price is up. No info on the uptick in traffic on recipe/cooking sites or sales of Soylent,
although Amazon is hiring big time – 75,000 more workers as demand rises due to coronavirus, according to CNBC. Meanwhile, Amazon-owned Whole Foods Secretly Upgrades Tech to Target and Squash Unionizing Efforts

Telecommuting is the new norm in the workforce. A few years back, then Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer banned its employees from telecommuting. Prior to her assuming the mantle, former seminal search engine was ahead of the curb on telecommuting.  Considering that people are abandoning the big cities in droves – especially since the onset of Covid-19 and the Draconian requirements being placed on big city residents – on-site employment might not necessarily be a requirement in future. Heads up, entrepreneurs – surely, you’ve noticed some white space there, given your own circumstances, that need to be addressed.

The suicide rate and instances of domestic violence are on the rise. In fact, violence against women and girls surged in the days following the shut down and continue to rise the longer the house arrest continues. Speaking of the law of unintended consequences, while people are so-called sheltering in place, Study Finds Coming Economic Crisis Could Lead to 831,600 Suicides! — That is Four Times the Number of Estimated Coronavirus Deaths globally. Obesity, alcoholism and drug use are also on the rise, all of which contribute to ongoing health issues/the need for medical care, and of course, early death. Anxiety is also on the rise, which is especially problematic for people with mental health issues, according to The Guardian. In fact, Doctors (are Calling) for Reopening, Say Lockdown Creating ‘Public Health Crisis’. Note to self: Data Suggests REAL Coronavirus Death Rate In L.A. Is 0.18%, And 0.89% In NY.

Didn’t criminals get the memo about sheltering in place? New York City Sees More Burglaries of Businesses Under Coronavirus Emergency Measures. Dozens of NYC inmates back in jail after coronavirus release – some for having committed violent crimes.  Philadelphia’s Only Surging Industry:  Even under Covid-19 lockdown, crime flourishes in the City of Brotherly Love.

The air is cleaner, the world is greener. The question is, at what cost and happy belated Earth Day. According to The Daily Signal, “Without a doubt, quarantining is yielding environmental improvements. Driving and flying have dropped considerably. According to satellite imagery from NASA, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other emissions are down. The canals in Venice are cleaner, and people in certain parts of India can see the peaks of the Himalayas for the first time in years… But do we really want to associate environmental progress with a worldwide pandemic and off-the-charts amounts of human suffering—both physical and financial?” What to speak of the toll it’s taking on people in personal service industries: childcare workers, hair cutters, nail salons, house cleaners, all or most of whose income suddenly plummeted to zero. The commuter culture supports a number of ancillary industries. Time to end the lock down and commute their sentences.

Coronavirus: World risks ‘biblical’ famines due to pandemic, says the UN. According to the BBC article, “A report estimates that the number suffering from hunger could go from 135 million to more than 250 million.” Closer to home, we have no idea why some states have outlawed the selling of garden seeds, while others are using drones to monitor US citizens. In case you missed it, drones were donated to police departments in 22 states by a Chinese company suspected of spying on US citizens. The question is: what has this virus truly unleashed?

Workers now deemed ‘essential’ want more: How the coronavirus crisis might bring permanent labor gains on unionizing, sick leave and other issues. Law of Unintended Consequences. Oops.

When was the last time you had a conversation/received an email that didn’t end with ‘Stay safe?’ Considering that we’re hearing talk of mandatory inoculations and the fact that two of the biggest members of the tech cabal – “Apple and Alphabet/Google plan to release technology jointly in the coming weeks for digital contact tracing through Bluetooth sensors on phones,” according to Thomson/Reuters (Showdown looms between Silicon Valley, U.S. states over contact tracing apps), what on earth makes you think you’re safe?

The most effective treatment for the Spanish Flu of 1918, which wiped out a third of the world’s population was…sunshine and fresh air (Coronavirus and the Sun: a Lesson from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic). So, why are we being so-called sheltered and denied two elements that are proven to kill viruses, naturally – sunshine and fresh air? According to the Medium piece, “Medics found that severely ill flu patients nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. A combination of fresh air and sunlight seems to have prevented deaths among patients; and infections among medical staff.[1] There is scientific support for this. Research shows that outdoor air is a natural disinfectant. Fresh air can kill the flu virus and other harmful germs. Equally, sunlight is germicidal and there is now evidence it can kill the flu virus.” This open-air therapy was also used to cure tuberculosis. So, given the fact that the real data Covid-19 mortality rate in LA is .18% and that sun and fresh air kills viruses, what does the Governor of California do? Newsom Increases Enforcement of Coronavirus Restrictions After Tens of Thousands Flock to SoCal Beaches Amid Heatwave. “The state was supposed to be slowly loosening restrictions on May 3rd, but Newsom is now threatening to extend his government mandated house arrest.” That’ll show ‘em!

We wonder if those Covid-19 data crunchers figured in the toll and ancillary causes of death that shutting down the world in the name of this latest virus would cause. Those numbers far outweigh the toll on life taken by the disease itself, but since those larger numbers are not as immediately apparent, well, file that under ‘collateral damage’ and nothing to see here.  Or, as Governor Murphy of NJ said about his lockdown orders and whether or not they’re a violation of the Bill of Rights, “That’s above my pay grade.”

All in all, we’re seeing far more tarnish than we are a bright and shiny lining.

As for the ‘New Normal,’ when Ikea reopened a few of its stores in China and Germany, “Visitor numbers in China were back to 70 to 80 percent of year-ago levels,” according to Fox Business News.

On a personal note, we’ve been ‘sheltering’ out of the city, in the woods, surrounded by sunshine (the inordinate amount of rain we’ve been having of late aside) and fresh air, cooking every meal at home. We even had a house guest for a few days – a friend who decided he needed a ‘vacation’ from the world’s globally enforced vacation. Yours Truly did all of the cooking – no problem – although we did notice that not once did either of the guys do the dishes.

Both of which instances just go to show you that, pandemic or not, human nature is human nature, and some things never change. Onward and forward.