--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Hey, I'm Sean Rameswaram from Today Explained, a coronavirus update to keep you on top of some of the biggest stories of the day. Here's what we have so far on Thursday, March 19th.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Two days ago, I told you the United States had just crossed 5,000 cases. Now, well over 10,000 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19, including two members of Congress, one from Florida and another from Utah.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: A new report from the CDC says Americans of all ages are getting seriously sick with COVID-19, not just older adults. Older adults are at greater risk of dying, but of 508 patients hospitalized stateside who were studied, 38% were between 20 and 54, and nearly half of the sickest patients were adults under 65.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So be careful millennials and be careful boomers. The State Department says that American citizens living abroad should get ready to come home or stay wherever they are for a long time. The timeline hasn't exactly been finalized, but even more travel restrictions are imminent.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Australia and New Zealand are shutting their doors to foreigners. India is banning all international flights into the country. And there have now been more COVID-19 deaths in Italy than in China. The death toll in Italy climbed over 3,400 today.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And meanwhile, in China today, for the first time in a long time, no new local infections were reported. And a new study says that people who became sick with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, had a lower death rate than previously thought. 1.4% of those who got sick died instead of earlier estimates of 2 to 3.4%.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: You can write us with your coronavirus questions, email todayexplained at vox.com, or tweet at us. The show is at today underscore explained. I'm at Ramos Firm.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Support for Today Explained comes from BetterHelp. Let me tell you a true story. Last weekend, I got an email from a listener who wanted to discuss their problems with me. And I said, look, I don't think that this is about me personally. At least I hope it's not.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Why don't you try betterhelp.com slash explained? Absolute truth. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Find the one with BetterHelp. The one is not me, guys.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash explained. That's betterhelp.com slash explained.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Okay, I'm standing in a park in northeast Washington, D.C. It's basically the first time I'm leaving the house to not go to the grocery store.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And on my way here, I passed a dog that immediately stopped in its tracks and was practicing safe social distancing, as far as I could tell.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And I thought, hmm, maybe I can ask Brian Resnick, Vox's science reporter, to come to said park with me to explain social distancing because he lives very close to me, it turns out, in Washington, D.C.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And Brian, here you are. Let me bring this microphone over to you. Just to make sure everything's clear, we're as far away as recommended, around six feet.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I mean, you're the only person I've seen this week. So this is a joy. It's always a joy, Brian.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Even though there's still some distance between us. You know, we've been getting a ton of questions about social distancing, Brian.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I wonder, are there like golden rules to this game? Are there like the fundamental social distancing best practices? Is there a 10 commandments for social distancing? Not 10 commandments, but I do have five.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: You know, there's a thousand rules that you can think of or a thousand situations like, Like, oh, should I go to the grocery store when?
--:-- Brian Resnick: The most important commandment is the first one. And it's your responsibility to not just protect yourself, but to protect others.
--:-- Brian Resnick: So that's the whole point of all this social distancing. We're not just keeping ourselves safe and well. We're keeping other people who we could spread this virus to safe and well.
--:-- Brian Resnick: So do you feel this way because people aren't protecting others? They're just protecting themselves? Do you feel like a selfishness?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Let's look around here. I mean, there's no one in this park, but I certainly saw like kids playing on my way over here.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Should they not be playing with each other? So today I saw, I think CBS News got it in Miami, like a bunch of spring breakers who are like all in their teens or early 20s, talking about how like they didn't want to ruin their fun but the thing is young people can get this disease and not necessarily get the worst symptoms or necessarily die in it from it in high numbers but they can disproportionately spread it to some of the most vulnerable people among us
--:-- Brian Resnick: The first commandment is about like this is a collective human virus It's going to infect humans. You are a human who can carry it and to spread it to someone. You don't want to be the cause of someone's death.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Okay, commandment two is to obey your public health department. So this one, yes, there is a general recommendation or guideline from the federal government that we should not congregate in groups of 10 people.
--:-- Brian Resnick: But depending on where you live in your situation and in your city or state, The situation could look very different. For example, in the Bay Area, people are being asked to shelter in place, which basically means like don't leave the home under most conditions, if not necessary at all.
--:-- Brian Resnick: So listen to your public health department or mayor's office or sometimes governor's office. And remember to like the overall federal guideline is groups of 10 or more. You should really avoid if and, you know, and also like when in doubt, like avoid.
--:-- Brian Resnick: If you find yourself thinking, oh, do I really need to go see this person? And if the answer is no, there's just so much not known about this virus. And also because testing hasn't been very good and widespread, we don't know where it is.
--:-- Brian Resnick: And unfortunately, right now in this really uncertain period where it is starting to spread exponentially, better safe than sorry may be a good place to start.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Okay, commandment three is if you feel sick, any member of your household feels sick, or if you feel like you've been exposed to this virus, please stay home, please quarantine yourself, or if you're sick, put yourself in isolation and do not touch or contact or go near people who are not sick.
--:-- Brian Resnick: If you think thine self sick, self-isolate or quarantine.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Okay, commandment four is social distancing is a little bit of a misnomer. It's physical distancing. We're supposed to be physically apart from one another, but that doesn't mean we can't care about each other and check in on each other.
--:-- Brian Resnick: So like social distancing does not mean emotional distancing, does not letting people be lonely by themselves, especially the older people who may not have a lot of mobility to begin with.
--:-- Brian Resnick: And they're even more isolated because we're being told not to go near older people. So check in on them. Brian, this is my favorite commandment yet. It's a good one. It's hopeful. It's the most proactive one.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: We can help each other because isolation and loneliness is going to be a terrible problem for a lot of people who are already isolated and lonely.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Commandment five is a simple one too. If you have to remember one number, actually five is six because you're supposed to stay six feet away from other people.
--:-- Brian Resnick: This virus spreads by droplets that spread out of your mouth and nose, especially when you cough or sneeze. And like six feet is like the splash zone.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So if you can, if you have to go out, try to maintain six feet of distance between other people. Commandment five is actually commandment six feet away.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And luckily, my arm is extremely long and I'm staying six feet away as I hold this microphone in front of Brian Resnick.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I am trying my best to stay six feet away from you. And I will continue to do so after the break.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But, you know, first, we got some messages for you. You need to stay six feet away. Six feet away. You called me twice in a row, asking me out. I said, let's stay in. And I don't want to be alone
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So I need you to know I need you to know That you need to stay Six feet away Six feet away You need to stay Six feet away Six feet away If you were my hands I would wash you like the CDC says you deserve
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And if you were Corona I would flatten your flatten your flatten your curve You need to stay six feet away, six feet away You need to stay six feet away, six feet away.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I know this isn't the first time you've heard a song on our show, but this one's different because we want this song to bring people together in times of quarantine.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: We want you to participate. You've heard Noam's version of Six Feet Away. Now we want to hear yours. Record your own version of this song, or if you're not musically inclined, there's a dance too.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: You can find it over at vox.com slash today dash explained. While you're there, you can download the song and keep it, share it, use it for reference while making your cover or doing your dance.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But whatever you do, share stuff with the hashtag six feet away song. Again, find the song at vox.com slash today dash explained. Share it on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or wherever you share stuff with the hashtag six feet away song.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Can't wait to hear and see what you do. Support for Today Explained comes from Chime.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Okay, Brian, we're back in the park. We actually never left, but the show left us.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: A question we keep seeing over and over again is like, can I have two people over for dinner? If you have two people over for dinner, and the whole time you're eating dinner, you're somehow six feet away from each other because you have, I don't know, an expansive apartment or something. Is that okay or is that foolish?
--:-- Brian Resnick: I believe sharing food is like a big risk for communicating diseases among people.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Yeah, so, you know, because you're touching the same utensils. The general rule right now, and unfortunately, there's just uncertainty. You know, testing hasn't been great. We don't know where this virus is.
--:-- Brian Resnick: The general rule right now is that if you can avoid people, it's probably the right thing to do. Although, you know, we'll know more soon, hopefully, that can make those decisions easier.
--:-- Brian Resnick: What about ordering food then? Like, if I get takeout from my favorite restaurant that I still want to support in this time where restaurants are closing down and laying people off, could I get it from the noodles? Could I get it from the, you know, pizza?
--:-- Brian Resnick: Yeah, I think getting delivery, because the food itself will be, you know, it's like hot and like viruses will be killed, you know, in the cooking process.
--:-- Brian Resnick: What about sushi? Sushi? What about sushi? It's often cold.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Oh, wow. You just really threw me there. Anyway, I have seen people getting deliveries where the delivery driver just like puts it on the front of their house. Like you don't like touch them. You don't go near them.
--:-- Brian Resnick: And then like once you get the delivery, I've seen it recommended that, yeah, you could take the food out of its container. You can like wash the container, you know, like takeout food is an option.
--:-- Brian Resnick: OK, so let's say you just go to the local grocery and just go to the local pharmacy. Are you still at risk of contracting COVID-19 in those situations?
--:-- Brian Resnick: Because maybe someone touched that box of Cheerios before you did, or maybe someone had touched those tongs from which you selected some prepared foods.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Maybe grocery stores aren't even doing prepared foods as much anymore, but could you catch this from stuff you touch at the grocery store?
--:-- Brian Resnick: And should you be avoiding the pharmacy, which you might need in times like these?
--:-- Brian Resnick: Obviously, people need food. People need their medicines. I mean, you can go out and get those things. It like at least for most parts of the country like the order is not to shelter in place
--:-- Brian Resnick: Although like I said you know remember that commandment Listen to your public health department if they do not want you leaving your home That was commandment two, I believe.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Yeah, yeah. So like, see what your local situation is like. But yeah, if you're going to the grocery store, maybe it's not a good idea to, if you see a huge crowd in there, maybe, you know, go a different time.
--:-- Brian Resnick: If you go to the pharmacy, see if they do delivery. A lot do these days.
--:-- Brian Resnick: You wrote a story for vox.com recently saying that we might need to be practicing your five commandments and abstaining from delivery and dinner parties and maybe only going to the grocery store and the pharmacy for a year maybe more please explain
--:-- Brian Resnick: I was talking to a bunch of epidemiologists this week about this and there was a new report out and I have to say it sucks Like, these conversations did not make me feel good, and I was kind of sorry to report on them.
--:-- Brian Resnick: But the truth of the matter is that if social distancing works and this virus stops spreading as aggressively as it can, if people don't seem to be dying in the numbers that we fear, that means social distancing works.
--:-- Brian Resnick: And then if you lift it, this virus, which can spread undetected for a variety of reasons, is still out there. So you can't necessarily just declare an early victory and make life go back to normal in a few months.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Even China and South Korea, which really do seem to be getting a handle on their situation through aggressive policies, including social distancing, they're not in the clear yet.
--:-- Brian Resnick: It might take like a stepwise approach where we're going to have to see what the right balance is between letting our economy work at all and having people live.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I mean, let me let me interrupt you for a second there to just reiterate that after a year. I mean, these restaurants aren't just going to be taking a hiatus. They might be done.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Right. We might lose the things in our society that we most cherish if we do this for a year.
--:-- Brian Resnick: Tell me more about the cost-benefit analysis there. This is a terrible choice. Choosing between our society or economy running, people's livelihoods, and hundreds of thousands of people potentially dying.
--:-- Brian Resnick: It's a horrible choice. It's choosing between life and all of the things that make your life rich.
--:-- Brian Resnick: I think about the things I love, like going to the movies, going to see live music, supporting museums, the theater.
--:-- Brian Resnick: And I will say, all this can change. There's a lot of parameters of this virus that aren't completely well understood. And once we understand them better, we could probably make less broad, sweeping recommendations.
--:-- Brian Resnick: It's the uncertainty and the potential of harm that makes these kind of draconian-seeing policies. We need them because we just don't know.
--:-- Brian Resnick: But if there's a treatment that stops people from dying from this, that changes the outlook. If there's a vaccine a year from now, you know, that obviously changes it.
--:-- Brian Resnick: The more we learn about how this is transmitted from one person to the next, like if we learn that, oh, wow, it doesn't seem like kids are like really transmitting this virus very much, then perhaps it's OK to reopen schools.
--:-- Brian Resnick: But these projections are no joke. Like, I think the projection, if we were to do nothing and we are doing things like we're not doing nothing, like millions would die. in this country and, you know, more around the world.
--:-- Brian Resnick: And then by doing things, you know, there's still a level of suffering and unfortunately death that will probably occur.
--:-- Brian Resnick: But, you know, we're just going to need to find out what the balance is. And in time, at least what I'm hearing is, like, it's not going to be a few weeks. It might be a few months.
--:-- Brian Resnick: I think it's okay to recognize, like, it's all, like, upsetting.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Last week, for instance, I felt completely terrible, but I couldn't go to a friend's funeral and, like, cancel plans and cancel tickets.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it just, like, I knew, like, I know this as well as anyone, the flat and the curve, and, you know, I've been reporting on this, but it still felt terrible.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And I still didn't want to, like, make the call to my friends and tell them, like, I wasn't going to be there.
--:-- Brian Resnick: I'm sorry about the funeral, Brian. It's okay. I'm, like, ultimately glad I didn't travel because, like, the day after was, like, all the European vacationers coming back and that did not seem like a good situation to be in.
--:-- Brian Resnick: I'm glad we had this time together. You know, this is like checking in on people. You can come by. You don't live that far away, Sean. You can come check in on me.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I kind of need you to. Come to my window. Come on inside. Wait by the light of the moon. Come to my window. I'll be home soon.
--:-- Brian Resnick: I don't, I'm not singing. All right, I think those were the lyrics.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: This is Sean Rameswaram and Brian Resnick reporting from a park in northeast Washington, D.C. Practice social distancing. It's worth it. But that's the bottom line. You got it.
