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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 31, 2020
March 31, 2020
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Distraction is the key: Over in the Netherlands, an 1884 Van Gogh painting was stolen from a museum in the town of Laren. Thieves apparently decided that since the museum was closed due to the coronavirus, they'd use the time to steal the painting which was on loan from another museum. Police would not speculate on the painting's value, but most Van Gogh paintings --if they're ever sold-- go for millions of dollars.
One good thing about the coronavirus breakout --people are adopting more pets --specifically dogs. CNN reports one company, Foster Dogs in New York, has seen a more than one-thousand percent increase in foster applications this month alone. Other rescue groups have seen similar bumps in adoption, but face one problem --because of travel restrictions and other efforts to reduce human contact, people cannot get to the adoption centers to finalize their rescue attempts.
Meanwhile, over in China, sources say the Wuhan city "wet" market and others like it are back to selling bats, which are thought to be where the coronavirus began. Scientists say the bats --which were thought to be the source of the SARS epidemic back in 2002-- are to blame for the current plague, since bats carry a variety of coronaviruses.
The London Daily Mail reports the markets "have gone back to operating in exactly the same way as they did before coronavirus’ despite the outbreaks links to bats... (with) terrified dogs and cats crammed into rusty cages. Bats and scorpions offered for sale as traditional medicine. Rabbits and ducks slaughtered and skinned side by side on a stone floor covered with blood, filth, and animal remains."
Another possible problem: once the coronavirus epidemic is over, could it be back? Some doctors believe that like the flu, which tends to crop up over the winter months, the coronavirus could recede during the summer --but come back like the flu in the winter. And other doctors say there could be a second wave of the virus, but possibly less if the vaccines are out by then and the people who've gotten immunity after initially having it could slow the transmission.
Nevertheless, we may not have seen the last of social distancing.
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