Thirty-sixth Entry

 

Handwritten paper sign on door of store in New York during Covid. The sign reads: Sorry Guys, we are closed until further notice. Thank you - management

Wednesday, April 22th, 2020

One-third of Covid-19 deaths in the US have been in New York City.
Local funeral homes are ten times busier than normal; they are six to eight weeks behind.
The refrigerated morgue trucks keep humming.

A few days ago, I heard 70% of the restaurants in the US might go out of business. It’s hard to imagine that. In New York City, there are an uncountable number of them. Later, I heard that restaurants are an $860 billion industry, and their sales are down about 85%. Not as bad as the airlines who report having lost 95% of their business. Apparently, even with scheduled service reduced to about 30%, only one in ten seats is filled. If restaurants were open and available like air travel is, it is hard to guess how many seats might be taken – probably not many. After 9/11, the airlines were down 50%, and it took several years to come back.

All US aircraft carriers have been called into port, military readiness is “significantly reduced.”