The Only News of the Day

Every morning, I do a news search for updates in the world of zoos and aquariums, as well as a few related topics - endangered species, animal rights, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, etc.  Getting onto Google News is one of the first things I do after turning on my computer each day.  These days, it seems like all the headlines are about one thing, overshadowing even the Presidential primary.

Coronavirus.

Even before it came to America, the novel COVID-19 virus was of interest to me in that it is believed to have originated in the wild animal markets of China.  Now that it is stateside - and making its presence felt in cities where I have friends and family - my interest is a little less academic and a little more personal.  Last week, when I had to take an unexpected trip to the emergency room (just visiting, thanks, I'm fine) and saw half the people there wearing face masks... it got a little more personal still.

The thing about diseases like Coronavirus is that it's not just a matter of making you sick.  It can do that of course, and I hope it doesn't.  It's that it leaves ripples and sends out tendrils making an impact far greater than the lives it immediately touches.  It plays havoc with the stock market and the economy.  It discourages travel and visiting public places.  It breeds fear and paranoia.

I've seldom worried about getting a disease from an animal at work, even though rabies titers and Tb testing are mandatory.  The visitors and coworkers are a lot less predictable (and germy), something I think about often when in a crowd, especially in an indoor exhibit.  Spring is about to begin, and with it spring breaks, followed by the summer crowds.  As worried as I am about the possibility of disease in my community, I also worry about what happens if the crowds don't come, if the economy sinks into another recession.  The last one, the 2008 one, hurt us pretty badly as a field, as it did all other nonprofits.

Imagine that again, only this time, with the added joy of possibly getting sick.

I think I'm going to log off and turn on CNN, maybe watch the results of Super Tuesday come in.  That may be chaos too, but at least it'll be a different sort of chaos to watch.