On The Editors podcast, Rich Lowry called me the in-house alarmist on coronavirus. I’m happy to wear the mantle of alarm.

But that reputation means I have all the more cause to cite reasons that we might get through this without Italy’s descent into war-time medical triage.

Singapore and Hong Kong have had a much less invasive approach to controlling the spread of coronavirus than peers like South Korea. Seoul has been relatively shut down for five weeks and is just starting to get control of the virus. Currently, Singapore has fewer cases of coronavirus than my own Westchester County. But schools have remained open and there is much less monitoring of active cases.


This suggests that there is a heat and humidity advantage in fighting off this virus. On the Fahrenheit scale, Singapore is enjoying weather in the mid-80s and 90s most days. Seoul is in the 40s. Milan, New York, and Seattle fall in between these.

I’m glad to see Seattle is closing public schools, following the lead of peers like South Korea. Everyone doing their bit can save hospitals from being dangerously overwhelmed.