Full disclosure. I’m happy to have an excuse not to shake your hand. And between WiFi, weed delivery, and streaming video, self-quarantine has long been my lifestyle of choice. So coronavirus didn’t have me particularly worried about my own well being. But it turns out that nothing is more likely to make me panic than being told not to panic when I’m not panicking. So let’s worry together (but apart) along with The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum. “Even though we have the highest-tech health-care system in the world, even though we have the best surgeons and the best equipment, we have not created a public-health culture that induces confidence. The hospital system has been pared down to the bone; there is no extra capacity, and everyone knows it. If people have to pay to be tested, then many may refuse. If people have to be quarantined, they may escape. Worse, instead of seeking to halt conspiracy theories, it is possible that our government will create them.” Epidemics Reveal the Truth About the Societies They Hit. (At this point, any truth seems like a positive.)

+ “It was named the Spanish flu not because it originated in Spain but because when the king, Alfonso XIII, fell ill, the Spanish press was not bound by restrictions against reporting it. Throughout history, diseases have posed an unsparing test of political leaders and their fidelity to the facts.” The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos: How Political Spin Has Worsened Epidemics.

+ WaPo’s Margaret Sullivan: Trump is pushing a dangerous, false spin on coronavirus — and the media is helping him spread it. (You can replace “coronavirus” with almost any issue, and that headline remains accurate.)

+ “In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure … If the United States still has a clear chain of command for pandemic response, the White House urgently needs to clarify what it is—not just for the public but for the government itself, which largely finds itself in the dark.” FP: Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response.

+ Buzzfeed: The Leader Of The Religious Sect That Spread Coronavirus In South Korea Says Sorry. “Lee, who claims he is the second coming of Jesus Christ, has previously called coronavirus the ‘devil’s deed’ to stop his church’s growth.” Meanwhile, South Koreans are using smartphone apps to avoid the virus.

+ MIT Tech Review: How to prepare for the coronavirus like a pro.

+ Bloomberg: “China’s lockdown measures to minimize further coronavirus infections have created one unexpected benefit — a dramatic improvement to the nation’s air quality.”

+ Cases near the 100,000 mark, the death toll has topped 3,000, and stocks attempt a comeback. Here’s the latest from WaPo and The Guardian.