Attendance will not be taken. It’s time for a new kind of cancel culture. Or better yet, a can’t do attitude. You should view any invitation to a large gathering the same way you’d view an invitation to a monthlong trip on Princess Cruise. In short, RSVP no. If you need to play a game, play keep away. Not showing up is half the battle. You’ve heard of a plus one invitation? Consider this your minus one invitation. FOMO used to mean fear of missing out. Now it means fear of morbidity. Seriously, can we take a raincheck? It just doesn’t make sense to hold large gatherings right now. If you’re into the Beatles, turn down Come Together and turn up Eleanor Rigby. Trust me, others are overrated. Agoraphobia is underrated. Home is where the heart is (beating). Look at it this way: Trump doesn’t believe in science and thinks the virus is a hoax, and even he’s working from home. Take Yascha Mounk’s advice in The Atlantic: Cancel Everything. “Anyone in a position of power or authority, instead of downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus, should ask people to stay away from public places, cancel big gatherings, and restrict most forms of nonessential travel.”

+ For the counter argument, we turn to Mayor Patrick Leclerc of Landerneau in western France. “We must not stop living… it was the chance to say that we are alive.” French mayor defends Smurf rally.

+ Countries that are really locking things down seem to be flattening the viral curve. Countries that waited are being forced to shut down everything. All Of Italy — The Entire Country — Is Now On Coronavirus Lockdown.

+ “The National Guard will be deployed to New Rochelle as part of the new approach to controlling contagious virus.” Gov Cuomo announces one-mile containment zone to halt coronavirus in New Rochelle, epicenter of NY’s outbreak.

+ None of this is to suggest that shutting down big events is easy or without cost. CityLab: How Coronavirus Took Down SXSW. The organization that puts on that event has already laid off a third of its employees. Then there are all the restaurants, hotels, temp workers, etc, etc. And that’s just one event.

+ Photos: Empty Public Spaces During Coronavirus. And Northern Italy under quarantine.

+ Harvard is the latest college to tell students to stay home.

+ “We’re trying to figure out why age is a primary feature of this infection, but from a biological perspective, we don’t have that answer.” NBC: Understanding the age question could help researchers figure out how to treat the illness.

+ “A 10-year-old boy and his mother have been rescued 52 hours after being trapped in the collapse of a virus quarantine site in southeastern China where 20 people have died.” And on the danger of misinformation: 27 killed by alcohol poisoning in Iran trying to protect themselves from coronavirus.

+ Televangelist/Scumbag Jim Bakker has been warned by officials to stop peddling silver as a fake cure for coronavirus. (Why is this a warning? It should be a felony.)

+ “While you can’t come into contact with the virus through food, the hard surfaces you encounter in a restaurant, such as menus, utensils, salt shakers and the like, are another story.” WaPo: Here’s what you need to know about dining out in the age of coronavirus.

+ Here’s the latest from BBC.