Posted on 03/20/2020 3:58:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The United States will be hit hard by the coronavirus. But it has a secret weapon that could lessen the health impact: the way we live.
Coronavirus is so hard to stop because it is so easy to spread. As with other viruses similar to the flu, the coronavirus travels easily through the air or via human contact. That’s why public health experts are pushing social distancing. The fewer people we come into contact with, the less likely we are to contract or spread the virus.
The United States, however, already practices a form of social distancing in its daily life through suburban living. For decades, Americans have been criticized for their detached, single-family houses and their solo car commuting, but these factors may also mean that Americans are less likely to be in close quarters with strangers during their daily lives than are residents of most other developed countries. That alone means we have a form of protection many Italians or Chinese didn’t.
The data are crystal clear on this. China’s population density is 397 people per square mile. Italy’s is 532 people per square mile, and South Korea’s is 1,366. The United States, by contrast, has only 94 people per square mile. That’s got to be a fact in our favor.
We also come into contact with fewer people when we commute. According to the 2017 American Community Survey, more than 80 percent of Americans either work from home or commute alone by car. In Beijing and X’ian, on the other hand, only 30 percent of commuters travel by car. Italians similarly use public transit much more frequently than do most Americans. A paper from the Brookings Institution says that the average resident of Milan, the epicenter of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, takes 350 trips a year on
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Santa Clara Country - 1,490 people per sq mile
Probably triple that in the populated areas.
Having flown over the state on the way to Ft. Lauderdale last month, you can certainly see huge stretches of land that are unpopulated.
for this to come to pass rural America is going to need much better internet hughesnet with its very low data caps and slow speeds isnt going to cut it anymore. time for rural broadband act in parallel to FDRs rural electrification act
The satellite companies are trying to make internet access ubiquitous.
When are the SpaceX and Amazon internet satellites going on line? I saw that Starlink got FCC approval for a million installs.
Should have bought a cabin in Harding County NM.
0.28 people per square mile.
What’s with all the lights in northwest North Dakota???
I like those volcanoes.
We have 4,052 square miles in a county of 180,000 people. There’s more cows and manure spreaders but there’s still runs on Clorox and toilet paper. That’s about 400 square yards per person but most of it is wilderness. Northwesterly winds off the coast keep the air clean.
Of course Ferndale is where the (non-)fiction movie Outbreak was filmed so it’s already happened here, except a monkey and not a bat..a big ugly Chinese bat...be scared, be very scared.
Unless you're packed-in like Democrat sardines in NYC or LA. But, hey! You think it will save the environment!!
EXACTLY!!!!
There has been a rural broadband movement since the early 2000’s.
But, it’s expensive when the density drops to 3 houses per mile. Broadband construction ain’t cheap. At less than 35 homes per mile it made no sense when I was building CATV plant in the 80’s. My guess is it hasn’t gotten any cheaper.
Good points. Separation has to be an issue. That’s why I hate it when people — Fauci, etc. — always use Italy as a comparison for what will happen here. Two entirely different places with different characteristics and demographics.
I got a barrel of flour Lord I got a bucket of lard
I got a barrel of flour Lord I got a bucket of lard
I ain’t got no blues got chickens in my backyard
Maybe so. I’m on 40 acres and 30 miles from town. So far this county is un-infected. Nobody really comes here this time of year. We’ll be fine.
Its called AMERICAN GREATNESS!
Oil rigs.
get some hens and a cow
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