Don't let the coronavirus freak you out
Plus: American waives change fees for all tickets bought in next 2 weeks; Ingersoll-Rand eyes big 'cost synergies' after merger; Earth Fares close
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LEDGER IN-DEPTH: CORONAVIRUS
Advice from longtime Charlotte health writer: Tune out the hype. Pay attention. Wash your hands.
Tourists arriving at Phi Phi Island in Thailand last week had their temperatures taken by health officials concerned about the coronavirus. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Scott)
by Karen Garloch
In 2009, when the world faced a pandemic of swine flu, I got spooked enough to buy a box of heavy-duty N95 masks to protect myself in case I had to interview sick people as part of my job as the Charlotte Observer’s health reporter.
Those masks sat in my closet for years until I finally threw them out, unused.
That experience reminds me not to let myself get too focused on breathless TV and radio announcers who recite rising numbers of coronavirus infections and countries that have confirmed new cases. You could start to believe we’re all going to die.
In fact, no one knows how the current epidemic of so-called COVID-19 will play out. Federal health officials warn that it’s not a matter of if, but when, the new virus will show up in Charlotte and other communities across the country. But they’ve also made it clear that most people who contract the infection have suffered only mild illness.
For now, the proper response is to stay informed and prepare in common sense ways, just as you would to prevent a cold or flu.
To understand how to protect yourself, you need to know a little more about this new virus and how it spreads:
COVID-19 (short for coronavirus disease 2019) is a never-before-seen virus, part of the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold. It originated in Wuhan, China, late last year and has sickened more than 86,000 people in 65 countries, mostly in mainland China. More than 3,000 people have died, mostly in China.
The virus primarily passes from person to person via droplets from coughs and sneezes. Symptoms may include fever, cough and breathing difficulties. The time between exposure to the virus and onset of symptoms can be two weeks.
The first two U.S. deaths from COVID-19 were reported over the weekend in the Seattle area: One was a man in his 50s, and the other was a man in his 70s. Both had underlying health conditions, officials said. As of Sunday evening, more than 80 cases had been confirmed in the United States, and more cases are likely to be identified in the coming days.
The majority of U.S. cases have occurred in people who traveled from abroad or had been in close contact with those who traveled. But in recent days, cases have been identified in California, Washington and Oregon in people with no known connection to travel abroad or another known infection. That signals the beginning of “community spread,” when the virus spreads from person-to-person with no known connection to the initial outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says: “It’s likely that at some point, widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States will occur.”
Learning from the past
All this careful counting of cases now reminds me of that 2009 swine flu as well as other epidemics that emerged during my career at the Observer — SARS, the severe respiratory syndrome that spread from China in 2003; the threat of bird flu in the mid-2000s; and the spread of Ebola virus from Africa in 2014-15.
Parallels to SARS, swine flu, Ebola: In the early days of each of those health crises, the focus was on counting new infections. With SARS, health experts were able to contain the outbreak. The United States recorded only eight confirmed cases, including one in North Carolina.
But the swine flu was more prevalent. I remember talking to Colleen Bridger, then Gaston County health director, after that county reported its first confirmed case of swine flu in July 2009, about four months after the new H1N1 swine flu emerged from Mexico.
North Carolina had about 400 cases at the time, and I had just reported on two suspected cases in south Charlotte.
But when I asked Bridger about the Gaston case, she said, “…This essentially changes nothing.”
And she was right.
By that time, swine flu was all around. It was so prevalent that public health officials no longer tested people to determine the cause of illness unless they were sick enough to be hospitalized.
What mattered then, Bridger said, was that we act accordingly. That meant washing hands carefully for at least 20 seconds, coughing into a tissue or an elbow instead of into your hands, and staying home from work or school when you have flu-like symptoms.
‘Fact of life’: At some point, this new coronavirus will also become a fact of life, just like colds, seasonal flu and H1N1 swine flu.
Fear of the unknown
Until then, there is reason to be concerned, but not panicked.
When a new virus emerges, none of us has the natural immunity we have against viruses that circulate every year. So we have to be more vigilant about protecting ourselves against infections. That’s different from panic.
As a health reporter, I remember being impressed by the words of David Ropeik, then-director of risk communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and author of “Risk, A Practical Guide to Deciding What’s Dangerous and What’s Safe in the World Around You.”
“Our brains are built to fear first and think second,” Ropeik told me. “When it’s new, it’s scarier.”
And I’ll admit it. Just reporting the news can appear to stir up panic.
So temper your fear with facts.
Pandemic vs. epidemic: The coronavirus outbreak has not yet been declared a pandemic, but it probably will be soon. Remember the word “pandemic” does not refer to the seriousness of the illness. It can be mild or severe. It means a new virus is infecting people around the world, at the same time. (An epidemic is an infection that is widespread in a population, but not worldwide and not necessarily involving a new virus.)
There has been a suggestion that the coronavirus threat will go away on its own once the weather warms up. Dr. David Priest, Novant Health senior vice president and chief safety and quality officer, said that’s generally true for coronaviruses, but it’s impossible to know for this new virus. “Whether it’s a seasonal event that is less common in the spring and summer or is a year-round issue remains to be seen,” Priest said.
Here’s a cautionary tale: The 2009 swine flu showed up in New York in April, when traditional flu season is usually over. By June, it was declared a pandemic, and that summer, North Carolina got its first cases.
Sensible preparations
So, for now, pay attention to news of the outbreak, and be prepared for a little discomfort.
Some public health officials have been talking about the potential need for “social distancing,” or keeping people away from one another. We might expect school closings and cancellation of community events when the coronavirus begins to spread widely in North Carolina. You might want to stock up on nonperishable groceries.
Sometimes, healthy people who have been exposed to infection are asked, or ordered, to be quarantined until they can be sure they won’t develop symptoms. Sick people are typically placed in isolation so their illness doesn’t spread to others.
Do masks work? You’ve seen plenty of pictures of people in China wearing masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus. But health officials have always told me there’s little evidence masks protect healthy people from contracting viruses. In fact, masks are more useful if worn by sick people — to prevent them from spreading the virus to healthy people.
It’s better to save the limited supply of masks for health care workers and emergency responders who come in close contact with a lot of sick people. Other healthy people who might benefit from wearing masks are those who can’t avoid going to crowded places.
Like seasonal flu, COVID-19 seems to be hitting people harder if they’re older and have underlying medical conditions. If you’re in these groups, you might want to avoid crowds when the virus finally gets here.
And as always, wash your hands.
Karen Garloch spent 45 years as a newspaper reporter in Ohio and North Carolina. She is now enjoying retirement after covering health and medicine for the Charlotte Observer from 1987 to 2017.
(Related Ledger article: “Coronavirus slows Chinese exports — prompting N.C. uncertainty”)
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Today’s supporting sponsors are T.R. Lawing Realty…
… and Industrial Handling Solutions:
End of the line for Earth Fare
Shelves were bare at the Earth Fare in SouthPark over the weekend — and a hand-written sign on the entrance said it was closed and ended with “OK, Bye Bye … TTYL.” That’s short for “talk to you later.” The grocery chain filed for bankruptcy protection last month and said it would close all stores by the end of February.
Ingersoll-Rand splits and merges: How will it save $250M?
Ingersoll-Rand completed a deal over the weekend to spin off its industrial products division and merge it with a company called Gardner Denver Holdings. The combined company will be called Ingersoll-Rand, and the remaining part of the old Ingersoll-Rand will be called Trane Technologies.
Mergers of industrial products companies are not inherently fascinating, but this is worth watching because…
Ingersoll-Rand/Trane has a lot of local employees. Before the closing of the deal this weekend, it was based in Ireland with its North American HQ in Davidson. With 2,250 local employees, it is the second-largest energy-industry employer in the Charlotte area, behind only Duke Energy, according to the Business Journal’s most recent Book of Lists. (It’s 25th in employment of all Charlotte-area companies.)
Ingersoll-Rand and Gardner Denver have said they expect the deal to produce $250M in not-yet-detailed “cost synergies.” The Gardner Denver CEO said on a conference call two weeks ago that he was confident the merged company would hit that number: “The confidence level continues to grow, not only from what we talked about within the operational side, but also the organizational structure.”
If we could insert a chin-scratching emoji, it would go right here. You have a merger of international industrial-products companies, and they want to save big money from the “organizational structure,” much of which is on Ingersoll-Rand’s Davidson campus. A company spokesman didn’t return an email over the weekend.
One of the ways merging companies save money is by eliminating jobs. Keep an eye on this one.
In brief:
Change fees waived: American Airlines is waiving change fees for customers who purchase tickets between March 1 and March 16, the airline said Sunday. To qualify, the change has to be made 14 days or more before travel. Fare differences still apply. The move is apparently an effort to drum up business and ease travelers’ concerns about booking tickets because of the coronavirus. (USA Today)
Political speech at the stadium: Major League Soccer is instituting a new code of conduct for fans that seeks to clarify rules on political speech at MLS stadiums. In recent years, the rules have been a subject of controversy in several cities, as MLS has grappled with how to deal with allegations of fan racism and use of homophobic slurs, as well as with fans displaying anti-fascist flags and the message “refugees welcome.” The new code prohibits signs or language that is “threatening, abusive, or discriminatory, including on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, ability, and/or sexual orientation.” Charlotte’s MLS team begins play next year. (The Athletic, subscriber-only)
Charlotte coworking thriving: WeWork’s three Charlotte offices are “at or near capacity” as new companies increasingly use coworking space as they build their businesses. Even major companies are getting in on the trend, including Moody’s and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The appeal is that companies “can get in the market immediately, and they can dip their toe in and experiment without committing to a long-term lease,” Cushman & Wakefield’s managing director said. (Biz Journal, subscriber-only)
Pushy real estate buyers? Residents of the Howie Acres neighborhood near NoDa are looking for ways to hang onto their homes as property values rise and the area redevelops. “Residents of Howie Acres feel they are being pushed out and unheard by city officials. They complain of constant text messages, phone calls and emails from real estate buyers who want to buy their homes, often for a fraction of their value.” (QCityMetro)
Shades of Wells Fargo? American Express employees misled small-business owners to get them to sign up for credit cards — and in some cases signed them up for cards they didn’t request, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend: “Some customers were told their cards were being upgraded when they were being given new cards; others received more cards than they sought. Salespeople skipped over required disclosures and, in some cases, falsely told customers their credit wouldn’t be checked. … Cards also had been issued without customer consent.” (WSJ, subscriber-only)
Plaza-Midwood hotel? Wintergreen Hospitality is planning to build a boutique hotel on Central Avenue in Plaza-Midwood. The owner says he wants to meet with the community to solicit ideas before hiring an architect. (Agenda)
Lebda Q&A: The Observer interviews LendingTree CEO Doug Lebda, who says he hopes there’s not a bubble emerging in financial technology, or fintech. (Observer)
McClatchy bankruptcy: Former Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder was named to a key committee involved in McClatchy’s bankruptcy case, according to court documents filed last week. A court official appointed him and six others to the committee of unsecured creditors, which advocates for the interests of companies least likely to recover the money they are owed. McClatchy’s unsecured creditors include the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (owed $530M), Bank of New York Mellon ($15M), Google ($800,000) and Facebook ($258,000). Ridder was CEO of Knight Ridder until 2006, when the company was sold to McClatchy, the parent company of the Charlotte Observer. McClatchy filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
Voting time: Polls are open tomorrow from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Full info including sample ballots are available on the county’s Board of Elections site.
Correction
An article in Friday’s Ledger included inaccurate information about the 2020 James Beard Award semifinalists from the Charlotte area. The semifinalists are Greg Collier from Uptown Yolk and Joe Kindred from Kindred in Davidson. They are nominees in the “Best Chef: Southeast” category.
Taking stock (you might not want to look this week)
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
Tough week for stocks
It was a brutal week to be owning stocks, as worries about the effect of the coronavirus on companies’ earnings slammed just about everybody.
Among companies with local ties, American Airlines took it the worst, down nearly 32% for the week. That follows the trend of travel-related companies suffering the most, with fliers deciding to stay home.
It was also a tough week for banks: Wells Fargo, -24%. Bank of America, -19%. Truist, -18%.
Best performers: Of the stocks on The Ledger’s local list (above), only Duke Energy remains in positive territory for the year, up 0.54% since the first of January. Sonic Automotive seemed to weather last week’s beating and was down only 0.36% for the week.
As always, it is tough to know what happens next. One school of thought says investors will swoop in and start buying and the market will stabilize. Another says the worst is yet to come and the plunge will continue.
Nobody knows for certain.
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The Charlotte Ledger is an e-newsletter and web site publishing timely, informative, and interesting local business news and analysis Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, except holidays and as noted. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
The Charlotte Ledger is published by Tony Mecia, an award-winning former Charlotte Observer business reporter and editor. He lives in Charlotte with his wife and three children.