What we should know "Virus" and be doing.

[Mortblanc]

Yes, but how many of them/us would rather be dead?

Wasn't that the choice? Isolate, stretch it out, avoid the germ. Close down any business that was not essential and try to stay alive. The outcome was known from day one, and if TPTB had not done so the people would be screaming for their collective heads.

As for reductions of supply, with China just crossing the point of being the worlds largest producer, and that market closed for the time being, prices will escalate to what you would pay if you were not used to China's cheap products. This is what everyone was screaming for, remember, good British/American made products and whatever happened to quality products made here at home?

The unseen hand is now at work once more.

Now one must still ask themselves, is whatever happens from this point better than dead?

We are now about to enter the famous "post event" time frame everyone has always talked about. It might not be what one expected, but it has arrived.

You survived "the event", now time to survive the "post event" stage. No one promised that part would be peaches and cream either.

"Normal" is gone.

Imports from China to the U.S. actually slowed to a trickle back in December when the virus ravaged the factories in china and they had to close down due to lack of work force. That was before any of us had heard of CV. We were all too busy with Brixit and trying to impeach a U.S. President. Some flu closing down China's economy was not a real concern

The Chinese goods could not restart instantly now even without restrictions on free trade. Their production base is shut down and will take months to reopen.