15 Coronavirus Quick Hits: U.S. Tops 1,000 Cases, Vaping May Make It Worse, and a 103-Year-Old Survivor

Here are some more coronavirus stories making headlines . . .

1.  There are now more than 1,000 cases in the U.S., with patients in at least 35 states.  Almost half of them are in California, New York, and Washington, where Governor Jay Inslee has banned gatherings of more than 250 people.

2.  Doctors in China say they could have an emergency vaccine ready as soon as next month.  Not everyone would have access though because it hasn’t been tested.

3.  Insurance companies are waiving all copays for coronavirus testing and adding treatment coverage to their plans.

4.  The Dow Jones fell another 1,465 points yesterday, ending its 11-year bull market run.

5.  Does VAPING make you more susceptible to the virus?  At least one expert says it’s possible.  Quote, “Anything that’s going to compromise your lungs is going to increase your risk, [and] we know that SMOKING decreases your ability to really fight infection.”

6.  A conference in New York called “Doing Business Under Coronavirus” has been canceled because of the coronavirus.

7.  Hotels in Vegas have stopped serving buffets to prevent the virus from spreading.

8.  Apparently people have started using Tinder to get updates from Wuhan, China.  If you have a premium membership, you can see profiles from anywhere in the world.

9.  Young people are taking advantage of the chaos by booking super-cheap flights.  A 27-year-old woman told a reporter, quote, “If I die, I die.”  She says she saved $200 on a flight from Atlanta to Connecticut to go see her GRANDMA, who’s battling CANCER.

10.  “The Daily Beast” talked to a set of parents who said they’re still letting their daughter go on a spring break cruise.  Quote, “She [said] if she just kept enough alcohol in her system it would ward off any germs.”

11.  Ben & Jerry’s annual Free Cone Day scheduled for next month has been postponed.

12.  Thousands of engaged couples are having to rethink their upcoming wedding plans or postpone them.  Especially people doing destination weddings.

13.  Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco is catching heat after they turned an employee at their headquarters into a walking hand sanitizer station.

14.  In more positive news, China has now shut down all 16 of the temporary coronavirus hospitals it set up in Wuhan because they don’t need them anymore.  The virus has been tapering off there, but the city of 11 million people is still on lockdown.

15.  And a 103-year-old woman in China is the new oldest person to survive the virus.