Corona-pourri

• It appears that the Trump administration is trying to stop 3M from exporting N95 masks, some of which are destined for Canada.  At the same time there are reports that the US has effectively pirated a shipment of masks that were destined for Germany, diverting them to the US while they were being trans-shipped at an airport in Thailand.  Anyone surprised by this? 

• And on this very same day, Canada has formally advised the US and Mexico that it has ratified the deal to set up the USMCA (aka CUSMA), the replacement for NAFTA. If it was not already apparent, today's action over the masks has made it crystal clear that when the going gets tough, any deal with Trump is not worth the paper it's printed on.  

• The Province of Ontario has bowed to pressure and made public its projections for the death toll from the virus.  Without public health measures, it estimates 100,000 could have died. With the measures now in place, it foresees a death toll between 3,000 and 15,000. (Ontario's population is around 14 million).  As someone with some experience in statistics and forecasting, I have to say I don't find that remarkably wide range to be very informative. The Federal government is now being pressed to reveal its own projections. 

• And at a personal level, I suddenly find I know five people who have been stricken by the virus: two each in Canada and the US and one in the UK.  Happy to say that they all seem to be doing reasonably well.