On Wednesday, the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers stay-at-home orders. The court listened to oral arguments brought by Republican lawmakers via video conferencing. They did this because there’s a coronavirus pandemic. Right on time, a bunch of cheeseheads decided that the state’s Supreme Court understands more about infectious diseases than infectious disease experts and crowded into bars and restaurants.
One of the fundamental misunderstandings on the part of many people is that when in groups and in confined areas close together, humans are messy people. We are social animals who experience the world intimately, even if we do not always feel like we are. Japan’s state broadcast, NHK, decided to give a small example of why eating out, buffets, etc. are terrible for slowing the spread of disease and germs. They chose one person in a group of 10, sprayed his hand with the faux virus, then left all 10 participants to have dinner at a buffet. After 30 minutes of dining, they turned on an ultraviolet light to expose where the pretend germs had traveled.
As you can see in the video below, after just 30 minutes the “virus” has spread all over—onto utensils, onto glassware, onto others. This experiment doesn’t include any of the spread that might be present if the subject were also expelling ultraviolet “virus” by way of his mouth and breathing. There’s a reason why officials are promoting and in many cases ordering stay at home action on the part of their communities: slowing the spread of the disease saves lives.
WARNING: If you are or have been agoraphobic, I would suggest you skip the video. I am not being facetious as it can be anxiety-producing.