Well, that was fast. For plenty of Americans, this week began with the regular, old commute to school or work, and ended with canceled semesters, robust “work from home policies,” fears about making rent next month, and canceled events—everything from weddings to concerts to—it hurts!—baseball’s opening day. The coronavirus pandemic has reordered the lives of plenty worldwide. Airlines struggled. People wondered whether it was safe to go to the grocery store. (Read our advice here. Drivers for delivery services like DoorDash and Grubhub pulled in some extra bucks, even as they grappled with fears of infection themselves.
This week, we’ll end with a plea: Have you, your company, or your family found a creative way around the Covid-19 outbreak? Are you inventing safe and science-approved ways to get around, or discovering new ways to have fun? If so, drop us a line at @WIREDTransport.
In the meantime: It’s been a week. Let’s get you caught up.
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Headlines
Stories you might have missed from WIRED this week
- Why coronavirus is the greatest test for the gig economy yet.
- The Covid-19 pandemic—and some flubs during President Trump’s evening address on Wednesday—lead to disaster for airlines.
- The 2020 Census has gone digital. But the coronavirus will still complicate data collection, especially for minority communities.
- Should you go grocery shopping? Cancel your upcoming wedding? Science has answers—sort of. LINK NEEDED
Bummers of the Week
It’s been a rough one, and automotive events haven’t been spared from the roughness. Car and Driver has kept a useful (and depressing!) tally of those that have been canceled or delayed by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Check the list before you try to tune into anything. And maybe go driving instead?
Stat of the Week: -2.4 Percent
Is non-disease news: The number of cars per people in the US is still down slightly since 2006, according to the data-crunchers at Sivak Applied Research. The metric fell from 0.786 per person in 2006 to 0.745 in 2012, just after the recession, but recently rebounded, to 0.767 in 2018. Lots of homes have two or more cars, and fewer have zero. Does the anemic gain speak to a broader trend in car buying, and the slow death of the proverbial American driver? Maybe not.
Required Reading
News from elsewhere on the internet
In the Rearview
Essential stories from WIRED’s canon
From 2018: A race to find the next pandemic before it finds us.
More Great WIRED Stories
