I've always said that, sooner or later, nature will take its course and alter the current trend in human numbers. It's too early to say whether the new coronavirus outbreak in China will result in a significant reduction in the population but the figures indicate roughly a doubling of known infections every 2 days and a mortality rate of roughly 3%. At those rates half the planet could be infected within a couple of months and there could be over 200 million dead if the thing just runs its course. That's not allowing for the fact that most countries probably wouldn't have the civic discipline to dampen down dispersal of the bug in the way the Chinese are doing now. The bug itself could run out of steam but there seems to be a similar chance that it could just get nastier and push up the death rate.
Whatever happens, I'm staying off public transport as much as possible and that means no London bus rides whatever the weather. It's not that I'm any more a survivalist than anyone else but that the shadow of the slayer seems close enough to this house already and I'd best not invite it in. If things get really bad, we've got a few tins of food and the water butts arrive on Monday.
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