With the caveat noted:
Below is the email I sent to my family earlier today. They aren’t as up on current events so there is some background that may be redundant for your readers.
There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty surrounding this entire situation. So take this with whatever sized grain of salt you deem appropriate.
Subject: COVID-19
So, the Wuhan coronavirus.
COVID-19, it’s now called. This particular virus originated with bats (although some argue that a bioweapons lab was involved), then combined with a prior dangerous human virus and crossed over to humans.
It’s spread by “airborne” transmission, meaning droplets small enough to float in the air for several hours. All airborne diseases are very contagious, and this is no exception. It’s spread exponentially in China and has shut down a substantial fraction of that country, with 400 million people in quarantine.
