[math-fun] Frightening new batflu symptom

Health workers coming into contact with infected victims are losing the ability to do math: Santa Clara County Confirmed cases: 3,032 — up by 15 (1.5%) since Tuesday Hospitalized: 61 — down by 8 since Tuesday, with 22 in ICU beds Deaths: 146 — up by 0 since Tuesday Actually, this isn't funny. Our former worry, West Nile virus, can permanently damage short term memory. I fear Santa Clara's Wednesday count of 15 new cases is a sampling artifact. Discouragingly, they have been running three times that, despite the sunny weather. But the hospitalizations are declining, in agreement with widespread evidence that the lethality of the virus is weakening. Let's hope not only thanks to sunshine. —Bill