Feds will likely create a bill waiving cost of testing. Kind of like how the annual physical is now free due to Obamacare. This shouldn’t stop people who need testing from doing it... but if you are feeling sick and worry about costs, please stay at home rather than going out and potentially spreading it to others.

Pivoting this discussion a bit, how does this affect pinball manufacturing for the next 2-6 months? Has Stern told their employees to stay at home like so many across the country or does their line stay open for the new games they are currently making like JP2, Elvira, etc?

My guess is even if the line remains open, sales will slow in 2-4 months if this continues long and impact to the economy begins to be felt.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that but Italy is a mess right now and lack of quarantining of hot zone areas like NYC, Seattle, etc (here in Utah we’ve had 3 cases in the past two days of people that have traveled here from New York for skiing or that traveled there for business recently) etc combined with inadequate testing I’m afraid is almost guaranteeing spread throughout the country.

So what you’re saying is if you’ve got a NIB Stern on order with a manufacture date of March or later, disinfect the box and game when it arrives, right?

Seriously though, I do wonder how this is going to affect both NIB pin sales and resale value of pins in several months if this drags on into summer. Difficult times for the country and world to be sure right now.

I've had very mixed feelings about Trump as POTUS but this one strikes me as a big nothing.

Anyone know what is rolling of their line currently? Any games that are currently back ordered (or at least were backordered).

What should have happened already are quarantines and no air travel to or from domestic hotzones like Seattle, New York, and the Bay Area. The government is still pretending stopping travel from Asia and Europe will stop things, though.

They are still too worried about setting off panic and tanking the stock market rather than just facing reality and doing it now rather then in 1-2 weeks when things are much worse and it has spread everywhere.

Some will disagree but Italy quarantined many towns and villages in their north early in the breakout and it still spread. The horses are out of the barn here and I'm afraid the government's reluctance to make tough decisions now will lead to much of the country being quarantined ala Italy later. Hope I'm wrong.

Sadly, it is all part of the Chinese government's plan to eventually replace the US and the world's superpower.

Italy is one of the few EU countries whose economy has been stagnant enough in recent years to agree to take loans from China and join their controversial Belt & Road initiative.

Even before they gave Covid19 to the world, China has been targeting Italy as their beachhead country into the traditional US influenced democratic countries of western Europe. If you think this is paranoia or xenophobia, read up on the subject.

My cousin has lived in Shanghai for 13 years and he told me when we visited there last year that it no longer a well kept secret in China that President (dictator) Xi & the CCP's plan is to spread Chinese authoritarian influence around the world and become the world's next superpower. Belt & Road is a big part of those o going efforts.

China as the world's superpower would not be pretty if you value freedom and democracy. Don't believe me? Read up on the Muslim concentration camps in Xinjiang, organ harvesting, and the surveillance state and infrastructure they've built throughout their country.

Agreed. The attitude that only America matters and making our allies feel as such creates an opportunity for bad actor countries like China to exploit.

Let's not kid ourselves. Their offer of ventilator and extensive medical support to Italy right now isn't purely (or even mostly) altruistic. It has political underpinnings and motivations.

Interesting it coincides with them threatening to damage or cut off US medication and pharmaceutical supply lines

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Not at all. What I am saying is that is now widely accepted this likely originated at a Chinese wild animal wet market. Many don't know that SARS originated from these same type of markets back in the early 2000's. At the time, China's government banned all the those markets as it spread in China and other parts of Asia and the world.

Fortunately, SARS only spread when it was symptomatic so coupled with the fact few Chinese tourists and business people had money to travel back them, it died out fairly quickly.

After the SARS scare passed, China's government allowed the markets to reopen completely unregulated again over time in spite of the precedent and risk of animal to human transmission of some of these viruses and diseases.

This is why I say China's government has been negligent and bears some responsibility here. I'm not trying to be insensitive as some might argue those markets are part of their culture and belief in ancient Chinese medicinal benefits to eating these animals.

I really dont care, however, as China is now part of the global economic community and the world interconnected more than ever via business and tourism air travel. As a result, they have a responsibility to their own people and the world to stop these markets permanently and better regulate food and safety in their country. This didnt need to happen if China had acknowledged the danger and shut them down permanently after the SARS outbreak

Positive - Stay at home and don't leave at all until you test negative 2x or worst case, need to go to the hospital.

Negative - Seek guidance from your local authorities if the reason for testing is symptoms and/or is you were exposed to known positive people. This thing can incubate for up to 14 days and I'm not sure a negative test means you still cant develop it. If you are being tested and in quarantine, my understanding is you should remain in quarantine for at least 14 days.