Reality TV claims more victims

Today's headline: Trump "mulls" quarantining New York.

If you were "mulling" something like that, what exactly would be the point of trailing it in advance?

The history of "quarantine" is long and storied and very, very unhappy. There are some constants that always happen: healthy people and sick people locked up together leads to bad things. And one of those bad things is, when people get warning that they're about to be quarantined, they run for the hills.

Taking the infection with them.

The bigger the area, the more people covered, the worse this effect is. When the rest of the world tried to quarantine "China" at the start of this outbreak, we saw how well that worked. Quarantining New York won't go any better. People who can afford it have either already fled, or are packing up to do it now - and some of them will carry the disease with them.

Is that what Trump wants? Is he just giving a heads-up to his well-heeled friends in the city to make sure they can take care of themselves? Well, partly, perhaps, but mostly I think this is just what he does. He made his name on "reality TV" (an oxymoron if ever there was) by publicly mulling and teasing and trailing what he might be going to do next, so tune in next show to find out - and he's done exactly the same as president. And that's what he's still doing. He doesn't have any other tricks.

The other likely effect, which I'm reasonably sure he has thought about because it plays directly to his strength, is that it will help to stoke fear and resentment - if not outright hatred - between the city and the rest of the country.

And if a few thousand more Americans die from it, well, that's a price he won't even notice. What's a few strangers' lives, compared to his ego?

It's far too late to quarantine a whole city. The disease is already firmly embedded and spreading in every state - where New York is today, it's likely Massachussets, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee will all be there by Easter, quarantine or no. Lock down the city by all means - but as I understand it, the governor has already done that. But quarantine? - at best a desperate attempt by Trump to make himself look like he's trying.