My friend Paine sends another dispatch from his unique vantage point, on the spectrum and on the frontlines, watching this strange new world play out:

Since I started writing these notes, a lot of things have happened, not just in the world, but in my own life.

I managed to find another job that pays well and I’ve heard a lot of good things about people coming together to raise money for and awareness about the virus. This is great, this needs to keep going if we are to get out of our current situation.

Our leaders need to put aside politics, put aside egos, do what they were put in office to do and help the American people.

The media needs to stop spreading fear of the disease and tell us what is being done to help contain and eventually cure it, but most of all, we as a nation need to come together and help each other get through these dark times and not just by getting together via Skype or FaceTime or whatever webcam service people use to talk to each other or have a singalong.

We need to do our part to fight this virus, whether it be washing our hands, wearing a face mask and gloves when we go out or even donating to help with the effort in combating the virus. This situation will get resolved, how long and how fast it takes for it to do so is up to us.