Don’t shoot up Lysol, and other scientific discoveries

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us //link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/20127927.57696/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9ib3Bpbmlvbg/582c8673566a94262a8b49bdBad00d015 This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Lysol injection of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Trump’s coronavirus [briefings sow disinformation](. - Studies confirm the [virus is far deadlier than the flu](. - The Fed should [take interest rates negative](. - Credit raters should [stop with the mass downgrades](. For external use only. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg Covid-19’s Weird Science The science of the new coronavirus is unsettled, but we do know a few things for sure: Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Wear a mask in public. Oh, and also: Don’t drink bleach. Don’t inject it. Don’t in any way ingest any sort of cleaning or disinfectant product, as the maker of Lysol felt [compelled]( to warn this morning. This admonition, usually reserved for toddlers, became necessary again after President Donald Trump mused yesterday about the antiviral properties of sunlight and disinfectant, wondering “is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, or almost a cleaning.” Someone captured on video the [moment]( Dr. Deborah Birx’s soul left her body as he spoke. She has endured many of these briefings and seen many such displays of Trump combining “[uncanny confidence with a total lack of knowledge]( on topic after topic,” as Jonathan Bernstein puts it, often causing fresh [headaches]( for health officials and Lysol spokespeople. This is all the result of a president who willfully refuses to do any homework, Jonathan writes, no matter how serious the issue. With his inputs limited to Fox News and a handful of often inexpert advisers, the president is “[a short-horizon machine-learning algorithm with very little training data]( to go on,” writes Cathy O’Neil. What could go wrong? Aside from people shooting up with bleach? The real science of coronavirus is hard enough. We’re still figuring out how it spreads, why it makes some people so much sicker than others and how to treat it. Although we’re still not testing nearly enough people for it, we’re starting to get some antibody surveys of small populations, which suggest the coronavirus is [both more widespread and less deadly than the official tallies]( show, writes Justin Fox. Even this lower fatality rate, though, is many multiples higher than that of the seasonal flu. Keep washing your hands. And not drinking bleach. Can’t stress that enough. The pandemic shows signs of peaking in the U.S. now, but without much greater testing capability, we’ll have to get [creative to reopen parts of the economy without triggering a second peak](, writes Faye Flam. That will involve real science. And lots of disinfectant. On the outside. Still Much More Depression-Fighting to Do As awful as everything feels now — with more than [50,000]( people losing their lives and 26.5 million people losing their jobs, in just five weeks — this may at least be the absolute nadir, writes Conor Sen. Many [sectors of the economy can’t get any worse]( than they are now, if only by virtue of their being totally shut down. Already there are signs of some activity reviving. But make no mistake: The recovery process will be slow and grinding. That’s why the [Federal Reserve should cut rates into negative territory]( next week, writes Narayana Kocherlakota. Other central banks had no problem doing it, and there’s no good argument for not doing it. Negative rates will force banks to put more money to work, and the Fed has the liquidity to patch holes in their balance sheets. (And banks can always help themselves by not paying dividends. Everybody needs to sacrifice here.) Joe Nocera writes we also must do more for people toiling in factories, slaughterhouses and Amazon warehouses. These blue-collar heroes can’t work from home, and they’re [risking infection to keep what’s left of the economy humming](. Some are already dying, and the food supply and other vital economic systems are [suffering](. These workers need more protection, both physically and financially, if we’re to effectively fight this virus and save the economy. No Bad Credits in a Foxhole People rightly talk a lot about how small businesses aren’t getting the relief they need to survive pandemic lockdowns. But some big businesses are at risk of going under too. [Rental-car companies, for example, are on nobody’s bailout list](, despite their dependence on air travel, which has all but shut down, notes Brian Chappatta. Airlines are getting bailed out, but Avis and Hertz aren’t. And their bonds are rated too low for the Fed to buy. And about those credit ratings: As Matt Levine has written, maybe we should all just [ignore]( them for a while. They simply aren’t built for these times, Marcus Ashworth writes today. They punish borrowers by making investors shun them, and that makes no sense when all are suffering from the same pandemic. [Mass downgrades help nobody, including investors](. Further Bailout Reading: Steve [Mnuchin’s proposed loans to frackers]( would really be equity, and does anybody really want that? — Liam Denning Telltale Charts Making a mask at home? Ben Schott knows [the best kinds of cloth to use](. Further Reading [China, Iran, North Korea and Russia have their own coronavirus headaches](, of the sort that sometimes get autocrats overthrown. — Eli Lake The pandemic may worsen the rivalry between the U.S. and China, but [the world needs them to get along](. — Minxin Pei Randall Stephenson sure [picked a fine time to step down at AT&T](. — Tara Lachapelle Nestle is beating Unilever as [people pamper their pets more than themselves](. — Andrea Felsted Lawmakers claim they [didn’t trade on inside pandemic info](, but statistics say otherwise. — Aaron Brown If you don’t need [mortgage forbearance right now, don’t ask for it](. It will make your life more complicated. — Alexis Leondis ICYMI “Double haters” are a [hidden threat to Trump’s re-election](. Hedge funds are [no longer eligible for small-business bailouts](. The mayor of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, must [balance public safety with a desire]( to reopen Dollywood. Kickers Sheep ends [seven years of isolation](. (h/t Scott Kominers) How the [fake Beatles conned South America](. (h/t Mike Smedley) Flour demand spike [reopens thousand-year-old mill](. How to make [pizza like a Neapolitan master](. Note: Please send flour and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022