It’s hard to tell lately whether I’ve got COVID-19, or am just so depressed watching the news I make myself sick. Regardless, it’s hard not to see the latest alert (Breaking News: More Dead!) and just turn off the goddamn TV, play something loud enough to drown a literally virulent world, and settle in with your vice of choice. Or vices.

But a recent discussion with our Liminal Times editor — a bona fide scientist — got the HB thinking there may be an upside to corona. Several, actually:

• People have started washing their hands. And sneezing into their elbows, and giving people their personal space, and thinking twice about going to work sick. Will we forget most of it? Probably. But we’ve heard plenty of conspiracy theorists griping about the over-inflated threat of coronavirus. That the flu kills 50,000 people a year. Good; those tips work on the flu, too. You know what’s never over-inflated? Becoming informed.
• The workforce will adapt to home-work more quickly.  We were already headed toward a work-from-home society, but so grudgingly it put us far behind other nations. Geezers like myself still don’t know how to work the InterTubes, and businesses remain skeptical about letting employees out of the building. Now neither have a choice but to adapt, and quickly if they want to stay afloat.
• The Earth thanks us. According to the EPA, motor vehicles collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide pollution in the U.S.  Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all U.S. emissions, emitting around 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas. Have you been on the highway lately? We didn’t lessen our carbon footprint; we stripped down to bare feet.

It’s silver-lining hunting, granted. But how about this nerded-out SlapFact: The average number of “good quality air days” in China’s industrial Hubei province increased 21.5% in February, compared to the same period last year, according to China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment. InterTubes!

Like any worldwide existential threat, there’s downside to all of this thinking: We’re instead wiped out as the virus becomes airborne and we become skin-walkers.

However, we’ll leave that to the 24/7s. Have you watched lately? They should install an in-studio fainting couch in case Wolf Blitzer gets the vapors.

But if we make it, we can come from this stronger. And don’t worry. You can still settle into your vices.