"Feel Good Movie" as an education on spreading viruses

[Prometheus]

In 1987's classic, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, just how many people could Neal and Del (Martin and Candy) have unintentionally infected during their 3-day odyssey?

Dozens?

Hundreds?

And how many would those dozens or hundreds have gone on to infect on their own holiday journeys?

Public transportation in the US sees Americans taking nearly 10 BILLION trips a year on buses, subways, trolleys, etc.

That's just America.

Nearly 1 BILLION people around the world take a trip by plane every year.

Many millions or billions more travel by rail.

Is it any wonder that an infectious disease can travel around the world so quickly?

Is it any wonder that shutting down transportation services AFTER the first case is simply a band-aid unless other measures are taken?

And why just shut down transportation arriving from a single location?

Once a disease finally garners attention, it has probably been "in the wild" for weeks or even months, meaning that hundreds, thousands, or millions of carriers have already traveled to every one of the major (and many minor) cities around the world.

Trump wanted a pat on the back for shutting down travel from China even though it came nearly 2 months after he had been made aware of the threat and after 16 other countries (including the US) already had confirmed cases. Trump shut down travel from China while tens of thousands of flights continuously arrived from Spain, Italy, and other infected nations on a regular basis.

Neal and Del had a nice Thanksgiving dinner together. They may have even spent some time together at Christmas as well.

The 325,000 people they killed by infecting them with a deadly virus weren't so lucky.

I hope you all enjoy your "Zoom Christmases."