Thanks to listeners & readers who have emailed in expressing concern. I don't think this is COVID-19, but I have no way to find out. The word around the Empire State is, if you want to get properly tested for the damn thing, you have to be related to the Governor. Which I'm not.

My grounds for doubting that mine is the dreaded bug are: no fever. I've been taking my temperature 2-3 times a day: nada. It shouldn't be some other kind of flu: I had a shot last fall, although people tell me some strains get through. Probably just a cold.

I've had it in mind to summon my former research assistants Mandy, Candy, and Brandy, to administer the hot-towel rub-downs I found so efficacious in Radio Derb's Aegean days. Then I recall how very stern Mrs Derbyshire's sternest looks can be, and think better of it. Coughing and sneezing I can cope with; being turned to stone would be a major inconvenience.