On a good day, the crowd at Los Angeles institution Madeo is the very quintessence of Tinseltown money, fame and power. The parking valet could seed an automotive museum, while its dining room could double as a trade fair for rare Swiss watches. I ate my last veal Milanese here seated between Jeffrey Katzenberg and Leonardo Di Caprio.

This is not a good day. It is Friday the 13th, it is – unusually – belting down with rain, and these are the halcyon days of the novel coronavirus. Indeed, just minutes earlier, Donald Trump designated COVID-19 a national emergency.