The Corona Virus

[Grey_Wolf_c]

This is exactly how it works in the real world. Databases are hard (expensive), Excel is easy (cheap). Hilarity ensues.

Not really? Leaving aside that MySQL is literally free, the cost of an excel licenses versus a SQL server license for a government is not even a rounding error on their overall costs. What is expensive is the people that you need to run & code them, whether it be the excel or the DB.

But in this case, what is almost certainly the most expensive bit is the actual manager of those poor bastards, who insisted on an excel step (based on past experience, "because we've always done it that way, and I'm comfortable with it") and refused to listen to warning such as "maybe we shouldn't" and "what about when there are more than a handful of names in the list" and "how about we put one name per row instead, it'll only take a minute".

Grey Wolf