THE VIRUS
BEIJING FACES DOWN A CRISIS
Almost from the start, analysts have posed the Wuhan coronavirus as a test of China’s autocratic system—whether it can handle a crisis effectively and how its information suppression will fare. The Financial Times has added its voice to that chorus, arguing in an editorial that the outbreak challenges the very “basis of China’s social contract.”
Economic growth (key to the Chinese Communist Party’s legitimacy) has created a gigantic new middle class, and “as people become wealthier, they thirst not only for material wellbeing but also for dignity,” the paper writes. The death last week of Dr. Li Wenliang, silenced by authorities for warning about the outbreak before falling ill himself, symbolized a “cover-up” of the virus and revealed “a state that is capable of lying to its citizens to save face, even when matters of life and death are at stake.” Citizens will see it as part of a pattern, and the Communist Party should take stock once the crisis is over, the FT writes.
Someone commented this virus with numbers in the thousands will be God’s test as to how the Communists treat their subjects. Many will die and we do not get truth sometimes from China as to numbers. ( 4756)
W.H.O. and REACTIVATED COVID-19
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was looking into reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again after initially testing negative for the disease while being considered for discharge.
South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again. The director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a briefing that the virus may have been “reactivated” rather than the patients being re-infected.
The Geneva-based WHO, asked about the report from Seoul, told Reuters in a brief statement: “We are aware of these reports of individuals who have tested negative for COVID-19 using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing and then after some days testing positive again.
“We are aware that some patients are PCR positive after they clinically recover, but we need systematic collection of samples from recovered patients to better understand how long they shed live virus,” it said.
ITALY
Renowned for its panache, Italian society has changed, Corriere Della Sera columnists describing conditions in his town of Crema, 30 miles from Milan and 15 miles from the northern Italian towns originally locked down. “Everything is shut: no schools, no meetings, no parties, no movies, no plays, no sporting events. No bars and no restaurants. No shops open, except food stores and pharmacies,” Severgnini writes. Accustomed to greeting each other warmly, kissing and shaking hands, residents now give each other wide berths, and their movements are restricted.
“For us, life is food, wine, music, arts, design, landscape; the smell of the countryside; the warmth of one’s family, and the embrace of friends. Those involve our mouths, our noses, our ears, our eyes, our hands,” Severgnini writes. “Fear of Covid-19 forces us to repudiate those senses. It’s painful.”
And it may be a sign of what’s to come for the rest of us, according to a, who write of a country increasingly shut off from the rest of the world, after the government initially resisted drastic measures.
Result second highest death rate in the world….
FUNDAMENTALS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Markets have already seen their largest drops since 1987, and a decade-long recovery may be ending. So what kind of shape is the global economy in, as it faces a multi-pronged shock on supply, demand, and the value of traded assets?
Not a great one, economists in a Project Syndicate op-ed have warned, warning that the world economy never fully recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis, nor were the underlying problems that produced that disaster ever fully addressed.
On the contrary, governments, businesses, and households around the world have piled on more debt, and policymakers have undermined trust in the global trading and investment system. The crisis will also reveal, the significance of a “precariat” of workers who lack stable jobs with benefits.
Economic commentators that central-bank stimulus might not help (more targeted measures are needed, they write), and in a Financial Times column, signs that markets agree. They could bounce back, she writes, but this week’s crash might also reflect something else: some investors no longer think that a shot of cheap money works in the face of medical uncertainty, a global recession, looming corporate defaults and weak political leadership.
If President T-RUMP thinks he can reverse the rout by demanding more Federal Action, he is gravely mistaken, mistakes are Donald T-RUMP’s… Jokingly he was a mistake when his father forgot to use a condom.
“ Prepare for more market spasms” It failed and no we have sent out close to a trillion dollars and more debt for the US but we had no choice. Throughout history it has usually been one charismatic person who brought down empires. Read history and learn, who these people were and compare our charismatic person, Donald T-RUMP who if not removed will bury the United States
WHAT THE VIRUS WILL MEAN FOR LATIN AMERICA
As all world regions brace for impact, Americas Quarterly Editor-in-chief predicted in an essay published Monday that while Latin America has often been a haven from global crises in the past, that might not be the case here: Amid protests, inequality, and downgraded growth projections (the IMF placed it at 1.6% for 2020), the virus could exacerbate the region’s problems.
There’s a risk that leaders in the region might screw it up, If so, coronavirus could accelerate the growing distrust in politicians and in democracy itself we’ve seen in many countries. As noted in the most recent issue of Americas Quarterly, militaries were already becoming more prominent in politics around Latin America, in ways somewhat reminiscent of the 1970s and 80s. A terrible crisis would only increase the clamor for law and order—and accelerate the return of the generals in some places.”
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST - MENTALLY
London (CNN) A Singaporean student of Chinese ethnicity is beaten up on the streets of London and left with a fractured face. Protesters on the Indian Ocean Island of Reunion welcome cruise passengers by hurling abuse and rocks at them. The coronavirus risks bringing out the worst in humanity. Never mind that Australia's toilet paper supply is plentiful, that the Singaporean has no links to the virus and that not a single passenger on the Princess cruise ship that docked in Reunion was infected.
Irrational and selfish incidents like these are likely the exception, not the rule, but an everyone-for-themselves mentality — or each family, even each country — appears to be growing, putting into question the world’s ability to unite and slow the COVID-19 spread. words have meanings and words fro ignorant, stupid and cruel leaders do a lot of damage.
Someone please tell the beloved President of the United States
Mr. Donald J. T-RUMP to kindly shut his frickin mouth.
Leaders of affected nations are scrambling to seize some control of the situation. They impose restrictive measures in their countries, inject money into their economies, and promise their health systems will somehow find the extra beds, doctors and nurses they will inevitably need.
Yet there seems to be little coordination between countries to address what is by nature a global challenge.
Face masks around the world are running out, as people who don't need them hoard them. The US is stockpiling them, while South Korea, Germany and Russia, among others, have banned their export, to ensure their own people have enough.
India, which makes 20% of the world's medicinal drugs by volume, has halted certain medicines from being exported. Yes, it is unable to source enough ingredients from China and can’t make its usual output, but it is also likely keeping them for its own people.
POPULISTS POINT THE FINGER
This pandemic has now claimed more than 178,000 lives, infected over 2,500,000 people and touched every continent, save for Antarctica, as it crosses geographical borders that have politically closed.
04-25-2020
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
955,491
Deaths:
54,121
European leaders have met several times and they finally announced some coordinated action. It was aimed primarily at economic stimulus, rather than devising a much-needed gameplan to slow the virus' spread across the region.
There is serious doubt that the usual economic tools will even work. During a health crisis, injecting money into economies doesn't necessarily get people spending. Consumers travel and shop less, and on the supply side, factories and businesses are closing in countries like China, Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Italy, the worst-affected country outside China, complained the EU had been too slow to help, as it desperately needed more surgical masks and ventilators for patients, which it is now relying on China to provide.
WHY HUMANS CAN BE SELFISH AND IRRATIONAL
Much of this each-for-their-own behavior comes from humans' tendency to trust their feelings over facts, a way of thinking that is "evolutionarily ancient," according to a University of Oregon psychologist, who studies risk perception.
There are two main modes of thinking, he explains:
One is an intuitive sense based on feelings (T-RUMP)
Two a more rational sense based on scientific reasoning, evidence and reason. It is the intuitive mode that dominates. (Normal People Of Intelligence and science)
"In the earliest days when we were evolving, there were plenty of dangers around, and those dangers were directly experienced, they were threats that we faced directly from threatening creatures or other tribes, it was all very direct and concrete. So these reactions based on feelings were very beneficial in helping us act quickly and to recognize friend from foe, it was us against them”. Feelings, can be good and are usually a useful guide that helps us make good decisions every day except there are a few things it doesn't do well, and one of those things is it doesn't relate to statistics, or numbers, very well."
THE WORLD IS NOT DOOMED YET
The world is not doomed quite yet. For all the examples of anti-social behavior, there has been pro-social action. We can feel heartened by the doctors, nurses and other medical staff who are still showing up to work, often on the front lines, risking their own health for the greater good.
Cleaners are still working at offices, on trains and in schools and nurseries, doing their part in keeping people safe. People are taking hand washing and sanitizing seriously -- the sellout of hand gels around the world is testament to that -- to prevent communal spread of the virus.
Preparing for the virus "is one of the most pro-social, altruistic things you can do in response to potential disruptions of this kind," Being ready with grocery items at home could help stem the virus' spread, if it means not needing to go out to supermarkets and if those stocks can be shared with more vulnerable neighbors who may be less organized. Keeping in good health and getting a flu shot will help keep pressure off healthcare systems, she said.
This pro-social behavior has happened in the past. World War II may have been the worst display of humanity in modern history, but it was also a time where much of the world banded together to fight a common cause.
It involved an extraordinary marshaling of resources and sharing of information, both between individuals and countries. Soldiers were often sent to fight on foreign fronts to support allies, even in cases where their own nations were not directly under threat.
Most people are inclined to act in pro-social ways when faced with a threat, as long as they feel they can rely on governments and society to provide for them and treat them equally. "The problems arise when the demand for healthcare or food or medicine exceeds the resources," she said.
"It's a very good example of 'We're all in this together.' Then you were fighting a common enemy and now we are also fighting a common enemy, with this virus. We need to get that idea into the collective mentality.”
THE TOILET PAPER SOLUTIONS
YOUR BOTTOMS LINE
As one who follows the medical field who has been getting updates from multiple hospital systems and seeing the postings from friends and colleagues, including one who communicates with colleagues on the battlefield in affected countries, here are a few thoughts to put things into perspective.
POINT: This thing is damn serious and we were fooled by a fool who knows nothing, has the mentality of a sixth grader, a bully who has his underlings in fear of reprisal if they spell the truth and demands total loyalty even if it means 45,000 people are dead and more coming. A man of great proportion, distortion and verbal prognostications.
POINT: A man who cheats at Golf on his own courses and is the proud owner of 17,500 lies on national TV and media via the Washington Post and Politico. If scumbags were rated like Ninjas or MMA fighters, he would rank as a Black Belt -10th degree writing his own set of rules and moves.
For those of just as ignorant of reality I’m talking about Donald T-RUMP and he is a seriously sick individual. I believe one part of the media distorts things to suit their own worldview like FOX news, which is really a commentary, it’s mostly GOP propaganda and T-RUMP bullsh*t.
And they feed the naive, dumbasses of the GOP base and the Evangelicals. But that doesn’t change the facts on the ground about this pandemic and a reason for more truth ,transparency and forethought rather than people killing hunches.
POINT: Covid-19 is highly contagious unlike the common cold, likely more virulent than the flu and none or hardly any of us have immunity to it. That is a bad mixture.
POINT: As serious as things are, many of you reading this post are going to become infected and few if any are likely to become seriously ill. That is not true for who suffer from age related, immune problems, previous cardiac incidents and the nursing home elderly.
POINT: The problem is that if we do not do something decisive, the problem is going to get out of hand, and quickly before it morphs changes as it has in China but in Singapore who turned down the warnings and let things go back to normal, three days later 1000 new cases.
POINT: We have an exceptionally large number of ICU beds and ventilators in this country. That is not the case in countries with socialized medicine. If you or a loved one are one of the gravely ill, you will be grateful for what we have here, as dysfunctional as it can seem. But those especially the elderly if bad enough to be on a ventilator the outlook is not good.
POINT: Medical (and to a lesser extent) nursing professionals are highly specialized. If you think your family doctor, or your obgyn, or most other medical specialists have the skill set to operate a ventilator, think again. People have to be trained, and then be able to regularly practice those skills. The docs and nurses who work in the ICUs and ERs are inevitably going to get sick like everyone else since they have no immunity to a highly contagious disease.
POINT: Not everyone should be tested. I read all these posts attacking the government for not having enough tests. Yes, we should have testing much more widely available, but anyone in medicine knows that over testing can lead you down the wrong path, including being falsely reassured.
POINT: Don't walk around with a mask. The few masks you can get won’t protect you from the Wuhan virus, and high grade N95 masks should be saved for the staff who take care of these patients.
POINT: This disruption in our lives and the economic well being of our country is extraordinarily unpleasant, but think of like a wartime, but this time the enemy is a virus. If we come together, we can get through this largely intact but expect wounded and deaths. We are 4-22 at 45,000 dead.