I don't think the Chinese and Russian agents spreading misinformation are announcing that they are Chinese and Russian. And the truthful information about coronavirus is all over the map and changed almost daily--it has dozens, if not hundreds, of symptoms; it can be treated with a malarial drug and it shouldn't be treated with said drug; don't wear a mask, but whatever you do, wear a mask. It would be relatively easy for fake news about such a strange pandemic to slip by a discerning viewer's filter. My point, however, is that China and Russia should not be doing this, period. If this is the sort of thing they engage in during an international crisis, maybe we should reconsider doing business with them on a regular basis. A lot of the things we buy from China could be bought from South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other countries that would invest their profits into something other than attacking the U.S.
Singapore has a huge surge in coronavirus cases, after receiving praise early on for keeping it contained. They have a severe problem with migrant workers, cooped up 12 to a room. Suddenly, Singapore’s Coronavirus Cases Skyrocketed. Here’s Why.
Europe 'wary of confronting China over Covid deaths' China is continuing to under-report the true levels of deaths from Covid-19, national security officials in London and Washington believe. But European officials are wary about directly challenging China over the figures, sources told the BBC. That concern also extends to confronting Beijing over an information campaign to improve its standing and distract from blame in the crisis. China has denied allegations of a cover up, saying it has been transparent about its efforts to battle the virus. On 17 April, officials in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak is believed to have begun, raised the death toll from Covid-19 by 50 per cent overnight. They said the sharp increase reflected updated reporting and deaths outside hospitals, insisting there had been no cover-up. But several officials in London and Washington say they still believe the picture is not an accurate reflection of the death toll, and that the central government in Beijing knows this. They do not however believe China knows the real figure for certain and is hiding it. 'Impossible to know' Western intelligence officials say that figures underplaying the toll are likely pushed up the chain from a local level by Chinese officials nervous of revealing the full truth, and these make their way up to Beijing, with officials at the top fully aware of this problem occurring along the chain. "It is impossible to know what the figures are in China. What we do know is the figures are very likely to be wrong," Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told the BBC.
Vietnam has apparently beaten back the virus Some Countries Are Squashing the Coronavirus Curve. Vietnam Is One. Vietnam has reported just two new infections in the last 10 days, both students who returned from Japan last week. The country of more than 95 million people hasn’t reported a single death from the virus. Most of its 270 confirmed cases have recovered. Stores and restaurants began reopening Thursday after the government eased three-week-old restrictions on movement. Cafes in the capital Hanoi offering noodle soup and coffee with condensed milk welcomed slow streams of patrons. Ride-hailing services became available again, while most of the country’s schools and karaoke bars popular among locals remained shut. ………………………………. Crucial to preventing a large outbreak in Vietnam was an aggressive quarantine regime that involved housing tens of thousands of people in military barracks, university dormitories and other state-run centers. When a person was confirmed to be infected, many of their close contacts, including those showing no symptoms, were quarantined in state-run facilities or hospitals rather than their homes where they might infect elderly family members. All those who returned to the country from overseas in the last month were also required to stay in these places for 14 days. In early April, when the country had reported less than 250 cases, nearly 45,000 people were quarantined in government facilities. That number is now down to about 11,000, while just over 40,000 are isolated in their homes, comprising largely of the contacts of a confirmed patient’s close contacts.
Russia now with nearly 90k confirmed cases but only reporting 800 deaths. Now exporting cases to China as chinese workers try and get out of Russia Russia surpasses China's official number of coronavirus cases | Daily Mail Online Russia has surpassed China's official number of coronavirus cases after registering nearly 6,200 new cases in 24 hours to become the ninth hardest-hit country. The Russian government reported a total of 87,147 cases on Monday, which is almost 4,000 more than China's official toll of 83,912. The actual number of infections in both countries is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. Many also believe that governments in both Russia and China could be manipulating the statistics for political purposes.
It turns out that the story that a specific American military person brought the coronavirus to China was started by . . . an American fake news peddler. Exclusive: She's been falsely accused of starting the pandemic. Her life has been turned upside down - CNN Benassi has never tested positive for coronavirus, but is subjected to a never-ending stream of on-line attacks by sick and gullible individuals. Apparently having her name published for having an accident during her race gave this moron all the "evidence" he needed to write an article accusing her of bringing coronavirus into China. He probably got word of the vague accusations leveled by Chinese government officials and decided that he could throw some gasoline on the fire and make some money in the bargain. Webb apparently makes money from telling his lies. I hope this woman at some point brings a lawsuit against Webb for slander.
Pretty big news out of New Zealand Coronavirus: New Zealand claims no community cases as lockdown eases
I do not believe a damn thing coming out of Russia OR China. China reported 6 new cases today. 6. LOL. Is there any doubt they are lying through their teeth? When you look at the countries (medium to large in size) who have done the best with Covid-19, every one of them (who doesn't have a dictator running the show) are still showing much higher new cases daily. And then you consider that China is where it started and they have billions of people, but only 6 new cases? I also think Russia hid their problem for a long time and still are to an extent. Both of these things are very dangerous for the world over. If China is still lying about the spread, then it will no doubt come back for a 2nd, perhaps more deadly wave in the fall of 2020.
It's hard to compare. China also has by far the strictest and most comprehensive program in controlling the spread. In fact, most of Asia has far stricter and a far more comprehensive pandemic control programs than the west. Take Hong Kong for example, which is far closer to China and is just as densely populated as NYC has had 0 cases the past 2 days and only 4 deaths total. Taiwan which is also pretty densely populated has also had 0 cases the past 2 days and only 6 deaths total. No doubt the true numbers are higher, but with the early antibody testing results, I'm pretty sure that's the case everywhere. If you compare China's numbers with the rest of East Asia, it actually aligns quite nicely both in cases and deaths per capita. I think we need to entertain the possibility that the Asians with their experiences with SARS, MERS, etc. as well as their adherence to authority are simply doing a much better job than the West in fighting a pandemic. Country/Cases per million/Deaths per million: China/58/3 Japan/108/3 S. Korea/210/5 HK/138/0.5 Taiwan/18/0.3 Vietnam/3/0 Thailand/42/0.8 US/3062/172 Spain/4965/510 Italy/3298/446 France/2541/357 Germany/1898/74 UK/2315/311
So China and some of the other Asian countries are doing a much better job than the West... Try putting China or Vietnam's lockdown conditions into place in the US and see what happens. What a joke. To compare us to China or Vietnam is ridiculous. Oh, and this would be the same China that suspended all air travel in-country out of Wuhan, but let people travel from Wuhan to the US and other EU countries in numbers like flights were free.
Here is a story on what China is doing to make sure people stay locked down during quarantine: China is installing surveillance cameras outside people's front doors ... and sometimes inside their homes - CNN They may install a camera on your front porch, if you're lucky. If not, they install a camera inside your apartment to keep an eye on you. China has eight of the ten cities in the world with the highest density of cameras monitored by the government. Atlanta is the only U.S. city (and London the other non-Chinese city) that made the list, with less than 10% of the density of cameras per million residents as Chongqing, the world's highest density, at 168 cameras per 1,000 residents. There are other options used for monitoring people in China as well: For westerners who stay in hotels in China, it is not considered unusual for there to be cameras installed in the hotel room. The first thing to check is the outlets. If there is a small, strange rectangle or square in between the two outlet plugs, there may be a camera in there.
Lebanon is having an especially bad time with coronavirus. They were already in a severe recession before the virus hit. Now they are starving. 75% of Lebanon needs aid after coronavirus, and hungry protesters are back on the streets - CNN I think that a lot of the food consumed in Lebanon is imported from other countries, and with the virus affecting both the places they get their food from as well as the distribution networks, they aren't getting much to eat. This is actually an opportunity for a country like the U.S. to send food that is currently being wasted (from farms that normally send it to restaurants and entertainment venues) to help them out. It could also be sent by under-utilized airlines, if it was safe to land and take off in Lebanon. I'm sure the farms and the airlines would appreciate the business (especially since the airlines would not have to deal with human passengers and coronavirus). They wouldn't need flight attendants for zucchini and tomatoes, however.
They finally decided to count nursing home deaths. They haven't done it this entire time. France did the same thing a week or two back.
