Coronavirus - International stories and thoughts

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.

 

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.

 

Me too.

 

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.

 

Recovered virus patients retest positive due to 'dead' virus fragments: experts

 

You'll have many here clamoring for just that kind of surveillance. Just wait.

 

People with Alexa type devices are almost there anyway. Smart TVs, computers, cell phones etc.

 

Uk reported 4400 home deaths today, their death rate is now more than double ours.

 

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.