Never Enuff... CORONAVIRUS!
Feb. 27th, 2020 08:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraI suspect the medical threat posed by coronavirus is only slightly more serious than the medical threat posed by garden variety influenza. I do get a flu shot every year, so it’s not like I don’t acknowledge that threat.
My FB feed is swarming with people in a massive state of collective panic. These people are not stupid, so I can only guess that either they’ve been reading too many Stephen King novels or that they don’t understand how to interpret epidemiological data.
Or maybe the 24/7 news cycle has finally succeeded in its mission to drive every sentient being in the United States of America absolutely insane.
Anyway, for you obsessives in my vast reading audience of 2.5 humans and 360,000 Russian bots, Johns Hopkins has put together this nifty graphic.
Again, the comorbidity factors are not included, and I tend to agree withrobby that those death statistics are skewed by the number of elderly male smokers throughout China.
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My primary interest in coronavirus is as a massive disruptor.
On that front, I am pleased/pleased/pleased to see that stock futures this morning are significantly down.
(I was kinda worried yesterday when the market looked like it was making a modest recovery.)
Not down enough, of course. I’d like to see a total plummet of around 20%. So far, the market has only fallen around 7%.
And, of course, the timing is off. It would be much better for the market to crash in the summertime when it would have a bigger impact on the election.
Just so you know, the Trump administration prioritized dismantling the CDC’s global health security team in 2018. He needs money for THE WALL, you know. So, the disease-fighting budgets of the CDC, the National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Health and Human Services Department had $15 billion shaved off them.
(Who knew that the Department of Homeland Security was a bulwark in the fight against global disease?)
Anyway, it’s all good, ‘cause now Trump is giving $2.5 billion of that money back, plus he has anointed Mike Pence, God’s own chosen, to lead the charge against the virus.
What could possibly go wrong, right?
###
In other news, life is uneventful. I’ve doubled up on my turmeric dosage. Gotta get that immune system in fighting trim!
I did the six-mile tromp thing yesterday even though it was grey/grey/grey ‘cause exercise!
I still woke up in the middle of the night, though. What’s up with that? Having run out of Shahs of Sunset episodes, I was forced to turn to Blue Bloods. I desperately want Tom Selleck to discover that I am his illegitimate daughter—sired in a one-time, ill-advised fling—so that I, too, can dine at the Reagans’ Sunday dinner table. Pass the potatoes, someone!
My FB feed is swarming with people in a massive state of collective panic. These people are not stupid, so I can only guess that either they’ve been reading too many Stephen King novels or that they don’t understand how to interpret epidemiological data.
Or maybe the 24/7 news cycle has finally succeeded in its mission to drive every sentient being in the United States of America absolutely insane.
Anyway, for you obsessives in my vast reading audience of 2.5 humans and 360,000 Russian bots, Johns Hopkins has put together this nifty graphic.
Again, the comorbidity factors are not included, and I tend to agree with
robby that those death statistics are skewed by the number of elderly male smokers throughout China. ###
My primary interest in coronavirus is as a massive disruptor.
On that front, I am pleased/pleased/pleased to see that stock futures this morning are significantly down.
(I was kinda worried yesterday when the market looked like it was making a modest recovery.)
Not down enough, of course. I’d like to see a total plummet of around 20%. So far, the market has only fallen around 7%.
And, of course, the timing is off. It would be much better for the market to crash in the summertime when it would have a bigger impact on the election.
Just so you know, the Trump administration prioritized dismantling the CDC’s global health security team in 2018. He needs money for THE WALL, you know. So, the disease-fighting budgets of the CDC, the National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Health and Human Services Department had $15 billion shaved off them.
(Who knew that the Department of Homeland Security was a bulwark in the fight against global disease?)
Anyway, it’s all good, ‘cause now Trump is giving $2.5 billion of that money back, plus he has anointed Mike Pence, God’s own chosen, to lead the charge against the virus.
What could possibly go wrong, right?
###
In other news, life is uneventful. I’ve doubled up on my turmeric dosage. Gotta get that immune system in fighting trim!
I did the six-mile tromp thing yesterday even though it was grey/grey/grey ‘cause exercise!
I still woke up in the middle of the night, though. What’s up with that? Having run out of Shahs of Sunset episodes, I was forced to turn to Blue Bloods. I desperately want Tom Selleck to discover that I am his illegitimate daughter—sired in a one-time, ill-advised fling—so that I, too, can dine at the Reagans’ Sunday dinner table. Pass the potatoes, someone!
no subject
Date: 2020-02-27 01:38 pm (UTC)Or maybe the 24/7 news cycle has finally succeeded in its mission to drive every sentient being in the United States of America absolutely insane.
Not only in America. People are in a complete state of panic here. I noticed the same thing happens with the weather. We got severe weather warnings almost daily all month. A big carnival parade in our area was canceled because of a storm that never came. We've become over-cautious, and panic over every little thing. I don't know what's more alarming - Coronavirus, or the collective meltdown over it.
The flu epidemic of 2017/18 saw over 25 ooo deaths in Germany. That was the year I had it, too.
Problem is, people don't read, or think. That, and conspiracy theorists.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-27 02:11 pm (UTC)Huh. I have been wondering about the European reaction, so thanks!
Yeah, you really have to wonder about what's going on right now. I'm not positing a conspiracy theory! One doesn't have to. 😀 All the factors seem to add up to this intense pressure to sit inside your house watching canned entertainment while still participating in the consumer economy by ordering massive quantities of goods you don't really need online.
It's very weird.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-27 02:18 pm (UTC)It could be that China has been understating the impact. We should look at Japan, Italy and South Korea for credible information.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-28 11:51 am (UTC)Flu season traditionally ends in the last weeks of March. If Covid-19 lingers past then, then I guess we'll know it's something out-of-the-ordinary. Till then it's hard for me to view the collective reaction as anything other than irrational panic.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-28 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-28 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-28 11:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-27 02:23 pm (UTC)A really interesting person to follow if you're interested in the politics of epidemics and the militarization of treatment is Adia Benton, who's
Re: your Wall Street thing, have you seen this Wired article?
no subject
Date: 2020-02-27 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-28 11:45 am (UTC)