Coronavirus - A Little Perspective Please

Image: SCMP.com


Coronavirus - A Little Perspective Please

"Nothing Spreads Like Fear" (IMDB: Movie: Contagion 2011)

A free version of the movie "Contagion" was uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 22, and most of the commenters admit they came there because of the media hype about the coronavirus.

Unfortunately, the movie has it own truth problems. Here might be a saner critique of its message:

PBS: ‘Contagion’ Reality Check: CDC Experts Explore Some of the Film’s Scenarios

But one has to realize that a few cases out of China's population of roughly 1.5 billion does not an epidemic make!  Not to mention that the Chinese know their stuff when it comes to preventing widespread contagion.

People who are freaking out because over 50 people have died in China need to take a look at that country's population stats! Worldometers.info

Now take a look at the ordinary, every day Canadian death stats from all sorts of causes. Being a new-born baby is hazardous to say the least, and growing older is even more so. But very few people freak out about that!

Frankie had it right: "That's life. That's what it's all about." [YouTube]

Looking to governments to protect us is foolhardy at best:

E-know.ca: Canada: Joint statement on first Canadian case of novel coronavirus

• We are closely watching the situation in Canada and globally, and are meeting regularly with our counterparts across the country to make sure we are prepared   ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It's our personal job to protect ourselves, and here is some sane advice on how to do it:

VeryWellHealth: How to Reduce Your Risk of Infectious Diseases

• While both wizened old and emerging infections can frighten the most stoic individual, we are not without measures to fight back. By making a few simple behavioral changes (which ultimately reduce their access to your body,) you can easily prevent the spread of many infectious diseases.
• Let's look at 10 practical tips to lower your risk, followed by a few special notes for those who are pregnant or immunosuppressed due to disease or chemotherapy. Some of these tips may seem obvious, but others may surprise you.

From WebMD:

• Almost everyone gets a coronavirus infection at least once in their life, most likely as a young child. In the United States, coronaviruses are more common in the fall and winter, but anyone can come down with a coronavirus infection at any time.

And that's exactly why the above 10 practical tips should be incorporated into one's habitual thinking and habits.  (Addendum: There are a couple of things on that list that I personally would not do, vaccination being one of them. But you decide for yourself.)

NatNewsWatch: News Alert Ontario Confirms Second Coronavirus Case Wife of First Case

In this article, pay attention to the word "presumptive".  This means that the tests show possibles, maybe even probables, but not necessarily actuals.

Given the fact that the lady in question has been in "self-isolation", the risk to Ontarians remains low.

Well, at least you can see how close you have to be to an infected person to catch the disease.

Finally, a reasonably sane assessment from an actual news outlet:

NatNewsWatch: Officials Reaching Out to Those in Contact With Canada's First Coronavirus Patient.

• The illness has sickened at least 1,975 people and killed 56 in China, but it remains to be seen whether it's as dangerous as the common flu, which kills 3,500 people every year in Canada alone.

Nevertheless, some of the comments under this YouTube video: Cross country checkup: How does coronavirus spread? reveal that the news media have had their desired effect. People are focussed negatively on China and are worried that not enough precautions have been taken.

​Sad, very sad.

Here's a New York Times scathing critique of China that may well reveal the very purpose of the disease hype, though it unwittingly also reveals how far China is willing to go to protect its population, and in so doing, the people of other countries.

• In many ways, China has changed for the better since the SARS epidemic. Its economy has grown eightfold. It has built more skyscrapers, subways and high-speed rail lines than any other country. Its tech companies rival Silicon Valley’s giants. A more responsive bureaucracy provides more people with health care, social services and even quality-of-life improvements like parks.
• When it comes to handling diseases, the public health system has greatly improved. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, is also home to one of the most advanced epidemic disease research laboratories in the world.
• Those improvements have come at a price. The government has tightened its grip on the internet, the media and civil society. It has deeper pockets and a greater ability to control the flow of information across the country.

As if the West has not sought to control the flow of information?

From Slaw: Canada’s online legal magazine

The new world order

• Part of what is changing that produces this kind of action is the desire to fight terrorism. The voices for censorship and intervention that could be set aside in the 1990s became much louder after the attacks of September 2001. Thus the Council of Europe (most European countries, plus Canada and the U.S. as observers) adopted the Convention on Cybercrime in 2004 that requires member states to impose obligations on Internet intermediaries to keep traffic information for two years and make it available to law enforcement and security interests. “Law enforcement authorities must be granted the power to compel an Internet Service Provider to monitor a person’s activities online in real time.”  [....]

• If, as some people say, the Internet is becoming ‘feudal’, with masses of users being bound by technological fealty to large private bodies like Amazon, Google or Apple – an assertion that must await another column – then one may recall that the feudal system in western European history (still Canada’s primary heritage) eventually fell under the sway of the king. Having very powerful ‘barons’ provides yet further useful pressure points for effective government control of the Internet.

Just the tip of the control iceberg, and that is something to actually be concerned about.