Coronavirus - are we all doomed?

[The_Doc_Man]

Yep, I went to Wal Mart yesterday for a few cleaning supplies that weren't on the shelves there either. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that our local Walgreens had just gotten a shipment of what I take to be a "store brand" of TP. But what the heck, as long as it isn't like sandpaper, it should do the job reasonably.

 

[Steve R.]

What I don't understand is why governments around the world are not better prepared for a pandemic of this magnitude, despite knowing it was not a case of if but when. The ability to convert one ventilator into potentially nine should have been part of contingency plans. It is just such short-term thinking.

Realistically, there is no preparation for a "black swan" event. Once it happens people frantically begin to scream that "something" should have been done. But think about it, we do not know in advance the nature and/or extent of the "black swan" event. Every-time one drives a car, it is possible that the battery will fail, a tire will fail, the transmission will fail. So does that mean we should tow a spare car? One can plan for a high probability event, such as a blown tire; but not everything. Consequently, we will never really be prepared.

Someday, the Earth may be hit by an asteroid. One such asteroid hit wiped-out the dinosaurs. To proactively respond to to the "why aren't we prepared" naysayers, shouldn't we have established a task force dedicated to be becoming prepared?

I have a fairly extensive first aid kit. Prior to the virus outbreak, my wife broke a finger, which was put in a brace by a doctor. We had to use the first aid kit to clean and re-bandage her finger. What I found out is that many of the supplies in the kit had expired, so we had to buy replacement items. My point - stocking up on supplies works up to a point, but eventually they need to be replaced. So how much $$$ needs to be dedicated to supplies that may never be used?

 

[Jon]

Realistically, there is no preparation for a "black swan" event...But think about it, we do not know in advance the nature and/or extent of the "black swan" event.

Forgive me, but I have to strongly disagree. We prepare for nuclear war. That is a "black swan" event. Yet there is far less money spent on preparing for something that is way more likely, a pandamic. Virus outbreaks are very risky. Look at Ebola, MERS and SARS in our very recent history. Look at Spanish flu that killed 50M to 100M. This is no mystery at all.

We know all about virus spread. There are models to predict what would happen, given certain viral coefficients. If it is airborne it is likely to spread faster than if just contagious, everything else being equal. Just look at Bill Gate's TED talk 4 years ago. He talks about the very same thing: nukes are not the threat, a pandemic is. So you can argue that there should not be any preparation for a pandemic because you cannot predict them, but I say otherwise. It is just a question of when, not if. History repeats itself.

So how much $$$ needs to be dedicated to supplies that may never be used?

If that argument holds water, then why do they do it with nukes?

 

[vba_php]

But what the heck, as long as it isn't like sandpaper, it should do the job reasonably.

one of my drivers suggested that kleenex tissue was a suitable alternative. I disagreed.

 

[Jon]

one of my drivers

Do you have a fleet of chauffeurs? You won't get through the eye of a needle that way!

 

[vba_php]

Do you have a fleet of chauffeurs? You won't get through the eye of a needle that way!

I can't believe you asked that question Jon. Didn't I ever tell you I'm a poor man?

 

[Jon]

We are all poor what with the coronavirus decimating the world economy. Now there is a long queue to get through the needle, and bog rolls.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Forgive me, but I have to strongly disagree. We prepare for nuclear war. That is a "black swan" event. Yet there is far less money spent on preparing for something that is way more likely, a pandamic. Virus outbreaks are very risky. Look at Ebola, MERS and SARS in our very recent history. Look at Spanish flu that killed 50M to 100M. This is no mystery at all.

We know all about virus spread. There are models to predict what would happen, given certain viral coefficients. If it is airborne it is likely to spread faster than if just contagious, everything else being equal. Just look at Bill Gate's TED talk 4 years ago. He talks about the very same thing: nukes are not the threat, a pandemic is. So you can argue that there should not be any preparation for a pandemic because you cannot predict them, but I say otherwise. It is just a question of when, not if. History repeats itself.


If that argument holds water, then why do they do it with nukes?

What were not prepared for is the dependents of goods and services FROM one source CHINA. We have to break our dependents from our supply masters.

We have to control our own manufacturing of critical supplies.

 

[vba_php]

We are all poor what with the coronavirus decimating the world economy. Now there is a long queue to get through the needle, and bog rolls.

the queue is very small jon. Per the king:

Narrow is the way and very few people find it

 

[Jon]

I didn't know they covered toilet rolls back in those days.

 

[AccessBlaster]

If western civilization is going to survive like minded countries need to pull together, with a healthy dose of protectionism.

 

[Slap]

In the spirit of devil's advocate. Still almost all reported deaths have "underlying conditions"

Coronavirus: How to understand the death toll

The rising number of coronavirus deaths is distressing. But what are the figures actually telling us?

www.bbc.co.uk

Legacy is going to be our grandchildren paying for this...

 

[vba_php]

EVANOVICH CORONA JOKES

LOL

courtesy of Zuckerburg and friends over at the idiotic facebook.

 

[AccessBlaster]

EVANOVICH CORONA JOKES

LOL

courtesy of Zuckerburg and friends over at the idiotic facebook.

Courtesy of https://www.adamevanovich.com/li/img/corona/ you mean

 

[vba_php]

no. they all came from a facebook page called "more than funny", I believe.

 

[deletedT]

Do you know what irritates me?
All of this was begun because China didn't report this Virus sooner. They tried to hide it from their own people and from the world. But after it was spread to Japan, Korea and Iran they admitted the existence of this virus.

Now they're acting like the savior of the world by sending several hundred of their doctors and nurses to Italy and some other countries to change the world opinion. Just after US calls for its residents and tries to close the doors.
Are they really hero? or is it just another political performance?

 

[AccessBlaster]

Thank you Tera,
Wuhan was allowed to celebrate the Chinese Lunar new year, knowing full well the outbreak already occurred. China allowed their people to fly commercially around the globe, during the outbreak.

Chinese scientists were told to destroy crucial evidence that could have saved thousands of lives.

 

[vba_php]

Chinese scientists were told to destroy crucial evidence that could have saved thousands of lives.

and how exactly do you know THIS?

 

[AccessBlaster]

Google this >Chinese scientists were told to destroy crucial evidence that could have saved thousands of lives

It's been widely reported.

 

[deletedT]

and how exactly do you know THIS?

Seems that you don't listen to news.

The Wall Street Journal calculates that the Chinese government “let some five million people leave Wuhan without screening.” Chinese medical authorities were much more concerned about preserving Wuhan’s reputation than the contagious, deadly disease


Even by the Chinese government’s own account of events, President Xi Jinping knew about the disease for two weeks before making any public comments about it.


And the Chinese authorities spending January “denying it could spread between humans — something doctors had known was happening since late December



Now they are playing hero and sending their doctor teams to infected countries to bury what they did to the world.