- Did Chicken Little wear a bow-tie? (Tucker Carlson)
- Never let a crisis go to waste
Don’t forget the Hon Kong Flu*
“We” have all had the flu. It is a debilitating disease (temporarily) to the healthy and can be very serious or deadly for the medically vulnerable. I would guess I have had a significant bout with “the flu” less than a half-dozen times in my dozens of years as an adult. I could be bed ridden for a day or two and wiped out of energy for days. I do not get flu shots because the efficacy seems suspect but I may start.
The “flu” in general has an economic impact. Nothing new there. I have lost work because of it and had to cover for people who came down with it. Flu season happens to the world every year. So what is so special about the corona virus? From what we have read it has some peculiarities but they are no cause for panic or shortages.
The general population death rate from Wuhan Corona virus, as these articles point out, is not remarkable compared to any other flu. Its containment solutions are not all that different from other flu seasons the world has dealt with. Take the same precautions you would and should for the flu in general.
A high percentage of people can be exposed to it and will never get it, for a variety of reasons. Yes they can pass it on but that is true for other viruses as well. You can be a host or carrier and not come down with something. But for the hysteria about this one, people would go about their general daily routines including going to work, ideally with some increased precautions during the season.
Those should include hygienic wipe downs and more attention to some “processes” that should always be — assume you might be a carrier and contain your coughs, sputters, allergy sneezes, throat clearings and wash your hands frequently.
But there is no cause for panic and none for criticism of the adequacy of the Trump administrations response (other than perhaps toward overreacting a bit). There is also no reason to give Tucker Carlson’s comments any particular credence on the matter.
More authoritatively: (from the same publication — Daily Wire)
Dr. Drew On Coronavirus: Media ‘Hurting People,’ ‘Need To Be Held Accountable’ For Causing Panic
Physician David Drew Pinsky, commonly referred to as Dr. Drew, slammed the media in a CBS News interview late last week, saying that it is responsible for causing the American public to panic, which is hurting businesses and people.
“A bad flu season is 80,000 dead, we’ve got about 18,000 dead from influenza this year, we have a hundred from corona,” Dr. Drew said. “Which should you be worried about, influenza or Corona? A hundred versus 18,000? It’s not a trick question. And look, everything that’s going on with the New York cleaning the subways and everyone using Clorox wipes and get your flu shot, which should be the other message, that’s good. That’s a good thing, so I have no problem with the behaviors.”
“What I have a problem with is the panic and the fact that businesses are getting destroyed, that people’s lives are being upended, not by the virus, but by the panic,” Dr. Drew continued. “The panic must stop. And the press, they really somehow need to be held accountable because they are hurting people.”
Trump gives perspective on the matter
President Trump took to Twitter Monday morning to try to promote calm amid an increasingly panicked public — and stock market — by posting some statistics to help put the coronavirus epidemic in perspective.
“So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu,” the president tweeted. “It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life [and] the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”
The predominant influenza virus this year is not “corona” ( excerpt via RedState)
As Coronavirus Fears Spread, CDC Reports Show Influenza Has Already Claimed the Lives of Thousands
With Coronavirus being the new kid on the block and getting all the media attention — thanks in small part to the fact that it’s affecting the economy, giving them another anti-Trump narrative to play with — it’s gone overlooked that right here at home, the influenza virus has been wreaking havoc all on its own.
According to the Daily Wire, CDC reports are showing an unusually high number of deaths thanks to the flu. A number that ranges to around 20,000 people:
According to the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), among the roughly 34 million people who have suffered from the flu this season, 20,000 have died. Influenza A viruses were the most commonly reported, as opposed to the usual predominance of Influenza B. 136 deaths of children have been reported; the CDC noted, “rates among school aged children and young adults are higher at this time than in recent seasons and rates among children 0-4 years old are now the highest CDC has on record at this point in the season, surpassing rates reported during the second wave of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
The CDC reported that this season, the predominant flu virus is influenza A (H1N1).
Michael Fumento at NY Post
Coronavirus going to hit its peak and start falling sooner than you think
Summation via AM 560
He explains “Farr’s Law. First formulated in 1840 and ignored in every epidemic hysteria since, the law states that epidemics tend to rise and fall in a roughly symmetrical pattern or bell-shaped curve. AIDS, SARS, Ebola — they all followed that pattern. So does seasonal flu each year” (NY Post). According to John Fund, “Fumento has often been one of the few who gets big health stories right” (Twitter). More people are worried about getting the flu than coronavirus (Fox Business). And movie audiences were still turning out over the weekend (ABC News).
Never let a crisis go to waste:
Trump Makes Major Announcement In Providing Economic Relief For Coronavirus Outbreak
On that score we would repeat that the market reaction presented a good buying opportunity
* graphic via HP post on Facebook
