The Latest on Coronavirus

February 27, 2020 | Categories: Guest Contributions | Tags: |  Print This Article

The Latest on Coronavirus

This article — https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-infodemic-threatens-world-health-institutions-cbb0298b-7b33-4d4b-b005-781c57491180.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosvitals&stream=top — warns against social media creating distrust of public health institutions and officials.  The article makes a valid point.  On the other hand, “credible information” could be official controlled information.

The Chinese themselves seem to have changed the official story:

The Chinese have abandoned the original explanation of origin: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3051981/coronavirus-did-not-originate-wuhan-seafood-market-chinese

The President of China seems to connect the virus to the biolab in Wuhan:  https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-buy-chinas-story-the-coronavirus-may-have-leaked-from-a-lab/

Inaction and slow action by public authorities have also created distrust. Flights out of China were slow to be cancelled.  Flights are still incoming to the US from other infected Asian countries such as South Korea.  A Korean flight attendant on a flight to California was infected, for example.

Failure to swiftly act and to complete the act by shutting down international flights was probably due to economic considerations.  Regardless, the perception is that money took preference over public health.  Just as the spread of the virus in China was aided by internal travel associated with the Chinese New Year, spring break in the US could be spreading the virus which can have an incubation period as long as 30 days and be asymptomatic.

In the case of the European Union, the failure to shut the Italian border, a failure which has contributed to the spread of the virus throughout Europe, was a product of the open borders ideology of the EU officials.

In the US other kinds of established views can inhibit timely response:  https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200214/uf-to-faculty-stop-sending-students-for-coronavirus-tests

Francis Boyle says that in the US there are a number of research labs doing illegal bioweapon-related research funded by public authorities in which many US scientists participate.  If the virus escaped from the level 4 biolab in Wuhan, as the President of China seems to suggest — https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-buy-chinas-story-the-coronavirus-may-have-leaked-from-a-lab/ — public authorities have a strong incentive not to acknowledge that they are funding illegal research.  What destroys public confidence is bioweapons research.

I am not qualified to say whether the coronavirus evolved on its own or is man-made.  Moreover, politicizing issues seems to have become standard practice. Thus, we don’t know how to evaluate this Russian statement:  https://www.globalresearch.ca/russian-appraisal-china-coronavirus/5703761

The coronavirus is uniquely problematic, because the virus can spread  asymptomatically — https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2020/02/24/woman-with-no-symptoms-infects-five-relatives/ — and reinfection can occur — https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-health-japan/japanese-woman-confirmed-as-coronavirus-case-for-second-time-weeks-after-initial-recovery-idUKKCN20L0BJ?il=0

Possible good news:  https://phys.org/news/2005-10-silver-nanoparticles-hiv-virus.html 

More bad news:  https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3052495/coronavirus-far-more-likely-sars-bond-human-cells-scientists-say 

https://www.rt.com/news/481749-germany-coronavirus-epidemic-beginning/