What is the explanation behind the Western European disaster in the management of Covid-19, as compared to Eastern Europe and Israel?
By Giulio Meotti, INN
It is a mystery of the collective psyche. There must be an inner mechanism underlying the political ruling class. Otherwise, what is the possible explanation behind the Western European disaster n ithe management of Covid-19, expecially if you compare their experience with Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and other Western countries?
France, Spain, Belgium and UK had the catastrophic Italian example in front of their eyes.
Still, French President Emmanuel Macron went to the theater to see “Par le bout du Nez”. It looked like a chapter in Manuel Chaves Nogales’ book, “The Agony of France”, where he says that while German soldiers marched through the streets of Paris, the French swarmed outside the cinemas, “in time for the aperitif in the bistro”.
In the meantime, the Spanish authorities invited citizens to walk down the streets, to crowd themselves in a march for Women’s Day and the epidemiologist Fernando Simón, in a press conference, declared: “If my son asked me if he can go, I would tell him to do what wants”.
On March 8, while 366 people had already died from the virus in Italy, in Belgium Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès saw no problems in that masses of citizens poured into the Salon Batibouw (real estate fair), the Foire du Livre (book fair) and of course, for Women’s Day. Belgium would soon have broken every per capita death record in Europe.
Keep calm and carry on was no better in England. Boris Johnson in those days shook hands like a rock star and liquidated the impending danger by wishing for “herd immunity”. Soon he would need “liters and liters of oxygen”.
Sweden did nothing, thereby allowing old people to die.
The shortage of tests and masks has been camouflaged by Europe under the pretext of their supposed uselessness.
It seems that the European state on both national and central levels has shown a rare carelessness. An explosive mixture of bureaucracy, lethargy and casualness. A state which, for years, no longer believed in itself but in “Europe” or in the market.
It is the spectacle of Western Europe’s omnipotent impotence that we have unfolding before our eyes.
Giulio Meotti an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book “A New Shoah”, that researched the personal stories of Israel’s terror victims, published by Encounter and of “J’Accuse: the Vatican Against Israel” published by Mantua Books.. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Gatestone, Frontpage and Commentary.
@ Adam Dalgliesh:
“This combination of targeted measures rather than total lockdowns, mobilization of industrial capacities to produce PPEs (personal protecive equipment), efficiency and compassion for the sick worked in these countries. In the “advanced” western countries, the response was less focused and less oriented towards the well=being of patients. So the death toll was much higher.”
That’s an interesting observation, Adam. A little care seems to go a long way.
I don’t know what the political situation is like in S. Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore; though I am familiar with that in Hong Kong (0.5 deaths per million) and China outside Hubei (0.09 deaths, if you believe in fairies).
Politically, P.R. China == Chairman Xi, so it’s understandable that all info out of the “Heavenly Kingdom” is “Cover your arse” for the “great leader”. At the moment, that includes blaming Donald J. Trump for everything, including the coronavirus that Xi himself is guilty of spreading. Hong Kong has enough vestiges of freedom left, to leave Trump-bashing out of the collective conversation. Still, both places have similarly low death counts — lover than Japan (6.07 dpm), S. Korea (5.10) and Singapore (3.86), and nearly identical to Taiwan (0.30).
I brought up the political angle, because of this poll:
https://www.weaselzippers.us/
Q: Do you believe that there will be a second wave of coronavirus in the US this year?
A: Yes, definitely:
Dem: 71%; Rep 7% (not a typo); Ind 37%
That poll was taken in the US, where EVERYTHING in life, including one’s view of reality itself, not to mention the coronavirus, is dictated by derangement syndromes.
For the sake of a quick analysis, therefore, let’s look at some major models:
1. Communist China. (tolally unreliable; don’t believe a word)
2. Hong Kong and Taiwan (more credible, not derangement- or CYA-motivated): EXTREMELY few deaths
3. S. Korea, Japan, Singapore: few deaths, inspite of very large exposure to PR China
4. The West: Belgium (793 dpm), Spain (596), Italy (537), UK (531), France (431), Sweden (384), Netherlands (337), USA (288)
You can see that all of these countries, among the hardest-hit in the world, have results in the same order of magnitude. To round out the picture, a few more:
5. Iran (very tainted data): 86 dpm
6. Russia (mostly around Moscow): 21
7. India: 3
None of these figures point conclusively at any cause/effect explanation. Since pandemics are even legally described as “acts of God”, though, it might be a safer bet to look to the Bible for an explanation. Have I found one? Try this out for size. Countries with the most deaths/pop:
1. Belgium
2. Spain
3. Italy
4. UK
5. France
6. Sweden
7. Netherlands
8. Ireland
9. USA
10. Switzerland
What do these countries have in common? History? Religion? Alphabet? How about,
“They are all descended from the Roman Empire”
Now look in the Bible, and see if there’s anything there about the Roman Empire. Daniel talks about it: He describes it as a monstrous creature with ten heads — heads that may correspond to the ten countries I just listed.
Now draw your own conclusions; and I dare say, they will have nothing to do with quarantines, face masks or travel bans.
@ Adam Dalgliesh:
“All valid points.”
They weren’t “points”, Adam; they were conclusions, based on my personal observations. I’m not trying to build up a case for or against anything.
@ Michael S: All valid points. However, we can notice some distinctions between those places that were hard-hit by the virus and those that were not.
When comparing the responses of those of Western Europe and the United States with those of East Asia, we may notice that the East Asian countries had done more to prepare for an epidemic that the Euro=American ones. They moved more quickly to produce masks , test kits and surgical gowns, mobilizing their industrial resources to do so. They moved earlier to restrict travel from China. Their nursing and retirement homes were better run, perhaps because of their peoples” deep respect for the elderly and traditions of filiel piety. Unfortunately, our Western societies seem to have abandoned respect for the elderly as an important ethical value. The East Asian countries that were most successful in containing the number of virus cases to a minimum used quarantines of infected persons until they tested negative, and widespread testing to contain the virus, not the general lockdowns employed in the West. People who did not test positive for the virus were allowed to continue normal lives, including their daily work and even after-hours socializing, restaurants and bars, etc. Instead of closing these places of recreation and relaxation down, the East Asian countries of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan conducted frequent inspections to insure that the food served in these places was not tainted, and that the staff was observing proper sanitary habits, including frequent handwashing and/or the us eof hand sanitizers. Many businesses would take the temperature of their employees frequently, and those who were feverish were sent home and encouraged to report their symptoms to the diease control center.Department stores also tested customers temperatures before they entered the store. Those who were feverish were not admitted to shop and were advised to go home and rest.
This trio of nations did not actually require people to observe all of these measures. In Taiwan, only quaratines were actually enforced. But efforts were made to house all quarantined individuals in comfortable hotels. Public officials made frequent visits to all quarantined individuals by public officials to ensure that they had adequate food clothes, books, and other necessities. Doctors and nurses visited frequently to check on their health. If the infected individual conditions deteriorated, they were rushed to hospitals.
This combination of targeted measures rather than total lockdowns, mobilization of industrial capacities to produce PPEs (personal protecive equipment), efficiency and compassion for the sick worked in these countries. In the “advanced” western countries, the response was less focused and less oriented towards the well=being of patients. So the death toll was much higher.
I have been following the coronavirus casualties, carefully and meticulously, since I first heard of the unusual pneumonia reported in Wuhan at the turn of the year; and have come to the following conclusions:
The casualty rates do NOT follow any general pattern, other than this:
1. China quickly and efficiently, through draconian measures, confined the damage within China to Hubei Province.
2. The virus spread, EXTREMELY QUICKLY to primarily the advanced, Western countries of the world, via airplane and cruise ship.
3. Once it became obvious that those advanced countries were being overwhelmed by the pandemic, nearly all the rest of the world closed off traffic to the affected areas. This was probably the main reason that only Western Europe, North America, Iran and some places near China were significantly hit at first.
4. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Austalia & New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore and other places near China quickly contained or mitigated the virus; but Western Europe, the US and Latin America did not. Sweden, Germany and Italy ALL have had extremely high caseloads in a very brief period of time, despite using different methods to combat the disease. On the other hand, South and Southeast Asia have not been so badly hit, despite having several super-spread events such as Muslim and Hindu gatherings.
5. Lately, the hardest-hit area has been slowly expanding into places on the periphery of those hit earlier. Most affected have been indigenous Americans such as the Navajo and Yakima, Mexico, equatorial South America (Ecuador, Peru and Brazil), Russia (particularly Moscow) and Moldova.