The World Has Gone Mad! 

BREAKING:Percent of Deaths from the Coronavirus Compared to Deaths From the Flu in the US Reach 0.7% (155/22,000) –

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When compared to other societal ailments, the coronavirus is receiving much more attention.  The common flu does more damage than the coronavirus but the world seems to be reluctant to focus on anything else.

According to overnight updates, the number of coronavirus cases in the US now stands at 9,464 cases.  The number of related deaths stands at 155:

According to the CDC, the number of flu cases confirmed in the US since September currently stand at 222,552 cases with 22,000 deaths:

The number of coronavirus cases confirmed in the US as a percent of the number of flu cases confirmed in the US now stand at 4.2% (9,464/222,522).   The percent of deaths from the coronavirus to deaths from the flu is 0.7% (155/22,000).  

In the past few days the number of deaths in the US from the coronavirus passed the number flu deaths in Hong Kong (7-8 million people) which were 113.

As we reported previously, since the beginning of the year the flu in Hong Kong has been much more consequential than the coronavirus:

The Centre for Health Protection announced today that the winter flu season has ended. During this period, 113 adults died of influenza and no deaths from children were recorded. The Centre reminds the public that although the winter flu peak period has ended, citizens should continue to maintain personal and environmental hygiene to prevent respiratory diseases.

There have been 4 deaths from the coronavirus to date in 2020 in Hong Kong. 

The US is now willing to spend $1 trillion on the coronavirus.  It would be nice to see this go to other ailments where it might be better used.

March 19, 2020 | 67 Comments »

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17 Comments / 67 Comments

  1. @ adamdalgliesh
    I don’t have the sources but it’s logical to think that the big monopolies and the very rich are buying up their and other companies’ dirt-cheap stocks thus consolidating their holdings while awaiting future gains while the not wealthy are panic-selling to get at least some cash in their hands.

  2. A new problem:
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/us/flushable-wipes-clog.html?algo=top_conversion&fellback=false&imp_id=642058921&imp_id=816612080&action=click&module=trending&pgtype=Article&region=Footer
    “Americans Coping With the Coronavirus Are Clogging Toilets
    Sewage systems and toilets are backing up as consumers clean their homes with disinfectant wipes and turn to paper towels, napkins and baby wipes to cope with the lack of toilet paper.
    Wastewater treatment officials across the county have beseeched residents not to flush wipes down the toilet using the hashtag #WipesClogPipes.
    Wastewater treatment officials across the county have beseeched residents not to flush wipes down the toilet using the hashtag #WipesClogPipes.Credit…Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

    By Michael Levenson

    March 21, 2020

    Many Americans seem to be following the recommendations of public health officials to clean and sterilize countertops, doorknobs, faucets and other frequently touched surfaces in their homes.

    The problem? Many are then tossing the disinfectant wipes, paper towels and other paper products they used into the toilet.

    The result has been a coast-to-coast surge in backed-up sewer lines and overflowing toilets, according to plumbers and public officials, who have pleaded with Americans to spare the nation’s pipes from further strain.

    Many say the woes besieging the nation’s infrastructure have been compounded by the lack of toilet paper on store shelves, which is leading some to use paper towels, napkins or baby wipes instead.

    Across the country — in Charleston, S.C.; northeastern Ohio; Lexington, Ky.; Austin, Texas; and Spokane, Wash. — wastewater treatment officials have beseeched residents not to flush wipes down the toilet using the hashtag #WipesClogPipes.

    “Flushable wipes are not truly flushable,” said Jim Bunsey, chief operating officer of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. “They might go down the drain, but they do not break up like regular toilet paper.”
    The plumbing repair company Roto-Rooter issued a similar plea to its customers, and said that substituting facial tissue for toilet paper was “another bad idea,” unless it’s used in small amounts and flushed frequently.

    The California State Water Resources Control Board warned this week that “even wipes labeled ‘flushable’ will clog pipes and interfere with sewage collection and treatment throughout the state.”

    “Flushing wipes, paper towels and similar products down toilets will clog sewers and cause backups and overflows at wastewater treatment facilities, creating an additional public health risk in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic,” it said.

    The agency said wastewater treatment plants across California were reporting problems.
    It noted that most urban sewage systems depend on gravity and water flow to move toilet paper and waste, and were not designed to accommodate disinfectant wipes and paper towels, which do not break down as easily and clog the system.

    The board noted that clogged sewer lines are more than just a headache for residents cooped up in their homes during a pandemic. Spills flow into lakes, rivers and oceans, where they can harm public health and the environment, it said.

    Plumbers said they were fielding an increase in calls from people working from home and self-quarantining.
    “We have noticed an uptick in the amount of clogged main sewer lines and, when we dispatch our technicians, we are pulling baby wipes out of the line and we’re seeing paper towels and Lysol wipes,” Mark Russo, vice president of Russo Brothers & Company, a plumbing and heating service in East Hanover, N.J., said on Saturday.
    “These items are things that should never be flushed down the toilet,” he said.”

  3. Why is my comment “awaiting moderation”?
    Is it too long? There are no swear words in it.
    “Moderation” usually takes all day if not longer.

  4. @ Michael S:
    This topic is way too complicated for a non-expert discussion. Basically, it’s been determined that the virus is one of the family of SARS viruses with a UNIQUE for this particular virus (not present in other SARS viruses) “polybasic cleavage site”.
    “a polybasic cleavage site, a characteristic known to increase pathogenicity and transmissibility in other viruses”
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus_2#Phylogenetics_and_taxonomy
    (an extremely technical article).
    The REAL question is whether this virus was constructed in a lab and then released to infect people.
    Steven Mosher (a professional China-hater) argues that it is a FACT that:
    https://www.pop.org/facebook-blocks-steven-moshers-new-york-post-article-calls-it-false-information/
    “Fact: Chinese agents have stolen dangerous coronaviruses out of North American labs and taken them to WIV [the Wuhan Institute of Virology].
    Fact: Chinese virologists… have genetically engineered at least one coronavirus to make it more infectious” citing a Chinese scientific article which explores the difference between human and bat SARS viruses (for which they did fix something up).
    China, on the other hand, accuses the US of bringing in the virus during the Military World Games in Wuhan, China, in October:
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-china-conspiracy-theory.html

  5. @ Michael S:
    Oops. Typo. Should read:

    “You’re right, Bear. Covid-19 is an RNA virus. You were indeed on the mark”

    The word “DNA” was in ads all over the page, and caused my fingers to mutate.

  6. @ Michael S:
    Kindly read this from the National Institute of Health . All corona viruses are RNA viruses which rapidly mutate. This explains technically what my doctor friend and I discussed at length and with references. I did not misunderstand and my doctor friend was on the mark.

    The CoVs have become the major pathogens of emerging respiratory disease outbreaks. They are a large family of single-stranded RNA viruses (+ssRNA) that can be isolated in different animal species.[1] For reasons yet to be explained, these viruses can cross species barriers and can cause, in humans, illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as MERS and SARS. Interestingly, these latter viruses have probably originated from bats and then moving into other mammalian hosts — the Himalayan palm civet for SARS-CoV, and the dromedary camel for MERS-CoV — before jumping to humans. The dynamics of SARS-Cov-2 are currently unknown, but there is speculation that it also has an animal origin.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554776/

  7. @ Bear Klein:

    Hi, Bear. Your “DNA vs RNA” comment caught my eye. You may have misunderstood the doctor. Covid-19 is a DNA virus, and it does indeed mutate — RAPIDLY!:

    https://dna-explained.com/2020/03/12/phylogenetic-tree-of-novel-coronavirus-hcov-19-covid-19/

    Here is an image charting the mutation of the current virus:

    https://i2.wp.com/dna-explained.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Covid-branching.png?w=589&ssl=1

    Note that is changes on a daily basis.

    “The strain in western Canada originated in Iran, as did the strain in New Zealand and one in Australia. Of course, the Iranian line originally came from China. Some infections in Australia came directly from China, as did most of the European pockets. South America and Mexico both arrived from Italy, as did many of the UK infections, although some appear to have passed through the Netherlands and Belgium first.”

    I read elsewhere, that even China has two major strains, explaining the vast different in virulence in cases in Hubei vs. other provinces.

  8. Ted, please retrieve my quotation from Yahoo Finance News about the expected “deep recession.”

  9. Stock market news live: Stocks close at 3-year low in worst week since 2008; Trump era gains obliterated
    Emily McCormick
    Stocks on Friday plunged to a three-year low, closing out their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis and obliterating all of the gains made since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, as investors weighed the escalating coronavirus outbreak against vast stimulus measures designed to mitigate the crisis.

    The losses, which came to more than 4% for the S&P 500 and Dow during Friday’s session alone, brought the S&P 500’s total weekly losses to 15% for its worst weekly performance since October 2008. The Dow swan-dived 17.3% on the week, with all the benchmarks settling at their lowest levels since early 2017.

    Risk assets dropped even as the Trump administration unveiled a laundry list of new relief measures — including a three-month delay to the April 15 tax deadline and temporary pause on federal student loan payments — meant to backstop consumers. The Federal Reserve also stepped in with more relief, broadening out the types of assets included in its purchase program and expanding its dollar liquidity operations with other major central banks.

    However, the virus’ rapid spread had led to social distancing policies that have all but brought America’s public life to a grinding halt. Amid mass closures of private businesses, soaring layoffs and school shutdowns, economists all but expect the global economy — and the world’s largest — to plunge into a deep recession in the coming quarters.

  10. “Stock market news live: Stocks close at 3-year low in worst week since 2008; Trump era gains obliterated
    Emily McCormick
    Stocks on Friday plunged to a three-year low, closing out their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis and obliterating all of the gains made since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, as investors weighed the escalating coronavirus outbreak against vast stimulus measures designed to mitigate the crisis.

    The losses, which came to more than 4% for the S&P 500 and Dow during Friday’s session alone, brought the S&P 500’s total weekly losses to 15% for its worst weekly performance since October 2008. The Dow swan-dived 17.3% on the week, with all the benchmarks settling at their lowest levels since early 2017.

    Risk assets dropped even as the Trump administration unveiled a laundry list of new relief measures — including a three-month delay to the April 15 tax deadline and temporary pause on federal student loan payments — meant to backstop consumers. The Federal Reserve also stepped in with more relief, broadening out the types of assets included in its purchase program and expanding its dollar liquidity operations with other major central banks.

    However, the virus’ rapid spread had led to social distancing policies that have all but brought America’s public life to a grinding halt. Amid mass closures of private businesses, soaring layoffs and school shutdowns, economists all but expect the global economy — and the world’s largest — to plunge into a deep recession in the coming quarters.” From 3/20 Yahoo Finance. And what benefits are we deriving from the shut-down?

  11. “On Friday afternoon, the Health Ministry confirmed that the number of coronavirus cases in Israel had reached 705, ten of whom are in serious condition.

    Another 18 patients are in moderate condition, and 662 are in light condition.” From the same 3/21 Arutz Sheva article that I quoted earlier.

    One in 70 of the coronavirus patients in serious condition? 705 coronavirus patients in all out of Israel’s 8 million plus people? That’s one in 8,000 people. A total of one 88-year-old patient with multiple other conditions who has died of the disease? Really brilliant reasons for shutting down an entire country.

  12. @ Bear Klein: Please ask your doctor friend:How many RNA viruses are there in the world? What is the total death toll from all of them between January and May this year and/or in previous years?

    Please ask him all of the same questions about DNA viruses. Which kind of virus kills more people every year?

    Have you considered the possibility that Rush Limbaugh may have asked his physicians many questions about COVID-19? And that because he has cancer, that he might have had more conversations with them about it (the novel coravirus) than you have had with your biologist-doctor friend?

  13. Coronavirus (Reuters)
    “Adar 25, 5780, 3/21/2020
    Israel records first fatality from coronavirus
    88-year-old man with multiple preexisting conditions dies at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem after being diagnosed with coronavirus.”

    This is the only person diagnosed with coronavirus who has died in Israel? How many other over-80s with preexisting conditions have died in Israel since January? This is really conclusive evidence that Israel is suffering from a terrible plague and needs to be shut down.