Classic History Personal Blog

Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Global Pandemic - March 19, 2020

Coronavirus

This article is written as an account from an average person alive in the Spring of 2020 during the Coronavirus global pandemic. If anyone would like to add your own feelings or perspectives please do so in the comments section below. Accounts from everyday people will be extremely valuable to anyone reading this in the future.

Basic Facts

The Virus originated in Wuhan, China, sometime during the Winter of 2019. The government of China quarantined the city of over 8 million and its accompanying province but not before it spread to the rest of China and the rest of the world. We are being told that the virus possibly originated in a bioresearch laboratory or perhaps from people eating bats.

Here is just a little bit of what we’re hearing. The complications of this virus cause pneumonia to form as it attacks the lungs. I am reading that between 50 million and 150 million people will become infected here in America out of a total population of 330 million people. Currently there are only 5,000 confirmed infections in American and over 200,000 worldwide.

In Italy, the average age of death is 81. Between 1% and 10% of people infected have died from complications. But there are likely many more people in our society who are infected but are not known to be, thus making the death rate much lower than perceived. However, high estimates are that 6 million people will die in America as a result of contracting Covid-19. So far it is mostly people with existing health conditions that have died. If you have diabetes or respiratory issues you are at serious risk if you contract the virus. This encompasses quite a large percentage of our society as we are quite wealthy and thus have relatively easy lives.

The government is attempting to slow the spread of the disease so as to reduce the demand on our hospitals and medical personnel. People who struggle with the disease need ventilators and respirators to help them recover. If all equipment is used and hospital beds filled up then there will be no treatment for those who are newly infected, nor will there be treatment for people how have broken ankles or other everyday medical problems. In this scenario our medical facilities buckle and fail. This is what the government is trying to avoid by slowing the spread of the disease.

We have been hearing that the medical facilities in Italy have been overwhelmed. Anyone over 80 years old will not receive medical treatment as there is a severe shortage in this country. As of right now, more people have died from this disease in Italy than in China.

How are we Slowing the Spread?

Sporting events are canceled. The government has ordered all restaurants to close except for takeout orders. Gatherings with more than 10 people are prohibited. Schools are canceled for the rest of the academic year. University students have been sent home and dormitories are locked shut. Classes are done over the internet when possible. In my profession, the Professional Engineering Exam has been canceled for this Spring.

Flights to China were prohibited on January 31st. All flights to Europe, except for England, were canceled 1 week ago. Our border with Mexico was closed today. Many countries have closed their borders entirely.

Effects on Our Economy

Stock markets are down 30% from their highs less than 1 month ago and continue to fall. Predictions are being made for massive unemployment. Factories are being shut down, offices emptied, and restaurants closed except for carryout. Think of a waitress who makes $2 per hour and mostly lives off of tips. How are they going to pay their rent? In my field of work (engineering), it will be relatively easy to work from home if necessary. We have been saving during the good times for an inevitable recession so we have ample cash to live on. The federal government will be giving every adult $1000 dollars and every child $500 as soon as possible. We plan to spend this money at local restaurants starting tomorrow night to help them stay in business.

There are two crises’, one is the virus and the other is our panic over it. Panic buying has set in over the past two weeks at grocery stores. I was at a gun store last week and the owner was almost sold out of ammunition and two rifles were sold in the 20 minutes I was there. It is quite rare to witness the shutting down of the largest economy on Earth. At the same time, my life has not changed too much, other than church being canceled. Our second child is due in two months.

The globe as a whole is said to already be in a recession and the USA is not too far behind. Currently we are seeing the infection rate rise exponentially. But in countries that contracted the virus before us, their infection rates have reportedly flattened. So I imagine ours will do the same in a month or so. At which point businesses will reopen and attempt to climb out of a recession.

The global economy seems like it will be seriously restructured with an emphasis on decoupling China from the rest of the world. This disease and so many others have originated in China. On top of that it seems that the whole world is finally accepting China’s biased trade practices and general closed off posture towards the rest of the world, in line with their entire history as a culture. With more attention focused on China and their history as a result of the global pandemic, it seems more people have become aware of the Communist Chinese government’s control over their population and history of atrocities.

What will Happen to our Freedoms?

People are beginning to worry that governments around the world may use this opportunity to take greater control over their citizens. Governments are providing cash handouts, restricting business activity, and controlling the travel of their citizens.

Trying to Stay Positive.

I feel like we are overacting tremendously. There have been diseases in the recent past and we didn’t react with anywhere near as much hysteria as we are today. But the reality likely is that this virus is far more contagious and deadly than those in the past. There will certainly be pain in the months ahead but after the infection rates flatten out we will certainly recover like we have so many times before.

Napoleon Bonaparte defined a military genius as being that person who is able to do the average things, while those around him are panicking.



Originally published

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Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Global Pandemic - March 19, 2020
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