Hysteria is as common a part of the human condition as is inebriation. — Anon,
Sometime today the U.S. coronavirus deaths will surpass 1,000 ... the datapoint at which President Obama declared a national emergency in the Swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010. President Trump declared a national emergency in our current pandemic 13 days ago. The Swine flu went on to claim the lives of as many as 18,000 Americans ... disproportunately children. We can only hope that coronavirus, which mainly suffers our infirmed elders, will not be as deadly.
So far, if we can believe their numbers, it has killed 3,287 people in China (I actually believe that the real number might be 10 times higher), a country with over three times the population of the U.S. (see:
Latest Numbers) ... and it appears to be fading out there as they have restarted their economy.
Are we hysterically overreacting now relative to the Swine flu? See:
Dr. Birx Assessment. I believe that this pandemic mania has resulted from three major factors:
- even though this virus may not be more lethal than past ones, its spread is quite fast ... overburdening our healthcare facilities. This, in turn, has required draconian measures to “flatten the curve” which accents this threat in the public’s mind.
- maybe because this pandemic seems to prefer killing us older farts, the decision makers ... our reaction is understandably inflated due to our instinct for self-preservation.
- because of the above two reasons ... and due to the national media’s visceral hatred of President Trump, news stories have clearly accented the negative and often untrue aspects of this pandemic. This overreaction ... is called the hoax ... too few medical supplies, undefundings, inattentive and late responses, huge job losses, etc. This is a clear and unprofessional continuation of the media’s attempts to take down the Orangeman.
