Were we lucky the coronavirus started in a country with strong central government able to quarantine infected people?

Here the Chinese government "forced" the bat-eating lady to apologise. Would that happen in Western worlds? A show called Beauty Eats Bats which originally launched in 2016 was blamed for re-invigorating the trend of eating bats across the country, prompting the Chinese Communist Party to demand that its female host discourage the consumption of bats.

The woman featured in the clip took to social media to profusely apologize for her role in encouraging the consumption of bats and encouraged everyone to start washing their hands more.

The video shows the woman breaking apart the corpse of a boiled bat, dipping its wing in sauce and eating it.

Chinese people have started to travel recently. For example here there is plenty of them. Chinese government can restrict group traveling but not really to stop the virus. The problem is that they eat stuff in the Asian countries that is not meant to be eaten. Therefore viruses like this are transmitted to humans. It is a natural way to take care of the overpopulation in Asia but the problem is that China is not North Korea: they travel internationally.

My wife is an infectious disease physician and was talking to me about this last night. Her comments:

1) China was too slow to respond to this. The Chinese at this point have a reputation for not only slow response but also providing BS data to paint them in a positive light.

2) China lacks sophisticated public health policy and well trained infectious disease specialists and epidemiologists

3) This is going to end up spreading and in her opinion is going to simply become a fact of life henceforth.

So no, we shouldn’t consider ourselves lucky this was in China. It would have been better handled in literally any first world country.

There’s a Wuhan nurse on YouTube saying the real infected # is 90,000... not 2000.

90,000 would explain the overwhelmed hospitals.

And 90,000 will be a problem for all of us.

1ub2run wrote:

There’s a Wuhan nurse on YouTube saying the real infected # is 90,000... not 2000.

90,000 would explain the overwhelmed hospitals.

And 90,000 will be a problem for all of us.

+1

The problem for LRC readers: the closure of sweatshops making Apple ad Nike stuff, hence driving up the price.

Handouts wrote:

Of course we are, they have already cured 38+ people of this horrible disease. This thanks to government sponsored basic scientific research to join their nationwide battle.

Saturday has brought some good news from China, where the nationwide battle against coronavirus is underway – dozens of patients have been cured of the disease!

Some 38 people are recovering from coronavirus, Chinese media reported on Saturday.

WHO tells us that it's still only a Chinese emergency (NOT a global one), thanks in part to their great efforts to control the menace.

In December they initially arrested 9 people who posted on Weibo about a new flu.

They originally said it was hard to transmit person-to-person

In other words, the PRC is run by incompetent morons more intent on barfing up the thought of Xi Jin Ping.

By way if example - US has reported 70k deaths from influenza in 2017. PRC reported 144. Either the PRC has the world's best healthcare system, or they have absolutely no capacity to measure healthcare, and are just guessing all the time.

People seem to take the virus lightly because it didn't kill so many people yet.

But don't forget that we still didn't find a remedy against it

Quarantines are ineffective for easily tramsitted viruses, this virus is already worldwide. There were no SARS related US deaths despite the hysteria. As already mentioned, 35000 people a year die in the US from influenza. It’s likely tens of thousands have had this virus and experienced only a mild syndrome, not coming to medical attention and so undiagnosed.

1ub2run wrote:

...

And 90,000 will be a problem for all of us.

I saw video on twitter last night. May cancel travel plans to a certain west coast city in Canada.

Baltsu wrote:

The problem is that they eat stuff in the Asian countries that is not meant to be eaten.

Who decides what is meant to be eaten? Muslims don't think pigs are meant to be eaten. Hindus don't think cows are meant to be eaten. Americans don't think dogs are meant to be eaten but have a chain of popular restaurants dedicated to meals featuring crustaceans.

Five-year Planner wrote:

Imagine if this were happening in USA, or Europe where people demand mobility rights, etc.

It could be like the 1918 flu (influenza) virus epidemic all over again.

But China did not blink, they roped off a population bigger than Florida to keep everyone safe.

We should be thankfull of such prudence.

Problem with "strong central government" is that they usually are reluctant to tell the truth about the real situation and mostly downplay number until siht hits the fan big time or until it's impossible to hide the truth anymore. If you take a look into history you'll see that every communist regime has acted stupidly throughout all major crisis situations starting with Chernobyl.

The problem most of the time is not the government itself but the how the entire system is built around fear and control. Since those who are the top "never makes mistakes" they are doing whatever they can to downplay the seriousness of the situation and make it look to the general public that all is well and fine. We can see the same trends regarding this situation as well as there are reports that the outbreak started long before mid-December. Rumors on WeChat and Twitter are that actually the number of infected people are close to 100 thousand. Photos of bodies lying on the streets and huge crowds in hospitals are circulating on social media. It's hard to tell at this point what is truth and what is misinformation but I myself am taking this seriously.

All flu strains originate in Asia. Why are we lucky?

to each his/her own wrote:

Baltsu wrote:

The problem is that they eat stuff in the Asian countries that is not meant to be eaten.

Who decides what is meant to be eaten? Muslims don't think pigs are meant to be eaten. Hindus don't think cows are meant to be eaten. Americans don't think dogs are meant to be eaten but have a chain of popular restaurants dedicated to meals featuring crustaceans.

While you raise a point that is interesting to debate, from a public health viewpoint there are valid concerns around certain cultural practices. For example, the US government would shut down any market, restaurant or establishment serving raw pork. Similarly, serving infected and.or raw bovine/monkey brain, raw hamburger/beef, bat, etc poses a threat to public health. Any reasonable government concerned with the well being of their citizens would attempt to regulate the practice of consuming such food products. China historically has not attempted to regulate this practice and hence as served as a breeding ground for numerous viruses that have become a global health threat.

highhoppingworm wrote:

My wife is an infectious disease physician and was talking to me about this last night. Her comments:

1) China was too slow to respond to this. The Chinese at this point have a reputation for not only slow response but also providing BS data to paint them in a positive light.

2) China lacks sophisticated public health policy and well trained infectious disease specialists and epidemiologists

3) This is going to end up spreading and in her opinion is going to simply become a fact of life henceforth.

So no, we shouldn’t consider ourselves lucky this was in China. It would have been better handled in literally any first world country.

' The virus causes flu-like symptoms and is transmittable between humans. The exact animal species that transmitted the infection to humans is yet to be identified, with bats and snakes mentioned as possible candidates.

Earlier on Tuesday, the ministry ordered stricter control of wildlife with a focus on Wuhan, but stopped short of banning it altogether nationwide. Dishes incorporating wildlife are considered gourmet in many parts of China. They have been slowly going out of favor in larger cities like Beijing, but the demand remains relatively high in certain provinces'

We can see the same trends regarding this situation as well as there are reports that the outbreak started long before mid-December. Rumors on WeChat and Twitter are that actually the number of infected people are close to 100 thousand. Photos of bodies lying on the streets and huge crowds in hospitals are circulating on social media. It's hard to tell at this point what is truth and what is misinformation but I myself am taking this seriously.

Jezus

to each his/her own wrote:

Baltsu wrote:

The problem is that they eat stuff in the Asian countries that is not meant to be eaten.

Who decides what is meant to be eaten? Muslims don't think pigs are meant to be eaten. Hindus don't think cows are meant to be eaten. Americans don't think dogs are meant to be eaten but have a chain of popular restaurants dedicated to meals featuring crustaceans.

I like turtles.

Hong Kong reaserches now confirm what I suspected -- real number of infections are WAAAY higher than government tells. History yet again confirms itself.

It's no coincidence that a third world virus started in a country with a command economy. That's why China is a dirty shythole.

yes indeed, now president xi informs us the outbreak will help china's economy

this would not happen in a different country

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-xi-economy/xi-warned-officials-that-efforts-to-stop-virus-could-hurt-economy-sources-idUSKBN2050JL