#1 Anyone who knows about this knows that a magical cure is far off if not impossible. The companies working on a cure for SARS have been working on it for years and it is just as unlikely to work on this as it did for SARS. For one thing, this disease is not like other things we have a vaccine for. Those infected get it and can often recognize it and start fighting it. The issue is it takes time to fight it like the flu and fighting it can wear out your immune system leaving you open to other diseases that can make your life more perilous just like the flu can in people with weakened immune systems. You can help a body recognize it faster, but it is far from a cure, Flu shots don't get rid of the flu.
#2 Without comprehensive medical care and low cost screening, it is hard to combat this. Especially if the cost is high. Even if tests were free, people will not want to get tested given they will be quarantined if they are found having the Corona virus. Last. with the slow response in the US each state has a few hundred tests at most as of Friday last week. This is not enough to deal with any major outbreak. The fact that Hawaii was denied kits and denied ordering kits that worked from Japan when the US kits weren't ready is proof enough that we got caught with our pants down.
#3 They have cases of unidentified carriers. Apparently this disease has 2 good things going for it. It takes a while before it makes patients symptomatic allowing it to spread silently undetected for weeks. And second, it appears to be able to in fact people who can still transmit the disease without any visible signs to the the carrier. There is rumors that it can and has spread to dogs and other animals but so far that is not proven. If it spreads to birds it will become as uncontained and unpredictable as the flu.
#4 It is rumored that a cure will take 2 years or more to make. Given the mutation of this is rapid, any "cure" will likely be ineffective even if it did work before by the time it got out. Some virologists say that a cure is ridiculous in the first place for the same reason we can't cure the common flu. Rapid mutation is a common feature of such a disease.
#5 We are fortunate this will likely slow down like the flu as the warm weather gets underway because it is heat sensitive. It also doesn't appear to survive well exposed to the air so it will not last a long term sitting on surfaces outside the body. And given we don't know the full infection rate since we are only catching those getting symptoms, it is not as deadly as it is portrayed.
Taking this all into account, the Federal Reserve can not stimulate growth and purchasing with a rate cut, nor can government stimulus. What we really need is a trusting and competent person presumably in government to present the case and allay fears, coordinate a competent response, and help prevent the worsening of this rapidly. The fact our President can't be that person and has been saying things contrary to the facts doesn't calm anyone. I think this is what people are talking about the most.
We will see if he finally approves spending a fraction of the money allocated to fight this to give free testing to those who need to be tested and allow broader testing even if it shows how many more people are affected in the US. Closing the border is not an effective way to combat this now. It is already spreading in the US with inadequate testing and an inadequate response to the global pandemic it is. That said, it is not as bad as it could be if things are dealt with correctly from here on out.
Trump Is Playing With Fire; Coronavirus Update
#1 Anyone who knows about this knows that a magical cure is far off if not impossible. The companies working on a cure for SARS have been working on it for years and it is just as unlikely to work on this as it did for SARS. For one thing, this disease is not like other things we have a vaccine for. Those infected get it and can often recognize it and start fighting it. The issue is it takes time to fight it like the flu and fighting it can wear out your immune system leaving you open to other diseases that can make your life more perilous just like the flu can in people with weakened immune systems. You can help a body recognize it faster, but it is far from a cure, Flu shots don't get rid of the flu.
#2 Without comprehensive medical care and low cost screening, it is hard to combat this. Especially if the cost is high. Even if tests were free, people will not want to get tested given they will be quarantined if they are found having the Corona virus. Last. with the slow response in the US each state has a few hundred tests at most as of Friday last week. This is not enough to deal with any major outbreak. The fact that Hawaii was denied kits and denied ordering kits that worked from Japan when the US kits weren't ready is proof enough that we got caught with our pants down.
#3 They have cases of unidentified carriers. Apparently this disease has 2 good things going for it. It takes a while before it makes patients symptomatic allowing it to spread silently undetected for weeks. And second, it appears to be able to in fact people who can still transmit the disease without any visible signs to the the carrier. There is rumors that it can and has spread to dogs and other animals but so far that is not proven. If it spreads to birds it will become as uncontained and unpredictable as the flu.
#4 It is rumored that a cure will take 2 years or more to make. Given the mutation of this is rapid, any "cure" will likely be ineffective even if it did work before by the time it got out. Some virologists say that a cure is ridiculous in the first place for the same reason we can't cure the common flu. Rapid mutation is a common feature of such a disease.
#5 We are fortunate this will likely slow down like the flu as the warm weather gets underway because it is heat sensitive. It also doesn't appear to survive well exposed to the air so it will not last a long term sitting on surfaces outside the body. And given we don't know the full infection rate since we are only catching those getting symptoms, it is not as deadly as it is portrayed.
Taking this all into account, the Federal Reserve can not stimulate growth and purchasing with a rate cut, nor can government stimulus. What we really need is a trusting and competent person presumably in government to present the case and allay fears, coordinate a competent response, and help prevent the worsening of this rapidly. The fact our President can't be that person and has been saying things contrary to the facts doesn't calm anyone. I think this is what people are talking about the most.
We will see if he finally approves spending a fraction of the money allocated to fight this to give free testing to those who need to be tested and allow broader testing even if it shows how many more people are affected in the US. Closing the border is not an effective way to combat this now. It is already spreading in the US with inadequate testing and an inadequate response to the global pandemic it is. That said, it is not as bad as it could be if things are dealt with correctly from here on out.