PANDEMIC DECLARED:
A Pandemic has finally been declared by the WHO and the world is officially in "freak out" mode.
Speaking at a conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said:
"We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,"
He also made it very clear to those watching that "Pandemic" is "not a word to use lightly or carelessly."
Frankly speaking, this was already a Pandemic some time ago. Calling it a Pandemic now isn't going to help very much at this point because the damage has already been done. As Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, said, "the Genie is out of the bottle".
Tedros implied that the reason it has become a Pandemic is due to "inaction" by some countries when the outbreak first began.
Seriously?
Maybe Tedros and his buddies at the WHO should have declared it a "Pandemic" earlier so that countries around the world would have taken it more seriously. It should have been declared a pandemic the minute it started spreading all over the world, but it was only when Italy's healthcare system started imploding in real time that the WHO decided to do something about the worsening situation.
In the WHO's defense, a "public health emergency of international concern" was declared on January 30th. This has been described as their "highest level of alarm". But let's be honest with ourselves, specific terms that convey a sense of urgency and are easily recognizable such as "PANDEMIC" are much more instructive & effective than broad sweeping statements. This is just another fine example of bureaucratic mismanagement.
Now that a pandemic has been declared, what's going to happen?
I mentioned in my previous post that there will be disruptions to supply lines.
It's already happening.
Check out the following excerpt in an article from Fortune:
"Nearly 75% of companies are seeing capacity disruptions in their supply chains as a result of coronavirus-related transportation restrictions, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey published Wednesday.
This is strong warning sign that COVID-19—which was ruled a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Wednesday—is weighing down the global economy.
“For a majority of U.S. businesses, lead times have doubled, and that shortage is compounded by the shortage of air and ocean freight options to move product to the United States—even if they can get orders filled,” said Thomas Derry, CEO of ISM, in the report. "Companies are faced with a lengthy recovery to normal operations in the wake of the virus outbreak."
Over 60% of firms are experiencing delays in receiving orders from China, and 53% are having difficulty getting information from China."
So is declaring a "pandemic" good or bad? It's both. It's good in the sense that countries all over the world will recognize the urgency of the outbreak and take the appropriate measures to try to curb it. It's bad in the sense that supply chains will be disrupted and the economy will suffer, and on a personal level - your damaged iPhone is unlikely to have its parts replaced any time soon since Apple's manufacturing is done primarily in China. If you have prepared well by having enough essential items to last you through a potential and hopefully short-term disruption then you should be okay.
What's scarier with regards to a disruption in supply lines is the issue of prescription medication. Unfortunately, most Americans rely heavily on China for their prescription drugs, and this is where a supply chain disruption could cause huge problems for sick Americans, and perhaps for many across the world.
However, while society in Europe seems to be collapsing due to the increasing number of cases, the spread of Coronachan seems to be slowing in China with Xi Jinping even visiting Wuhan yesterday; perhaps a sign that things are starting to look up. If people get back to work and China functions somewhat normally again, then a supply chain disruption may not materialize. We can only know in the next few days whether this would indeed be the case.
There's also sliver of hope that China's supply line is somewhat active based on the Chinese government's commitment to assist Italy by supplying them with equipment to combat the virus. This could be further evidence that China, a major exporter, might be healing just in time to offset the difficulties faced by the rest of the world.
One should be wary of China's recovery, however. Michael Osterholm, an expert in infectious epidemiology and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), posited on the Joe Rogan Experience a couple of days ago that if the Chinese workforce springs back to life too quickly and crowds start to form once more, Coronachan is likely to strike again, and China will end back up at square one.
With regards to society transitioning towards a more futuristic environment with further reliance on telepresence and VR, schools across the globe have effectively closed (not the case here in Singapore though) and Harvard in particular has moved classes online. In Japan, some have taken to online drinking parties as a way to alleviate their restlessness since public gatherings are frowned upon right now.
In Singapore, PM Lee Hsien Loong assured citizens that the situation is under control, but pointed out that Singaporeans should be prepared for a spike in the number of infected.
He also said:
“Besides medical plans, if there is a spike, we will also need additional social distancing measures. These will be temporary like suspending school, staggering work hours, or compulsory telecommuting.”
Since we are to brace ourselves for a spike in the numbers now that the entire world is affected, it follows that these social distancing measures mentioned by PM Lee which promote less reliance on physical interaction will be implemented here in Singapore in time to come as well.
Hollywood is also getting hit pretty badly, with the production of 'Mission Impossible 7' and 'James Bond: No Time to Die' among a whole cornucopia of other movies being delayed. This is a huge boon to streaming services and will definitely help to expedite the transition towards a more virtual environment.
Speaking of Hollywood, Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, tested positive for the Coronavirus in Australia. Tom Hanks seems to be the sacrificial goat for regular Joes and Janes across the world. Will it take a prominent & wealthy celebrity to test positive for people who don't typically follow the news to finally take this matter seriously? Furthermore, what's alarming is that Hanks was infected in Australia, a country that (though having infected cases) is not as severely hit as Italy, Spain or Germany. This is an indication that literally anyone can get it at any point in time without any warning whatsoever and also completely irrespective of one's social status and wealth.
TRUMP RISES TO THE OCCASION:
In response to the Pandemic, Trump has finally risen to the occasion by implementing a measure that bans all flights from Europe for 30 days.
This is the sensible and necessary thing to do at a chaotic time like this. Europe is a complete mess right now with the numbers in Spain, Germany and Italy soaring and threatening the rest of the world through intercontinental traveling, and further compounded by the Schengen Agreement which allows for borders not to be strictly controlled among European Union Member States.
Such a bold move requires immense testicular fortitude to pull off, and who better than Trump to do something that's drastically needed but simultaneously spits in the face of political correctness and flies in the face of the globalist agenda?
Someone like Bernie wouldn't have done the same thing because of what he perceives to be the implications of such a measure. When asked if he would close borders as president if the situation worsened at a recent town hall, he somehow linked the temporary measure of closing one's borders to curb the spread of Coronachan to the issue of illegal immigration - an entirely separate matter.
Speaking of Bernie,
BERNIE STAYS IN THE RACE:
After a poor showing on Tuesday where Biden bagged Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan, in the primaries, Bernie's campaign is - for all intents & purposes - toast, unless due to some miraculous event, he performs exceedingly well at the next Primaries, which is extremely unlikely at this point. This was especially shocking since Bernie took some of these States in 2016, especially Michigan. Bernie was hoping to capture the same group of voters this time, but lost resoundingly to Biden instead.
In spite of this, Bernie is carrying on, asserting that he's winning the generational debate despite the disappointing results. Are you kidding, Bernie? Winning "the generational debate" does not win you the required number of delegates to be the nominee.
The problem is that the youth do not go out to vote. Old people do, and old people are generally for Biden.
Either way, it seems like Bernie is changing his strategy; He's finally coming to terms that he needs to be more aggressive against his opponents.
Evidence of his campaign strategy adopting a more aggressive approach can be found on his campaign manager's Twitter feed (with the following Tweets taking potshots at Biden's Gaffes):
Wait wut https://t.co/JSz8JP3ejV
— Faiz (@fshakir) March 10, 2020
Oh no https://t.co/U5FXkfwya8
— Faiz (@fshakir) March 10, 2020
Expect a different Bernie going forward.
In 2016, Bernie said he didn't care about the primary issue affecting the credibility of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, at the time: her emails, and while that sounded noble - it cost him dearly.
Politics is a dirty game. Being a nice guy will get you absolutely destroyed in politics. Bernie is only now realizing that he cannot afford to play Mr. Nice Guy because it no longer works, especially in this day & age.
The problem is that Bernie realizing this now may be too late.
Late or not, he is getting into gear for this Sunday's debate in Arizona. He's going to be on full form on Sunday and he's going to pounce on Biden and try to rip off his jugular like an attack dog from the get-go.
However, being overly aggressive is not typically part of his natural demeanor (grumpy & cantankanerous - yes, aggressive - no) and it may not sit well with voters. Some may even see his performance as contrived, but who knows. We'll see.
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