Coronavirus

As of 3/28/2020, more than 30,000 have died of this disease. There will be impact to the global economies. The U.S. pledged 2 trillion rescue money and it would affect her economy adversely in the long term. The root cause has not been found and there is a good chance it may never be found. There are rumors and some are belong to the conspiracy theories:

Causes

·         Caused by Chinese eating game food. It is likely but there is no concrete proof so far. An Indian scientist said that it was almost impossible.

·         A YouTube video indicates it was caused by two Chinese scientists stole the virus and it was escaped from the lab in Wuhan. Seems a rumor fabricated in U.S. It is denied by several prestigious organizations and articles.

·         There are many rumors spread around the internet that the virus was spread intentionally or un-intentionally from U.S. Some concluded that it was more powerful than tariff in a trade war. They listed a lot of coincident and reasons. The virus broke out shortly after the Wuhan’s military Olympics. The U.S. athletes did not win a gold this time and only this time. What did these athletes do? It is not likely.

The outbreak is in Wuhan but we cannot conclude where the source is. I wonder whether some of the substantially increased deaths from flu this year are actually caused by this virus. So far and according to some unproven sources, China has 3G (generation) of this virus while U.S. has 1G to 5G. The first patient so far is a female U.S. soldier attending the sports event in Wuhan.

China and many other countries will take preventive actions such as limiting eating games. China should also set up an organization such as CDC to speed up the warning without waiting for Beijing’s decision to publicize.

U.S. should have more preventive measures such as building up inventories for the masks, ventilation machines, covering hoods and the manufacturing capacities of them. When we have enough masks, the public should use them routinely especially the sick ones similar to many citizens in Asian countries. The drug / vaccine researches have responded very fast from the virus genome provided by China. However, they should take more than 6 months to be ready for general public.

The good sides

The current generation of Japanese are educated, polite, generous and civilized. Translated the following broadcast from a Japanese TV:

The Japanese special plane will fly to Wuhan tomorrow to pick up the Japanese who are stranded in Hubei province, especially Wuhan city. The plane is not empty; it will fly to Wuhan with relief supplies to Wuhan. The medical team of 1,000 people will also be sent to Wuhan, compared to South Korean petition to stop Chinese tourists from entering, Taiwanese refused to export the mouth masks to China, the Philippines deported Chinese tourists, and North Korea banned Chinese people from entering. The Japanese government quickly recruit factories, overtime making masks, etc.

Now the streets of Tokyo and Osaka are full of cheers for Wuhan. I hope that our fellow compatriots will remember this scene. No matter where disaster encounters, be considerate and helpful with actions. Love has no boundaries in race or country! I can forgive them for the terrible deeds to China during WW2. This generation of Japan has nothing to do with the war.

The bad side

There are at least two ‘famous internet posters’ in Hong Kong posting YouTube videos against the Hong Kong government aggressively every day. They must be financed and/or they are Chinese bashers. No matter what nationality you are, you should be proud of your country especially during a disaster.

China has gained points in building two hospitals in less than 12 days. For them the hospital is a death concentration camp. How ridiculous! They oppose everything the Hong Kong government and China do for no reasons.

Some doctors and nurses in Hong Kong wanted a strike if their political points were not approved by the government. They forget why they wanted to go to this sacred professional. I saw many taking this opportunity to promote their political views. It is a disaster and these political views have OPPOSITE effects to me.  What happens if they themselves or their family members have this virus? To me, they should go to the lowest level of hell.

Globalization and just-in-time inventory are popular in the last 20 years. With this virus, the destruction of global economies is huge. For example, Apple’s iPhone could need parts from more than 10 countries and few has stored enough inventory to last for months. The U.S. has the highest rate of casualties for this disease. It could be due to initially not identify the patients. Companies do not provide enough masks as they are not profitable when the virus is suppressed. It should be solved by the government such as maintaining factories and inventory.

We should learn lessons from this outbreak. In this case, China’s authoritarian government works better than our system. We would face a lot of opposition to close a city to start. We should maintain some manufacturing such as producing masks and do not depend on a sole country such as China for some medical ingredients and / or keep adequate inventory for the real national security. We should depend on the opinions of the experts (CDC in this case). I knew this outbreak in China at least a week before the U.S. public but I did not act on it due to my emotion. I should wear two hats: one as a human being and one as an investor. China controls this virus better than most countries. China’s sending medical supplies and medical folks to Italy improves her prestige a lot (as opposed to sending soldiers). The world should have no border.

We do not want to follow China’s model of fighting this virus and do not want to accept aids from China. Is our face more important than our citizens’ lives?

U.S. demonizes China and calls it Chinese virus while China did not do the same on U.S.’s H1N1 in 2009. A tale of two countries! Trump has been playing political game on this virus. There is no president not reelected when the unemployment is 4% or less. However, the unemployment is rising very fast. NY Governor Cuomo faces reality and has been doing a great job. Xi advises the world to be co-operative to fight this virus. We need to listen more to the experts and particularly those in WHO.

Updates

·         3/27/2020. From the YouTube videos (most made by Chinese citizens), China is recovering nicely. Most new cases are from foreigners entering the country and / or folks hiding their infection. Most citizens are wearing masks. Most of us in U.S. do not have masks and that’s why we should not venture out of the house unless it is necessary. China should have preventive measures on the possible second wave of this virus when the factories and social events are returning to normal. There is no reason to fight for toilet paper as we have the factories and the raw material here in the U.S.