First,
I have to admit I am not a health care professional and actually not a
professional in all fields. The following are the opinions I gathered from
various sources. It is not possible for me to check the validity of every
opinion. I am not responsible for any errors. Treat them as opinions and do not
take any actions without professional advices. In addition, I am politically
neutral. I usually comment against the current government so we could have
better solutions. Listen to CDC recommendations on this pandemic.
Being
the most developed country in the world, we cannot protect our own health care
workers with limited supplied of masks and protective gears. Unless you are a
dedicated Trump’s fan, you should tell that Trump has not been doing a good job
in fighting this virus. How many have died because of his delay in fighting
this virus? His speeches are full of self-promotion and not accepting the ideas
from his expert advisers.
We
have to ask China, a developing country, to donate and sell us the
desperately-needed supplies. We’re lucky that China has controlled the virus
and have manufacturing capacity for these supplies.
There
are potential lawsuits against China on this virus. Until they are
clear, I would not invest in China (FXI in my case). I am also careful on the
companies that have factories and investments in China.
Most countries including ours
will take better preventive actions for the next pandemic.
Affecting China
With Australia, United Kingdom,
U.S. want to punish China to pay for our damages due to this virus. It will
certainly be won in the U.S. court but not in a Chinese court. China will not
pay for any damages. Here are some proposals from U.S.:
·
Forgive our debts to China. Many foreign
countries would dump our debts. The status of USD as a reserve currency would
be shaken.
·
Freeze China’s assets in U.S. No country would
have assets in U.S.
·
Confiscate or delist Chinese stocks listed in
U.S.
China will not agree to any of
the above. There is a good chance the virus was started in U.S. Should U.S. pay
for the losses from the 2008 financial crisis and the 2009 H1N1 virus spread
from U.S.? They will win in the U.S. court of course, but the real objective is
to reduce the positive impact of China’s aids to the world on this virus.
The obvious counteractions are
doing the same to U.S. companies in China. It would lead to decoupling and even
a military war. Our leaders will risk for a war when their election is in
jeopardy.
China should be careful on the
donations. Ensure N95 masks are up to the U.S. standard (98% protection instead
of 95%) and / or there is a clause of no liability. Our system is making money
by the parasites also known as lawyers.
Holland accused China on the
quality of the donated aids. They should be directed to other countries and
China should not give them anything free any more. They use it as a tool for
political Chinese bashing. When they order, they should understand the 3 types
of masks and should have samples before shipment. Some test kits should be
transported in refrigerators. Here is a response from
CGTN and how the West/U.S. demonizes China.
We all have to
learn and make corrections. Unfortunately, usually we only do so after some
disaster occurs. China should have a reporting channel to their own CDC, which
should have full control without political interference.
Is China
under-reporting the death rate? Initially no one knew much about this virus (we
still don’t). There are a lot of under-reported figures including U.S. Check
out our average death rates for flu from Nov. to Jan. to this year. If you know
how China locks down cities and how they protect themselves including wearing
masks, you understand why they have low rates in the number of infested and
deaths. Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have similar figures as China.
China defeated the virus in early march from this
well-written article with real reality and emotional emotions.
Affecting globalization
We cannot depend all our manufacturing
on China. For example, 3M produces most masks in the world and many of their
factories are in China. Most active drug ingredients are from China. We need
the sources are from several sources: China, at least one other friendly source
and the U.S. The last two may not be profitable, but they are for real national
security.
Affecting our economy
The 2 trillion aid will be paid
back somehow and someday. Our national debt will break another record. It will
take a long recession and a long time to recover the market. Many countries
will reduce USD as a reserve currency.
We have to make sure the 2T aid
will not be used to pay for bonuses to executives and / or buybacks (to boost
the stock price of the company and hence the profits of executives’ stock
options). Cheat us twice, shame on us.
I expect at least 15% peak for
unemployment and many businesses especially the smallest ones will be
out-of-business. It will take years to recover.
Affecting our society
We have not prepared how to help
the homeless. On-line schooling is not adequate for the poor who do not have
internet, slow internet or no PC. The minority suffers more. Some have to work
and some live in crowded houses.
Trump is walking
in the tight wire to decide whether to open up (for the unemployment and the
market which both would affect his reelection) and lives.
Chinese can use
the phone to spot the infested nearby. Google and Facebook are doing similar
apps. It may be faster to ask China to borrow their apps.
China has a
health care database for all her citizens. It is easy to check and update the
citizen’s health care. Our hospitals are bankrupting as other operations
(expensive and profitable) have taken a back seat to treat the patients with
the current pandemic. Consequently, they are laying off staffs that are
desperately needed. The government should bail them out. I expect a lot of
bankruptcy starting in April, 2020. Sorry for the many small businesses such as
restaurants that would be bankrupted due to this virus.
Once the richest
man if not one of the richest men in China is bankrupting. When he bought
America’s AMC (the movie chain), I could have told him it was not a good buy
regardless of the low price. If someone tells you that your investment with him
would net you 100% in a year, run away fast even without your pants and learn
from your mother’s lesson on no free lunch.
I am glad I did
not give advice on my friend’s buying annuity. Annuity in general is not a good
buy due to high commissions and the plans were written by them. Now, she is a
winner after this stock market plunge.
Being the most
advanced country, we should not be shamed to borrow good ideas from developing
country like China.
Affecting our military
The U.S. military is at a halt
after finding out 200 or so soldiers in a carrier are pandemic positive. Is it
a big hole?
The captain of a carrier was
fired due to warning on the virus. A hero or a victim? The one who fired him
should be fired. Should the whistle blower be punished?
For a long while, we have no
pandemic like this. As we have been eating games since history, I do not 100%
convinced that the games cause this virus. I guess some countries are working
on biological warfare.
Affecting our health
The number of deaths and the
infected have passed China. We do not have inventory and manufacturing capacity
to the required medical supplies.
China’s data could be far smaller
than the actual. However, I watched many YouTube videos taken by citizens and
they showed they’re partially recovering as of 4/1/2020. I do not think China
hid the data. No one understood this pandemic at the time. We accused China of
jacking up production of masks and other medical supplies. I believe they did
it for themselves. Luckily, they controlled the virus and they donated some of
the supplies to many countries free of charge.
China has the experience from
SARS and knows how to deal with it. Our leader told us not to wear masks
initially due to our limited supply. Most Asians in many countries including
China wear masks in the street. Even the best masks are not bullet-proof and
staying home is the best bet.
Affecting our leadership
Initially Trump took it less
seriously and it led to many unnecessary deaths. We do not want to learn from
China. Is saving face more important than our lives?
Trump is not a ‘wartime’ leader
mentioned in the Boston Globe. Most of his talks were used to promote himself
and his reelection. He has not listened to his advisors. He played politics on
medical supplies on NY as NY, NJ and CT did not vote for him.
As of 4/4/2020, the medical ships
have only a few patients. What’s wrong?
Trump is not going to send money
to W.H.O. I do not think we will give up the membership. W.H.O. is under United
Nations. The president of W.H.O. praised China in controlling the virus. A
friend of my enemy is an enemy. Similar to Voice of America. In any case,
politics should not be used in this pandemic. The artists all over the world
supported W.H.O. by seeking contributions via their concerts.
As of 04/25/2020, the WHOLE world
laugh at our president’s remark on injecting the human bodies with disinfectant
products. His remark may cause him a lot of potential votes. Any of his medical
advisors would tell him why it does not work.
It reminds me of the following
joke that I heard. The little girl wanted to be a president when she grew up.
After attending a circus, she wanted to be a clown. Her smart father told her
she could be a clown and a president at the same time. Need any proof?
Defending for our president,
laughter is the best and cheapest cure to this virus. Even if you die, your
virus dies too and in theory you are cured. What a genius! BTW, a genius does not call
himself / herself genius every day. That’s why I do not call myself genius. See
the logic?
I am still scratching my head why
our Vice President did not wear a mask at Mayo Clinic.
Affecting the U.S.
Can GE, Ford, and Tesla make
ventilators good and fast enough in such short notice? It seems they are
working fast and productive. Thanks!
Moving 3M back from China, the
world’s largest mask manufacturer, is it too late for this virus?
States compete with each other in
getting the medical supplies and usually pay far higher prices. Is it the
Federal’s job to buy and distribute them or setting up agreed prices?
We have been ill-prepared for
this virus. After this virus, please better prepare for the next one; this is
not the last one.
CDC have not done a good job
initially. First, the initial test kits are too expensive for general public
use. Second, not wearing masks is a wrong advice. Dr. Fauci has done a great
job even risking offending his boss.
Heroes are born with crises.
Thanks to all the medical workers, medical researchers and essential workers.
Governor Cuomo, Dr. Fauci, Patriots owners and many others who show leadership.
Why we let the milk spilled and
tomato / lettuce rotten while we have hungry folks? Some hospitals are closing
due to running out of money.
Affecting the world
W.H.O. does not allowed a
pandemic name to be associated with a place or a person.
Most countries have not prepared
for this virus. Hopefully, they will be better prepared for the next one.
As of 3/2020, Trump is spreading
the word that they are going to seek damages. Few of our allies agree with it.
It seems to be the same trick of spreading the word of the virtual “mass
destruction weapon” in Iraq. But, Iraq is not China.
If U.S. asks China for damages,
China would likely refuse. U.S. will win from a U.S. court for sure even the
case does not make sense. China has given the genetic map early and that’s why
we can develop vaccines that fast. How long did Trump take this virus seriously
after Wuhan had been locked out? How
China recovered so fast? The death rate of China on this virus is about the
same as many Asian countries such as Japan and S. Korea.
If the debt of about 1.3T is
frozen, China would take counter action. This would lead to military war and
WW3. The Eight-Nation Alliance
asked China for damages during the semi-colonial days.
Imagine a child comes to your
house uninvited and fights with your child. Then their parents ask you to pay for
their child’s damage and bankrupt you. Today China is strong enough and cannot
be pushed around as before.
Unless Trump is losing the
election, most likely he would not start a military war that would hurt the
entire world. With Russia’s help, China is strong enough to defend herself.
U.S. is too far away from her military sites.
As of 4/2020, China is recovering
nicely as seen from the many YouTube videos taken by local citizens. Their
protective actions hopefully would prevent the second wave of the virus. The
countries facing serious problems are Belgium (highest death rate per capita), Brazil
and India. S. Korea, Taiwan and Singapore are doing great in controlling the
virus. The death rate of Singapore is surprisingly low that could be due to the
young foreign workers and the superior health care. Canada’s infection rate is
low and it could be due to the colder climate at the time.
In 5/2020, China has announced
that they will help the poor countries (most are in Africa) to fight this virus
and will make the vaccine
public when it is available. It would hurt the profit-seeking drug companies.
China has prepared for viruses
since SARS while we has not. Check out this YouTube video.
Affecting drug / vaccine development
We have been experiencing
light-speed development of the drugs and vaccines today. Vaccines can be
developed in two weeks and drugs in a month. The new drugs will be given to
dying patients and most likely some drugs will be mass produced and used in China
first. Traditional Chinese medicines have been found useful in some cases. I
bet Yu who discovered a cure for malaria is finding
the cure for this virus too. Plasma from
recovered patients could be a breakthrough. However, it would take up at least
6 months for the general public (shorter time for vaccines). Here is one
YouTube for the drug.
I believe hydroxylcholoroquine
(referred to HC now) may have some effect. There was a big debate in the White
House. They found a lot of HC on stockpile. Dr. Fauci argued against using it
due to not testing it enough. Sweden tested it and bans using it due to the
many side effects. Trump does not want to take advice from his experts. He
takes HC personally and he becomes the best spokesman for HC. Another
conspiracy theory? Injecting disinfectant
becomes a joke world around and it hurts our image as a world leader.
In 5/2020, we finally have a promising
vaccine from a U.S. company. The Dow was up by more than 900 points for the
day. It has skipped my trials and they do not know the side effects for a long
while.
The following is from my
classmate who was a retiree from pharmacy.
Here are the healthcare providers comment on HC use:
Why Trump push for its use is beyond me. China has already
tried it, and Nigeria banned its use on Ebola & Covid-19 use.
Trump wants to use it against Dr.
Fauci, because he has his personal stake in the malaria-drug maker Sanofi,
according to this article:
So far, I put more confidence in
the other 2 drugs, Avigan tablet, made in Japan since 2014, and (Gilead’s)
Remdesivir. Avigan has been tried on Wuhan mild to moderate infected patients
with some early promising results, testing negative after the 4th day of use.
Yesterday, Japan and China announced joint collaboration on the effectiveness
data on Avigan.
Affecting our environment
Will the used, disposable masks
an environment disaster? Recycle could be the answer.
The air is cleaner. Beijing had
several days of clear sky for a change. Indians saw the water pretty clean in
one of the major rivers. There are always have silver linings. How often the
whole family stick together for the entire day?
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