I wasn’t going to do this.  But, after seeing a bunch of BS spreading around on FB, I knew someone had to be rational.  And, I’m going to spread this over three days, since I want to cover a few critical areas.

This virus problem (as I reported a little over a month ago) reached public consciousness around Christmas 2019, with its outbreak in Wuhan.   The virus might have jumped from bat to man (and woman)- or not.  It was rapidly mapped (the genome was identified) thanks to the myriad inventions and improvements afforded by BiochemE over the years.

Yet, we can expect 70% of the world to become infected. (Please do not overreact to this fact.)  The good thing is that some 80% of us will only manifest minor symptoms.  Yes, a cough and a fever are irritants.  But, only 1% (perhaps as high as 2%) of us will succumb (which makes this much worse than the flu)- but those will mostly be the elderly and already respiratorily-impaired. (Those over 80 will do so at an alarming rate.)  And, so far, no child under the age of 9 has succumbed.

And, China, being a totalitarian state (thankfully, TheDonald has not yet brought America to such a condition), it can elect to imprison whole regions in the home.  Oh, yeah, I know they call that quarantine.

But, what would you think if the government just dictated that all citizens residing in the US with zip codes of 22XXX are hereby ordered to stay in their homes? That groceries will be delivered to a walled area; from there a robot will bring them to your front door.  And, the order will continue for two months until we are sure that your region is safe.

Or, that (this is something that I will bet will happen) that all schools in Alexandria (or some other community) are closed for two months.  Since all books are already on the computers we have provided the students and the city is wired for free web access, we will provide remote instruction for all children.  This way clusters of our children won’t become infected.

These scenarios are why the US stock market has tanked.  $ 4 trillion in value has simply vanished. (This is not the most important thing about the Covid-19 [as the virus has now been termed] pandemic.  But, it’s certainly garnering the most attention in the US media.)

After all, the virus- and the reactions to it around the world- is disrupting business chains. Those disrupted business chains mean lower corporate profits.  But, more importantly, these disruptions are causing product shortages around the world.  (Car production is down, Apple phones are not being assembled, etc.) One of the biggest disruptions that will affect America is going to be our drug supply.   After all, our business outsourcing means that vital drug components are only available from Chinese sources.  So, the drugs we are going to need to treat folks infected with Covid-19 are going to be in very short supply- unless and until China resumes full manufacturing capability- or Big Pharma finds an alternative supply.

(This is the reason why the Pentagon only wants to use American firms for certain armaments and services.  Without realizing some of those components aren’t made here.  It’s also why our telecom industry needs to use American firms and American components- or we may find ourselves unable to maintain national and international communications.)

Which is also why TheDonald’s two-year-old’s comprehension of sci-tech and health-tech is such a detriment.  For years, he’s been slashing the budgets for NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) .  Even now, there’s a 15% cut to CDC being proposed.  (TheDonald believes you can turn on the health response in a moment.  Instead of the understanding the fact that it takes years of continued preparation and testing to ensure an adequate health response.)

Honestly, would you start building a fire department when you finally see a building burning?  [Yes, TheDonald obviously so thinks.]

On a slightly different note- don’t you feel just a bit sad that you have been against a national insurance program- one that can treat everyone, so those who are sick don’t just walk around infecting  us all?

We’ll continue this tomorrow.

 

Not a subject for today, but we should note that Jack Welch- a PhD ChemE- considered to be the manager of the century (20th, that is) by Fortune magazine- has died at 84.  This brilliant, bombastic, Wrong-Wing, management guru, iconic figure did manage to make General Electric (GE) the most valuable firm during his tenure.  But, he also earned the title Neutron Jack.  I will miss him.