As the article states, Asia has long been right about the wearing of masks, I just think the CDC did not want to have a rush on these masks by the general American public when hospitals needed a chance to stockpile them:
Pedestrians wear face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus on the streets of Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. AP
Debate over masks ends: Asia was right all along
“There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit,” said Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies programme, as recently as Monday.
All that changed this week. On Friday, both the US and Singapore switched to advising citizens to wear masks when they leave their homes. The WHO also made a U-turn itself, with Ryan saying: “We can certainly see circumstances on which the use of masks, both home-made and cloth masks, at the community level may help with an overall comprehensive response to this disease.”
You can read more at the link, but this will be a huge cultural change in the U.S. where walking around with a mask could be confused for criminal activity.
Here is some important context about the coronavirus statistics that very, very few in the media ever mention; they are not accurate and should not be trusted:
In between the rushes, data fatigue would sink it and I would promise myself I’d be better … until another surge of coronavirus figures hit the streets.
Then one morning, in what can only be described as a moment of revelation, my rational brain punched through the haze and made me look at what I’d become.
I had elevated numbers and statistics to a position of power and influence. But worse, I had awarded them a legitimacy that they neither earned, nor deserved.
Numbers and statistics had become my master and I their slave. I had begun to follow them as if they were worthy of my trust and deserving of my full attention. (………….)
“The statistics that we see in print or online depend entirely on the number of confirmed cases, but as every international expert agrees, in most countries the number of undocumented cases of infection far exceeds the number of ‘confirmed cases.’
“We do not report all the cases. In fact, we only usually report a small proportion of them. If it were possible to identify every case of infection, only then would we be able to arrive at an accurate rate of case fatality”.
You can read more at the link, but the coronavirus is highly contagious and likely has infected far many more people than the reported cases. From the article one scientific study concluded that 86% of the people infected in the Wuhan province of China went undetected.
However, I expect the media to continue to highlight inflated mortality rates to keep people in panic and thus continuing to tune into their news reports and clicking their articles.
Yes, but "cooperation" with bad actors, like #China, has set back efforts to prevent the spread of the #coronavirus. Case in point: #SouthKorea, if it had not agreed to cooperate with Beijing and keep its borders open, would not have had an epidemic. https://t.co/EW4wpU1qxH
A lot of people don’t realize the bureaucracy that getting test kits out to the public has had to go through initially. I guess we will see if the President is able to get these foreign made test kits approved by the FDA in expedient manner:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits a Seoul-based company developing diagnostic solutions for fighting the coronavirus, Wednesday, March 25, 2020
South Korea’s president said Donald Trump asked South Korea for help with coronavirus testing kits and other equipment, and officials offered to send what they could as the United States struggles to cope with the pandemic.
Moon Jae-in’s comments come as the South reported a slight uptick in the number of confirmed cases on Tuesday, raising the total to 9,137 but remaining far below the peak of 909 infections on Feb. 29.
Authorities blamed a large jump in imported cases, prompting them to impose a two-week quarantine on all visitors arriving from the United States, in addition to that already imposed on Europeans.
Trump made the request during a 23-minute phone conversation to discuss cooperation against the virus, according to the Blue House.
“Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump made a request to us for the urgent provision of test kits and quarantine products,” Moon said Wednesday during a visit to Seegene Inc., a Seoul-based company that develops diagnostic solutions.
The comment elaborated on a transcript of the phone conversation showing that Moon was willing to provide as much equipment as it could spare but noted possible limitations because of the U.S. need for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
“When President Moon explained that FDA approval may be required, President Trump said he would take immediate action to ensure that approval is granted within the day,” according to the transcript.
That did not take very long to make this common sense decision to postpone the Olympic Games until next year:
The 2020 Olympics, which were scheduled to begin July 24 in Tokyo, have been postponed to a date “no later than summer 2021” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community,” the IOC said in a statement.
It's true. Being in Seoul, I spoke to some intelligence officers in Jan & Feb, explained why #COVID19 will quickly become a pandemic. They got it. They knew the US had weeks (2 mo) to prepare. Clearly Trump didn't get it. And the US is still behind the curve in its response. https://t.co/1FiksGLaBo
Here is the new Interpol chief, hopefully he has a better fate than the last one:
This file photo shows Kim Jong-yang, the newly elected president of Interpol. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang has been elected as new chief of global police organization Interpol, officials in Seoul said Wednesday.
Kim, who had served as chief of South Korea’s Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency and vice president of Interpol, will become the first South Korean to head the global police body.
Kim will replace Meng Hongwei of China, who disappeared two months ago. The election was held in Dubai on the final day of Interpol’s general assembly.
Kim, 57, is to serve as president of Interpol for the remainder of Meng’s term, until November 2020, according to officials at the National Police Agency of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder how much influence the Moon administration has on Kim Jong-yang? I wonder because North Korea is well known for the international criminal enterprises they run to bring in foreign currency to the Kim regime. A South Korean running Interpol with ties to the Moon administration may decide to turn a blind eye to these activities in order to not upset the so called “peace mood” on the peninsula.
Here is yet another example of why President Trump calls them the “fake news” media:
At one point Trump described migration as a big problem for Europe then said to Abe: “Shinzo, you don’t have this problem, but I can send you 25 million Mexicans and you’ll be out of office very soon,” according to an official quoted by the Journal (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)
Donald Trump threatened Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe he would ship 25 million Mexicans to his country, one of a series of bizarre missives that jarred fellow leaders at last week’s acrimonious G7 meet, according to a report on Friday.
The Group of Seven summit gathering of top industrialized democracies finished in disarray after the US president abruptly rejected its consensus statement and bitterly attacked Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Behind the scenes, Trump’s counterparts were dismayed by verbal jabs on topics ranging from trade to terrorism and migration, The Wall Street Journal said, quoting European officials who were present.
At one point he described migration as a big problem for Europe then said to Abe: “Shinzo, you don’t have this problem, but I can send you 25 million Mexicans and you’ll be out of office very soon,” creating a sense of irritation in the room, according to an EU official. [AFP]
You can read more at the link, but Trump did not “threaten” Shinzo Abe as this article claims. He was clearly using sarcasm to make a point to the people in the room. Any journalist publishing articles insinuating that Trump literally meant to round up 25 million illegal immigrants and ship them to Japan are clearly dishonest and part of the fake news problem.
It looks like Kim Jong-un is once again getting a free ride during his visit to Singapore, courtesy of the government of Singapore:
In this June 7, 2018, photo, a man walks past an advertisement board of cartoon caricatures of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un which are supposed to be the inspiration behind a local dish, the “Trump-Kim Chi Nasi Lemak” at a mall, in Singapore. AP
Most Singaporeans are excited about their country playing host to the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But not all are happy about the city-state bearing the cost of the summit slated to be held at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa, June 12.
Proponents believe that this is a great chance for Singapore to upgrade its international image, so the government and people are taking a strategic approach.
In other words, paying the direct costs for North Korea, such as lodging, transport and dining, can be a monetary loss in the short-term, but successful hosting the summit will bring greater value for the country.
“This kind of opportunity does not come often. I think we can afford to bear the cost and it will help leverage our international status,” said a senior executive at one of the five-star hotels in Singapore on condition of anonymity. [Korea Times]
