Tag: coronavirus

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”. 

Korea Times

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.

Here is some interesting coronavirus statistics from South Korea:

South Korea had released 4,811 fully recovered novel coronavirus patients from hospitals as of Saturday, up 283 from a day earlier, the KCDC said.

It marked the first time the number of cured people exceeded the number of quarantined patients since Jan. 20, when the virus was first detected on South Korean soil.

South Korea’s cure rate for people infected with the virus is 50 percent, an achievement that South Korean officials hailed in their fight against the contagious respiratory illness.

“The 50 percent cure rate is a small achievement that all in our society should celebrate, though we have a long way to go,” Yoon Tae-ho, director-general for public health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said in a briefing.

South Korea said the number of imported cases out of the 146 newly confirmed patients came to 41 — 25 from Europe, 12 from the United States and Mexico, and four from Thailand.

The KCDC said the number of imported cases came to 363 out of the 9,478 confirmed cases.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the small number of infections brought by people traveling to South Korea is a small number compared to the amount of media reports it has been receiving. It is also good to hear that so many people in South Korea have recovered. Hopefully this trend continues.

Does anyone think that a bio-attack will be used in a future conflict when an aircraft carrier can be taken out like this:

The Navy, the military service hit hardest by the coronavirus, scrambled Friday to contain its first at-sea outbreak, with at least two dozen infected aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of 11 active aircraft carriers whose mission is central to the Pentagon’s strategy for deterring war with China and Iran.

The Roosevelt and its contingent of warplanes may be sidelined for days, sitting pier side in Guam as the entire crew — more than 5,000 — is tested. Navy leaders say the carrier could return to duty at any time if required, but the sudden setback is seen as a harbinger of more trouble to come.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

According to the article the USFK soldier contracted the virus from the contractor who worked at the 8th Army headquarters. It will be interesting to see how many people end up being infected from just the one contractor who initially got it:

The soldier is in isolation at Camp Humphreys in a barracks set aside for coronavirus cases, according to a USFK press release.

The contractor was the fourth case of coronavirus confirmed at Camp Humphreys, which is in the rural area of Pyeongtaek about 55 miles south of Seoul. The other eight cases are at bases in the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby areas, which were at the center of the outbreak that began in mid-February in South Korea.

USFK remains at a high-risk level for the virus. The command has sharply restricted access to bases and ordered service members to avoid nonessential travel and off-post social activities in a bid to keep the virus from spreading.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like General Abrams has had enough with civilians putting troops at risk by spreading the coronavirus and has declared a public health emergency:

“In order to ensure I possess the necessary authorities needed to enforce compliance and protect the force, I have declared a Public Health Emergency for all U.S. commands and military installations” in South Korea, Abrams said in a video announcement.

He said the new designation applies to all service members, family members, U.S. and South Korean civilian employees, contractors and Defense Department retirees who have access to U.S. military installations.

Violations will be subject to punishment including barring individuals from installations, he added.

The overall number of confirmed infections in South Korea has been on a downward trend in recent days, but health authorities have warned that the threat remains due to cluster outbreaks and imported cases.

Commanders also have expressed increasing concern about complacency, particularly among civilian employees who cannot be forced to follow the same orders as service members to avoid nonessential travel and off-post social activities.