Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

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This is not chickenpox. People are dying from this. Even if the chance of dying is 1 in a hundred, I still wouldn’t want to get the disease.

I’m not a spring chicken, either.

This is hardly surprising. But it adds to the idea that people who aren't in high-risk groups -- the very old, people with pre-existing conditions, public transport riders, etc. -- are pretty low risk.

MIT study: Subways a ‘major disseminator’ of coronavirus in NYC

A new study argues that city subways and buses were a “major disseminator” of the coronavirus in the Big Apple.

The paper, by MIT economics professor and physician Jeffrey Harris, points to a parallel between high ridership “and the rapid, exponential surge in infections” in the first two weeks of March — when the subways were still packed with up to 5 million riders per day — as well as between turnstile entries and virus hotspots.

“New York City’s multitentacled subway system was a major disseminator — if not the principal transmission vehicle — of coronavirus infection during the initial takeoff of the massive epidemic,” argues Harris, who works as a physician in Massachusetts.

https://nypost.com/2020/04/15/mit-study ... us-in-nyc/

I believe the subways probably were a “major disseminator” of the Coronavirus.

Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods shutters two more meat processing plants in Missouri and Wisconsin after massive coronavirus outbreak closed South Dakota factory, threatening the American food supply chain

-Smithfield on Wednesday closed two more plants in Missouri and Wisconsin
-Plant in South Dakota closed after becoming biggest single source of infection
-CEO warns that packing plants are a 'bottleneck' in the US food supply chain
-Closures threaten to raise the price of pork or cause temporary shortages
-Smithfield was purchased by Chinese meat packing giant WH Group in 2013
-FDA says there is no evidence of virus transmission through food or packaging

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... onsin.html

There was an interesting article out today:

China's claim of zero coronavirus infections in military is bogus, sign of intimidating rivals, experts say

China has recast itself as a global leader in defeating coronavirus -- and nowhere is that more apparent than in their military.

In fact, China has claimed that not a single member of its 2 million strong People's Liberation Army has contracted COVID-19, a virus that was started in China and has infected 2 million people worldwide.

The fantastical claim is being labeled an implausible narrative that scientists and scholars find bogus and warn is a classic and transparent tactic meant to intimidate regional rivals.

Chen Jingyuan, health division director of the Logistic Support Department under the Central Military Commission, claimed there were no cases of infection because the military's prevention measures had been perfect. He said in a press conference that instead of falling to the virus, the pandemic had actually "improved the combat readiness of the Chinese military."

One person not buying that logic is foreign affairs expert Gordon Chang.

"It is virtually impossible, as claimed, that none of the 2.0 million soldiers, sailors and pilots of the People's Liberation Army has been infected with coronavirus, especially since some of them went into Wuhan, the epicenter, at the heart of the outbreak".

Zack Cooper, a former U.S. official working on China-related issues at the White House and the Department of Defense, told Voice of America that "militaries are being impacted just like the rest of societies so, I would expect that to be the case in China, as well."

Chen Chi-wen, editor-in-chief of Asia-Pacific Defense, a leading defense magazine published in Taiwan, pointed out that there are PLA units based in and around Wuhan, including airborne troops, a reserve anti-aircraft artillery battery and the central depot of the Joint Logistic Support Force, and that in towns with such a heavy military presence, "tens of thousands of the soldiers and their family members were interacting with local residents all the time."

Timothy Heath, a senior international researcher at the RAND Corporation, told VOA that China's claims of being virus-free is one that "no one would expect" or believe.

Countries including the United States, France, Great Britain, Japan, South Korea have all seen a rise in infection in their armed forces. In some places like the Philippines and Poland, the virus has hit top generals.

Chang believes that China's inflated claims are part of a bigger and more aggressive military strategy.

_______________________________________________________________________

So this claim seems implausible. But for a moment let us consider that the following statements are true:

1. China has claimed that not a single member of its 2 million strong People's Liberation Army has contracted COVID-19.
2. There were no cases of infection because the military's prevention measures had been perfect.

Let's take China at its word. What would that mean. Well it would mean that China had developed a vaccine and inoculated its military prior to the man made virus being released to the citizens in Wuhan. This would mean that the Lab was developing a bio-weapon and released it into the general population of Wuhan to spread it around the world. In other words it was no accident.

I wonder if that is the message that the Chinese wanted to send to the world.

Protests heat up in Michigan in response to governor's coronavirus policy.

A Michigan county is considering using hockey arenas with refrigeration machines to store overflow bodies.

"county’s 23 hospitals have already reached their storage capacity, and he expects more to follow"

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/ ... 138882002/

Michigan's stay-at-home order is extended through April 30 like most other states.

Michigan has had 1,921 deaths attributed to covid19 so far with +153 new deaths yesterday April 15th.