Coronavirus. (Photo: Center for Disease Control)
Do the Numbers in the Coronavirus Outbreak Justify Tanking the Economy?
With 8 billion people on earth, a total of 13,590 have died from Coronavirus
By Katy Grimes, March 22, 2020 10:15 am
Perusing the daily headlines alerting readers about the Coronavirus outbreak could make anyone want to self-quarantine. But the numbers aren’t the entire story when broken down.
Deliberate omissions of important information tell the full story: Coronavirus is spreading, and more people are dying. The virus primarily attacks the elderly who have underlying health issues.
But the increase of positive cases don’t mean those individuals are sick – just that they tested positive.
This headline is at first alarming: Coronavirus Update (Live): 315,267 Cases and 13,590 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Outbreak – Worldometer
How many people are on earth? Because this is the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the entire world.
The total population on earth is nearly 8 billion – That’s 7,772,618,730 as of this writing. There are 315,267 positive cases tested, not sick, and 13,590 who have died as a result of the virus.
This next headline is about Santa Clara County, with a population of nearly 2 million: SJMN: Number of COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County jumps by more than one-third in 24 hours.
As of 2018, the Santa Clara population count was 1,933,383. “Santa Clara County saw 67 new cases of coronavirus in a single day, a jump of more than 33 percent from Friday, which brings the total amount of known cases to 263, county officials announced Saturday” the San Jose Mercury News reported. Guess why Santa Clara saw a jump in new cases of Coronavirus?
They now have more tests and the ability for rapid responses to the tests. An honest headline might have read: “The increase in Coronavirus cases is in large part due to a greater testing capacity.”
Buried in the article is the actual number of deaths: “The death toll in Santa Clara County remains at eight.”
Brown Shirt Alert
Maybe more disturbing than the disingenuous SJMN headline and article is the subtitle: “District Attorney asks citizens to report non-essential businesses.”
“Though officials say the sharp increase in cases could be in part due to a greater testing capacity, it has prompted the Santa Clara District Attorney to ask residents to report people and businesses that are in violation of the county’s shelter in place order.”
Stories abound on social media of people posting photos of businesses open, then being publicly shamed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram into closing. This is Brown shirt activity if ever.
Los Angeles County
The headline in the Los Angeles Times Sunday: California coronavirus death toll rises to 27, including four in L.A. County.
Los Angeles County is home to 10 million residents. The state of California has 40 million residents. There are four dead in Los Angeles County from Coronavirus, and 27 dead in the entire state of California.
The LAT reported “the individuals who died were both older than 65 with underlying health conditions.”
Orange County
The Orange County Register headline: Orange County’s number of coronavirus cases jumps by 13, now up to 78. With more tests being conducted and processed quicker, more are testing positive for coronavirus, as Dr. Anthony Fauci said would happen. Fauci is an American immunologist who serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
There are more than 3 million residents of Orange County.
It’s not a stretch to say the Orange County Register reported this way in order to sound dire: “As of Friday, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties altogether reported 394 cases and six deaths coming from COVID-19.”
However, there are no deaths from coronavirus in Orange County or San Bernardino County; the deaths are in Los Angeles County (4) and Riverside County (5).
San Bernardino County and Riverside County each has a population of more than 2 million.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday, claiming, “California has been disproportionality impacted by the repatriation efforts over the last few months,” and 56% of Californians will contract the coronavirus.
“In some parts of our state, our case rate is doubling every four days. Moreover, we have community acquired transmission in 23 counties with an increase of 44 community acquired infections in 24 hours,” Newsom said.
Using the dubious statistic, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti went on the Today Show and claimed, It’s “absolutely plausible.”
‘Save Lives and the Economy’
Meanwhile, the California economy is tanking as most businesses have been forced to shut down under orders from Gov. Newsom and city Mayors, calling these “non-essential” businesses.
Many of these businesses will not rebound back.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System lost $69 billion, according to the Fresno Bee, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System is expecting similar losses.
California officials should focus their efforts and quarantining on the known vulnerable – the elderly, those in nursing homes and hospitals, and anyone known to have lung diseases or serious illnesses.
The numbers can’t possibly justify politicians tanking the economy because of a need to publicly virtue signal to the media. Many business owners are wondering if the haste with which government took over and forced the closure of commerce across this state and country was really about saving lives.
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Thank you for reminding us that, among other things, the continually breathless reporting of more CASES only reflects that there is more testing being done. Many of us who are familiar with The Boy Who Cried Wolf fable are probably not monitoring a wide swath of hysterical reporting anymore, but last time I checked, the “more testing thus more cases” angle was conveniently not mentioned in the CV “news” updates (on the hour and half hour). So as usual the Globe appears to be the rare entity reporting this stuff.
Thank you also for alerting us to the Brown Shirt behavior of some CA officials and the potential for that to spread unchecked. This is always a problem because tattling on neighbors is often so tempting, especially tattling on the ones you don’t like very much.
Aside from actions that will result in tanking the economy, also on the heads-up-everybody list in my opinion are Governor’s Executive Orders, such as extending primary election ballot-counting and making everyone in the state an absentee voter, that are justified by inaccurate but alarming data re CV19 of 56% CA population infected. We should regard such Executive Orders with high suspicion because of the potential for voter fraud by shady, conscienceless individuals and groups that benefit the mega-majority party in power in California. After all, absentee ballot harvesting was reported as occurring well BEFORE the usual suspects in Sacramento made it legal. But legalizing dicey practices does not magically make them less harmful or more legitimate. (As we’ve seen.)
Kathy……,, normally I agree with your views on most articles published; however, I think you are missing the big picture……. Is a few thousand deaths worth tanking our economy……… I believe it depends on who you ask? If you ask most Italians in Italy NOW, they would probably say yes…… only because they still haven’t gotten a handle on this after initially taking minimal precautions …… like we are doing now (most Americans are not taking this seriously). My wife is a 32-yr experienced nurse at a Level 2 Truama Center, and she is deathly afraid of going to work due to a lack of proper PPE within the hospital…….. but this is not a normal virus like the flu, where you would show symptoms eventually…… this virus allows people to walk around unknowingly spreading the virus….. and scientist are unaware at this time if you can catch this virus more than once (like shingles) ……….unless drastic measures (draconian measures) are taken immediately, we are forever going to be battling this virus for the foreseeable future…… great article.
Michael – that is not at all what I am asking – what I am concerned about is the long term economic health of the country. That is all I am addressing. And, why aren’t we targeting the vulnerable groups only instead of blanketing then entire country?
Hi Katy, It seems unrealistic at this point that we can contain the C-19 virus anymore than we contained H1N1. From wikipedia: “On May 7, 2009, the WHO stated that containment was not feasible and that countries should focus on mitigating the effect of the virus.” So, I agree with you that we should isolate the vulnerable (over 65 and those with underlying medical issues) until a vaccine or a cure are available. Let the others go about their normal lives and businesses and in the process develop the herd, pardon the expression immunity. Without which another wave of infections will appear. At the moment, we are acting like C-19 is not at all similar to H1N1 but akin to the flu that resulted in the Walking Dead.
It’s about time someone is writing about this. Katy can’t say it because she’d get blasted by the media but the the truth is, and I can’t say this for 100% of the cases, if it was’t COVID-19 pushing those elderly people with underlying health conditions (which is a nice way of saying their bodies are already severely failing), over the edge, it would have been something else. That sounds cold but when you get older, you die, that’s what happens.
What bugs me the most is when they say COVID-19 is killing these people, like it’s the ONLY reason – that is false. 1,000 unhealthy/older population have passed, out of 330,000,000 in the US. It will take years and years to rebuild the economy. Just not worth the panic and putting the US in further debt.
This whole thing is so overblown; and we all know why, to unseat a president who has been doing a great job for our country! Telling everyone to hunker down and stay home, is ridiculous, which many are not obeying. I am one of those who will not comply with this heavy-handed order from the governor, who I know does NOT have mine or anyone else’s best interests at heart. I, and I alone, will take responsibility for myself and my husband. He has Parkinson’s Disease, but is otherwise healthy, and we take the best supplement there is to keep our immune system strong. We are not afraid of the virus, but this order has halted all the exercise programs my husband goes to in order to keep the Parkinson’s symptoms at bay. I am angry that everyone has to give up everything, instead of the more reasonable asking those most vulnerable to stay home. It is unconscionable to cause the economy to tank and people to lose their livelihoods over such stupidity.
Why Northern Italy became the hotbed for Covid-19— . During the past three decades, more and more Chinese investors bought into textile and leather-good factories in northern Italy, and they brought over Chinese laborers to work in those factories. By 2010, there were reportedly 60,000 Chinese in Prato, an industrial suburb of Florence. To accommodate Italy’s new foreign labor force, nonstop flights were established between China and Rome. Well, it is customary for Chinese to travel home for Lunar New Year celebrations, which fell on Jan. 24 this year, and the incubation period for coronavirus is about two weeks. How many of the Chinese workers in northern Italy traveled to China in late January and returned to Italy — without symptoms but already infected with COVID-19 — in early February? by ROBERT STACY MCCAIN
March 20, 2020, 12:00 AM
Spot on. This is the drum I’ve been beating the entire time. Kudos
Thank you Katy for asking the questions no one else is asking. It seems common sense has been thrown out the door and the most drastic measures are taken without questioning to what end. In my neighborhood, I’m seeing the beginning of real depression, increased crime and panic on how to pay one’s bills. Oh, and explain to me why a pot shop is essential to stay open but gun shops are closed. I feel that the Governor’s decisions lie more in politics than doing the right thing.
Mrs Grimes please forgive my long post. I know your paper is a free press because it cannot be found without direct searching! To answer the question of your headline in short, NO. To answer briefly: its being done purposely. To answer in depth I submit the following rant:
Our mainstream media is thoroughly compromised. It is evident how they all say the exact same thing, no free thought, just replicated cookie cutter domestic terrorism. In stark contrast, I come here and it is 100% free rational thought, and various subjects. Even all the search engines are in on it, all the top results are mainstream media copies. My honest opinion is: this is a Coup. With a masterful PsyOp, America has been conquered without a shot fired, by a barely hostile boogieman, blown 1000s of times out of proportion, which pales in comparison to the common stroke. 5 MILLION people die every year from stroke… do you ever see it make headlines or initiate martial law? Nope. It seems as if practically 90% of the US media and government, from federal, to state to local, is thoroughly compromised. Meaning, fully willing to initiate despotic government upon their fellows.
Nearly everywhere on the internet is the exact same fear mongering headlines, usually without a comments section, and the ones with a comments section are either censored, or if by chance someone speaks the nearly extinct thing called “logic”, 1000s of tons of demonizing mud will be relentlessly hurled at it. Our Media has become the dictator, politicians too weak to stand against its relentless mudslinging should they go against its despotic slants… “Ah we see the evil is in a free press just as deep as in a government controlled one”, they say!… but show me the truly free press! Nay, It is covered in so much mud it cannot be seen! Even the search engines are all slanted away from it. (Luckily I have you bookmarked!)
Overnight our homes have been made our prison cells , guarded by our own army. So masterful a coup, it has to be respected! Orwellian is an understatement, yet invisible to the benumbed public, anesthetized from years of conditioning. With a stroke of a pen the entire US economy is stopped. What Wisdom is this but of that of a conqueror?
People need to Stop doing as they are told! If “the conspirators” don’t push this all the way, ’tis but a test run for tolerance, taking notes on how to do it better and faster the next time.
There is but a mere 210 USA Covid deaths in 3 months, about the same amount of people Drown in the US every 3 months (about 2 deaths per day), however covid warrants Martial Law and apocalyptic headlines!? BUT The common heart attack which kills 1000 Us Citizens EVERY SINGLE DAY, (thus 500 times as lethal and in our civilization for CENTURIES) Does Not? This is a Coup and the people should be alarmed and prepared… But… its Just My OPINION.
(Notice that in gingerly saying that sentence the fear of being charged as a terrorist?… but our media can terrorize the entire nation over a mere 210 deaths and no one says a word!) Should initiate reflective pause, but it does not.
Thank you for allowing comments, and tolerating this one.
Long Live the nearly extinct Free Press!
-B