Impact Of Raging Covid-19 Has Yet To Show Its Face

The fast-moving Covid-19 is spreading across the globe and just how bad things become remains to be seen but it will be ugly. It now appears the new coronavirus may be significantly different from Sars. Scientists have discovered the new virus has an HIV-like mutation that increases its ability to bind with human cells. This ability could be up to 1,000 times as strong as the Sars virus, according to new research in China and Europe. This discovery could be a key that helps explain not only how the infection has spread but also where it came from and aid in designing drugs to fight it.

Pandemic Alert - This Is "Just The Start"

An article in the South China Morning Post reports scientists said in a recent paper that this new virus uses an outreaching spike protein to hook on to the host cell. Normally this protein is inactive. This finding suggests that 2019-nCoV [the new coronavirus] may be significantly different from the Sars coronavirus in the infection pathway it employs. Compared to the Sars’ way of entry, this binding method is “100 to 1,000 times” as efficient, according to the study. Just two weeks after its release, the paper has already become the most viewed ever on Chinaxiv.org, a platform used by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to release scientific research papers before they have been peer-reviewed.

It is important to acknowledge that propaganda has gone full tilt and China's Communist Party is not telling the truth. An article that explores "group-think" in China today delves into how decades have created a society conditioned to be manipulated.  China is busy playing the long game and now pointing at other countries as having caused this and the World Health Organization (WHO) is in their pocket. The bottom-line is that a lot more testing is needed from open and honest countries before the truth. Sadly, when it comes to this Japan may even be unreliable because it has so much resting upon the upcoming Impolitic games. Italy and South Korea currently may be the best place to see how nasty things really get.

As for the public reaction at this time, it varies widely, from the unconcerned to the more intense view noted by a person that commented;  Danish Maersk Shipping says that only 50% of Chinamen can work, a billion and a half? (800 million sick or dead?) Bad getting worse...
There won't be a China when the virus has run its course. China is already finished. The entire country is a wasteland full of corpses by now.
>Up to 24-day incubation, no symptoms showing during this time
>Contagious during the asymptotic period, spreads without you even knowing you’ve got it
>Spreads via air, contact, droplets, water, feces, lives on surfaces up to 9 days
>Causes viral pneumonia, organ failure, the high death rate
>No vaccine for any Corona type virus has ever been successful, even after 18 years of trying
>No treatment or cure, you either survive or you don’t
>If you do recover, no immunity, can get it again, worse the 2nd time
>International flights and travel still continuing, business as usual

The above comment appears very extreme but does raise some questions. With coronavirus having become such a huge issue I thought it might be a good idea to include a link as to what a couple of fellas with many years of "feet on the ground" experience in China have to say on the subject. Their YouTube video at this link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFoS-M4uF0 is very important in that it adds credence to the notion China has been far from transparent. North Korea and Iran are also bad places to look for truth. Still, Iran has been more open than some people expected.

Iran Has Been More Transparent Than Expected

It has been reported that Iran Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour claims the large number of new cases is due to more labs handling virus tests. He also warned that the public should expect more cases in the future. What was not said is we will never really know the true number of infected individuals because people with minor symptoms will never be tested and many people may never receive proper healthcare.

A big part of getting real information about how fast this virus is spreading comes from the fact we simply don't know. Slow-moving incompetent governments with strong agendas generate and control both the data and the narrative. Whether the goal of a government is to limit panic, deflect criticism from its failings, or simply generate the impression they have control of the situation we pay the price. The long latency period before someone shows symptoms makes it is quite possible for a person to be carrying the virus but show no signs whatever when they arrive at the airport and pass through screening.

In Milan, I Ask Do They Need The Guns?

While economies around the world are being shaken by the coronavirus markets are also coming up against the same lack of real information when it comes to assessing the real damage being done or how long it will last. As the title of this piece indicates the impact of this raging virus has yet to show its face. It may be years before we know the extent of the carnage this pandemic inflicts upon financial markets as well as the streets where people live. Covid-19 may be the catalyst for a global economic reset long overdue or simply a huge bump in the road.

Until now Trump and his administration have come across as rather evasive over the full extent of the corona crisis. It appears this is to bolster the flagging stock market which the President often sites as proof of his great leadership abilities. In a recent press conference, the President sidestepped the question of whether we might lock-down whole cities in America as they have in other countries. We have also seen those in charge of the US response pushing back the idea of the public buying masks because healthcare workers have a greater need for them. Vice President Pence has also had to come clean on the fact the CDC and others in-charge of testing have not done a lot of tests because they were in short supply and the problem has not been resolved as promised. 

The governments and institutions in charge of formulating a response are not fine well-oiled machines. Because of hidden agendas, incompetence and a lack of testing we have no idea how far this has spread across the world. We also have no idea how long it will stay with us. Adding to the problem is that many areas have few health care facilities as well as the previously mentioned shortage of test kits. Here in America, until recently, the CDC would not test a person for the coronavirus unless they had traveled to South Korea, China, or Italy. This includes even those with visible symptoms. What has shown its face and been revealed is just how unprepared we are for such an outbreak and what a miserable failure the WHO has been. We should thank our lucky stars this Covid-19 has not up to this point proven far more deadly than it has.