In the context of the current virus the comparison is always made with SARS or Spanish flu, and seldom is there reference to the 2009 H1N1 virus/flu. I was still working then and approaching retirement and perhaps had had a flu-shot. It seemed a minor background issue emanating from distant Mexico and perhaps related to pigs. I worked through it and took little notice of world attention, which seemed in fact slight. Yet published figures now mention 10%+ of the world's populated infected, 400,000 putative deaths, and 2000 in Australia alone.
Now in this epidemic, flights in and out of China are stopped. Chinese industry business and production activity is frozen and the ripples are felt world-wide. 2000 deaths now, looking headed on logarithmic graphs for somewhere under 10,000. So I am rather puzzled about the apparent difference in world reaction to this event and that in 2009. Well, we did have acceptable medication and usable vaccines then, yes. But we didn't wear masks and we didn't yell at or abuse the yanks who stand out like sore thumbs wherever they go (joking joking
)
Nor can I remember conspiracy theories sprouting like toadstools and fungi as they do now. Or discussion of the 59 million infected Americans, the 265,000 hospitalized as a result, or the 12,000 who died. Now why is that?
China have shut down, locked up 60m people, promptly, not promplty enough for many. This is alternately
too little or
too draconian. The official estimates are deliberately concealing the truth (of course they are going to be a minimum figure) which should be 100 hundred times higher according to some. The hospitals are prison camps and death camps according to some.
So my questions:1.Why is this being treated so much more critically severely than H1N1 which on the face of it was actually 10 times worse?
2.Why the conspiracy theories not seen (well I didn't see them) for 2009 H1N1?
3.Why is it ok now to racially stereotype and abuse Asian people when (I assume) nothing of the sort happened in 2009
4.Why is the Chinese treatment of the situation so widely vilified?
5.What does this say about the world of 2020?
I don't have answers! Nothing up my sleeve, it's not Texas Holdem night.
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