O Pinions!

CORONAVIRUS in a nation that's lost its mind.

CORONAVIRUS in a nation that's lost its mind.
4.March.2020

Use the following words as inspiration for your entry: inquiry, curiosity, investigation, suspicion, and clandestine. (You need not use the words in your entry, but if you do, please highlight them in bold or a different color.)

Curiosity (nosiness)
Investigation and inquiry (asking for information)
Suspicion (distrust)
Clandestine (secrets)

These words are easy to connect.

CORONAVIRUS

Part of the problem when this virus became known in Wuhan was the secretiveness surrounding any information regarding it. Denial? Cover-up? Big time. Any inquiry was squelched.

People were going to die regardless, but the lack of transparency lead to its spread.

Korea ran into this problem as a religious group with practices that abetted the spread of the virus distrusted any efforts to investigate them and track down those who were infected. People fled and hid.

Iran was just shocked and ill-prepared when people died. The timing during an election when the government had other priorities meant they were playing catch-up.

There is also a certain ingrained distrust in a quasi-authoritarian regime. When they botch their response this is reinforced.

It does not pay to be nosy when those in power feel their secrets are threatened.

Taiwan has handled the situation well (as has Viet Nam). Part of the reassurance I felt there (I was there January 14 - February 21) was due to the government's immediate response to limit the external threat (flights cancelled) and to address the populace's concern. Mask production became a priority. Quarantine and medical care (any deaths would magnify the fear) and tracking down those in contact meant that people knew there were or weren't cases for them to be worried about. Only 9 of 22 counties/cities have had positive cases. The present total is 42 (one death).

Compare this with the USA with 9 dead and an unknown total of positive cases (125 reported). The situation in the USA is concerning due to lack of preparedness (as in Iran), difficulty tracking people down (Iran, Korea and Italy) and populations like the homeless who will flee or hide, a lack of national health care, populations that distrust the government (minorities, homeless, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers), an authoritarian government that squelches input by experts (China), putting people in decision making capacities who aren't experts and don't have the skills (my opinion, but Pence? Please...).

The cultural distractions (basketball season... cancel the national NCAA Championship? Not likely!), a culture of individualism, lack of medical infra-structure capable of servicing everybody and not just the fortunate, a lack of cohesion (50 states going different directions), lack of internal boundaries (similar to the EU), a divided warring political scene, a leader that over 50% do not trust (because in my opinion, and others, anyone who lies daily isn't trustworthy) due to lies and a zero-sum world viewpoint of winners and losers that does not embrace international cooperation, and a national obsession with how much things cost rather than seeking solutions, leads me to conclude that the USA is in for a rough time.

Curiosity? Not allowed. Transparency will be punished.
Inquiry, Investigation? Also not allowed if if touches the Beloved Leader.
Suspicion? In a culture of conspiracy theory, fake-news, distrust of the media? Duh.
Clandestine? Can you name the city gangs or ultra-right groups that hide in plain sight? Will religious rights be argued (like the Chasidim response to measles) will solutions be ignored (by anti-vaxxers)? Will groups hide (those without medical insurance) or flee (like the homeless)? Will draconian quarantines make this worse?

I'm not very hopeful. I should be in Portugal but thanks to no medical insurance (medicare does not travel) I cancelled my trip and now I'm stuck in a building ill-equiped for an epidemic, in a city that may or may not be coming up with plans (transparency? input?), in a state that's mute (legislature not in session), in a nation that's lost its mind.

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