IMMEDIATERELEASE//ATTN//GTACNET@CDR//REF2@JCL//AMBUSH///UNCLASSUFUED
"...a pending epidemic of epic proportions just as the Asian flu swept the globe..."
(DEN@UNR)---Fear has overtaken indifference as the newest epidemic slowly expands globally. Beyond that initial burst of anxiety, yet another variable enters as the Chinese people are now getting the blame for the virus. Raissa Robles reports for the South China Morning Post that at least one school in the Philippines has demanded Chinese students to stay away,
" Not long after the Philippine health department announced that first coronavirus case on Friday, Adamson University in Manila openly called for its “Chinese” students to stop coming to classes until February 14. The university has since apologized 'for the misimpression it may have created' .” (SCMP)
In a report from The Bangkok Post, Thai doctors seem to have found a partial remedy in a blended mix of other anti-viral antidotes;
Thai doctors deploy HIV drugs: Virus update
Thai doctors deploy HIV drugs: Virus update People wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of the SARS-like virus are seen from the Jingshan park overlooking the Forbidden city after a snowfall in Beijing on Saturday. (AFP photo) A 44-year-old man from Wuhan died in the Philippines on Saturday as a result of coronavirus, the first known death outside China.
But that doesn't help settle the fear generated by the presence of Chinese citizens in the culture. Hyung-Jin Kim, reporting for the Associated Press, gives the lowdown on the anti-China tone surfacing in otherwise civilized nations;
As if a ban wasn't enough, an outright attack on the Chinese people as a race grew overnight in France;
"A French teacher started a Twitter conversation recently under #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I am not a virus) that has drawn numerous accounts of discrimination, from children taunted in the schoolyard to subway passengers moving away from people who appear Asian..... A regional newspaper in northern France carried a front-page headline warning of a “Yellow Alert,” and later apologized amid national criticism." (AP)
Adding to that sense of helplessness, with the first of the election contests to begin this week in the United States, candidates are quick to seize on the opportunity to bash opponents who have an ambivalent attitude toward the less-than-adequate health care system recently under intense scrutiny.
VP Biden, a current frontrunner, claims there is no time for "fearmongering" but does exactly that by criticizing the president's recent cuts in health care programs;
Biden slams Trump response to coronavirus epidemic: This is no time for "fearmongering"
Former Vice President Joe Biden President Trump Donald John Trump Coronavirus death toll rises to 304 in China Michael Moore: Clinton comments about Sanders 'divisive,' 'cruel' and 'a lie' Palestinian Authority cuts security ties with US, Israel following Trump peace plan announcement MORE for cutting health programs amid an outbreak of the coronavirus that originated in China and has since spread to the U.S.
Instead of working with the White House for the sake of a nervous public, Biden has chosen to ramp up rhetoric and blame-fixing for his own self-interest. It shows the lack of a genuine plan in his own camp as to a bona-fide health-care-for-all program for the nation. It also shows a desperate attempt to grab the coattails of his opponent Bernie Sanders (D-VT) who has a realistic plan, currently ahead in this week's caucuses and primaries. All of this while the president is being attacked by another Democratic opponent for his appearance and getting bashed back in the process. The total lack of regard for the necessity of leadership during a possible disease epidemic is obvious and shameful.
In fact, according to Open Secrets, the health care industry has contributed just as much money to the Biden campaign as it has to the President's re-election campaign. (Open Secrets) For that matter, with all of the rhetoric about not taking big money, Senator Sanders has also accepted equivalent sums from health care. (Open Secrets) According to GovTrack, a website that follows bill sponsorship by senators, VP Biden, as senator, had a dismal record for presenting legislation related to health, at 8 percent, his lowest category. (GovTrack) None of his sponsored bills appear to suggest the need for unilateral health care for Americans.
Coronavirus isn't about catching the flu, a runny nose and walking around wearing a surgical mask. The new viral strain has nothing to do with evacuations, quarantines and the latest hazmat gear. Coronavirus is about stoking paranoia, insulting ethnic groups and abuse of leadership through divisiveness instead of co-operation. What can we expect? Probably a complete failure in the effort to combat a pending epidemic of epic proportions just as the Asian flu swept the globe in the middle of the last century.
Further Reading
Wuhan virus may transmit along faecal-oral route, Xinhua reports
BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - The coronavirus that's infected more than 14,000 people in two dozen countries may be transmitted through the digestive tract, Chinese state media reported. Virus genetic material was discovered in patient stool and rectal swabs, Xinhua said Sunday (Feb 2).
ER doctor confronts Pence over Medicaid cuts in diner
An emergency room doctor and former Democratic congressional candidate confronted Vice President Pence in a diner on Thursday over proposed cuts to Medicaid. Dr. Rob Davidson posted a video to Twitter of his interaction with Pence, after he said the vice president happened to come into the diner in Des Moines, Iowa, to greet people.
Sources
Stay Home, https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3048626/coronavirus-outbreak-exposes-anti-chinese-sentiment
No Chinese, https://apnews.com/04f18aafe1074a1c06b4203edcbdc661
Protest photo, https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/25d6dd37d1c34ea7898857e964c4fd95/1000.jpeg
Open Secrets (Biden), https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/industries?id=N00001669
Open Secrets (President re-election), https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/contributors?id=N00023864
Open Secrets, (Bernie), https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/industries?id=N00000528
GovTrack, Biden, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/joseph_biden/300008
Hazmat suit image, from "Andromeda Strain," https://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2019/11/27
IMMEDIATERELEASE//ATTN//GTACNET@CDR//REF2@JCL//AMBUSH///UNCLASSUFUED