News in Perspective
Feb 23, 2020 15:04:06 GMT
Post by CC on Feb 23, 2020 15:04:06 GMT
NOTE: 30 March. I must admit I find the tone of this post embarrassing now but I'm leaving it here anyway as an illustration of how quickly things have escalated sice 23 February. At this particular time CV-19 is causing more deaths in the richer countries of the world, particularly Spain, Italy, the USA and France but it's certain to spread to the poorer parts as well where it will almost inevitably kill thousands of poor folk who are unable to isolate themselves or to keep a practical distance away from others because they are living in refugee camps, shanty towns etc. 5 weeks on we are still likely to be a long way away from experiencing the peak of the virus worldwide. A great many people, having managed against the odds to survive wars, famines and droughts, are going to be killed by the coronavirus.
According to the latest figures 78,800 people have been found to have coronavirus and there must be many more who haven't shown symptoms but are cooking them at present. It's highly infectious and has so far resulted in 2,466 deaths. It's obviously a significant problem, especially to the loved ones of the 2,466, and could spread to the UK at any time.
The World Economic Forum, meanwhile, estimated that in mid-2019 820,000,000 of the world's population were suffering from the effects of hunger, and that another child starves to death every 3 seconds. Although poverty certainly exists here and people are undoubtedly suffering from the consequences, there's no likelihood of this pandemic affecting the UK. While scientists battle to find a vaccination or medicine to treat the coronavirus, there's no need to look for a cure for hunger and poverty because one already exists; it's just that it involves transferring resources from the richer parts of the world to the poorest, and no-one wants to pay for it.
On the same day that we read about 2 unlucky passengers having died on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess, the news that 91 people in a rubber dinghy had disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea received less publicity. The only place I found any mention of this tragedy was on Al-Jazeera but even there the 91 were described not as people but as "migrants." These poor souls were not wildebeest whose instinct told them to roam across the Serengeti Plain but humans trying to escape from those hunger statistics above as well as from the danger of being kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered. In 2018 the UN estimated that 2,275 people drowned in the Med while trying to escape from Africa; that's slightly more than 6 per day.
The unlucky British couple who hoped to be repatriated from the Diamond Princess but tested positive for the virus have been taken to hospital in Japan, where, it was reported last night, they don't have a toilet in their room but have to share with other patients. According to the World Health Organisation, meanwhile, 2 billion people have no access to a toilet or latrine at all and at least 400,000 have no means of receiving any treatment when they suffer from illness, injury or malnutrition, while 100 million have been forced into poverty because, while they have access to health services, they can't afford to pay for them. The couple's son told BBC News that his parents' hospital room also looked out onto a plain brick wall. The whole business has clearly been an ordeal for the family but they are still better off than the 1.6 billion people estimated to be either completely homeless and living outdoors or staying in basic sub-standard dwellings such as wooden huts with cloth or tin roofs and without electricity, water or floors.
People who have been in quarantine in Milton Keynes were allowed home today and many praised the way they had been looked after, and the kindness of staff. Not so Alan Steele, who had been on his honeymoon when he and his new wife were brought home in order to prevent them from catching and spreading coronavirus. Mr Steele swearily complained on Facebook that he had twice been served with cold food. It's a good job he is not a Uighur Muslim. Over a million of them have been interned in China, the country he chose for his romantic holiday, in the last 3 years despite never having been accused of any offence. The prisons in which they are kept are considerably more basic than the Kent's Hill Park training and conference centre and the internees, as well as not being provided with delicious food, are not usually allowed to go home after 14 days either.
According to the latest figures 78,800 people have been found to have coronavirus and there must be many more who haven't shown symptoms but are cooking them at present. It's highly infectious and has so far resulted in 2,466 deaths. It's obviously a significant problem, especially to the loved ones of the 2,466, and could spread to the UK at any time.
The World Economic Forum, meanwhile, estimated that in mid-2019 820,000,000 of the world's population were suffering from the effects of hunger, and that another child starves to death every 3 seconds. Although poverty certainly exists here and people are undoubtedly suffering from the consequences, there's no likelihood of this pandemic affecting the UK. While scientists battle to find a vaccination or medicine to treat the coronavirus, there's no need to look for a cure for hunger and poverty because one already exists; it's just that it involves transferring resources from the richer parts of the world to the poorest, and no-one wants to pay for it.
On the same day that we read about 2 unlucky passengers having died on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess, the news that 91 people in a rubber dinghy had disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea received less publicity. The only place I found any mention of this tragedy was on Al-Jazeera but even there the 91 were described not as people but as "migrants." These poor souls were not wildebeest whose instinct told them to roam across the Serengeti Plain but humans trying to escape from those hunger statistics above as well as from the danger of being kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered. In 2018 the UN estimated that 2,275 people drowned in the Med while trying to escape from Africa; that's slightly more than 6 per day.
The unlucky British couple who hoped to be repatriated from the Diamond Princess but tested positive for the virus have been taken to hospital in Japan, where, it was reported last night, they don't have a toilet in their room but have to share with other patients. According to the World Health Organisation, meanwhile, 2 billion people have no access to a toilet or latrine at all and at least 400,000 have no means of receiving any treatment when they suffer from illness, injury or malnutrition, while 100 million have been forced into poverty because, while they have access to health services, they can't afford to pay for them. The couple's son told BBC News that his parents' hospital room also looked out onto a plain brick wall. The whole business has clearly been an ordeal for the family but they are still better off than the 1.6 billion people estimated to be either completely homeless and living outdoors or staying in basic sub-standard dwellings such as wooden huts with cloth or tin roofs and without electricity, water or floors.
People who have been in quarantine in Milton Keynes were allowed home today and many praised the way they had been looked after, and the kindness of staff. Not so Alan Steele, who had been on his honeymoon when he and his new wife were brought home in order to prevent them from catching and spreading coronavirus. Mr Steele swearily complained on Facebook that he had twice been served with cold food. It's a good job he is not a Uighur Muslim. Over a million of them have been interned in China, the country he chose for his romantic holiday, in the last 3 years despite never having been accused of any offence. The prisons in which they are kept are considerably more basic than the Kent's Hill Park training and conference centre and the internees, as well as not being provided with delicious food, are not usually allowed to go home after 14 days either.