And there it is folks…

The WHO just declared the Coronavirus a pandemic.

The CDC is still downplaying it.

Many countries are restricting air travel from affected areas, and some are suspending air travel altogether.

In a bit of Irony today is also the day that the 1918 influenza virus was declared a pandemic. Symmetry is always so nice.

Oh, and we can thank China for its closed system and fear of political embarrassment for this. From the start I’ve thought that China wasn’t telling the WHO everything. Well now, the rest of the world is going to be able to collect real data and hopefully they’ll point at China and say, “LIAR”. I hope that someone has the balls to stand in the UN and speak the truth.

Diseases like this and others are not just the province of one country they can affect the whole planet. In a globalized society, everyone needs to be totally honest and forthcoming about rapidly spreading / evolving diseases. The minds of all scientists should be engaged without fear of embarrassment to tackle the problem.

My only hope is that there will not be panic in the streets. Although, over the weekend a plane in America apparently had to turn around because passengers became agitated over a single passenger who was coughing. Of course the passengers on the plane demanding that they turn around had already failed in their science check.

Once the plane exceeded 10,000 ft the air was being recycled so they were most likely already exposed to the contagion.  Again, too little too late, and failure to understand the way technologies work.  

Not to suggest that coronavirus is as contagious as fictional viruses from various movies but the point is still the same. What’s done is done.  

Turning around to expel a single passenger then taking the same plane to your destination without disinfection is probably not going to do much to limit your exposure. In fact if all the passengers had to deplane the exposure levels probably went up with all of them being huddled in the terminal together.

But common sense doesn’t seem to have much sway in the time of “I feel…”

The snake oil salesmen will be coming out of the woodwork now with holistic cures, crystals, salt, and other “Natural cures”. Yes there are a lot of plants and materials that do have antiviral/antibiotic properties. Most of Western medicine has it’s roots in the natural world. That being said, much as I hate to say it, big Phama may be the answer. 

Scientific research has in many cases taken the natural properties of plant & materials and enhanced it to the point that efficacy is well beyond the natural abilities of eating tons of the raw materials.

So for the time being wash your hands, don’t touch your faces, avoid crowded places, and pay attention to your health. A substantial percentage of folks get a little sick and recover. Thus far the problem seems to be older folks or folks that have underlying conditions.

Just remember you read it here first.

Jan 27th I wondered if the genie was already out of the bottle.