|
Coronavirus Codswallop -- By the Numbers
It's a British expression that refers to words or ideas that are foolish or untrue ‐ in other words, nonsense. While codswallop is a good description of the entire Democrat agenda, today I will restrict its use to the hysteria surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, media fear-mongering, and resulting public panic. Big media are all about ratings, view, and clicks, hence their axiom, "If it bleeds, it leads." A viral outbreak is the perfect story, on par with a missing Malaysian airliner or a celebrity football player named OJ on trial for murder. The added bonus is that any negative news can be laid at the feet of a president loathed by the media, who just so happens to be running for re-election. The media are in full campaign mode, trying desperately to drag the carcass of one of their corpselike candidates across the presidential finish line. Stoking fear over quarantines and supply chain disruptions has sent the stock market on a downward roller coaster ride. One of President Trump's major achievements is the roaring economy. Taking the stock market down 25% or more may help the Democrats. But by the numbers, the economy is still roaring, bolstered by the February jobs report of 273,000 added jobs, more than expected, and record-low 3.5% unemployment. Despite the hair-on-fire reporting of coronavirus news, let's look at some actual numbers, rather than the codswallop from CNN or MSNBC. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Dashboard are illustrative. At the time of this writing, there are 107,352 cases worldwide, 3,646 deaths, and 60,558 recoveries. Fifteen of those deaths occurred in the U.S. The odds of recovering are far higher than the odds of dying. Cases in mainland China have peaked, with few added cases over the past week. Cases elsewhere are on the rise, following the same pattern as China in early February. Recoveries are rising at an even faster rate. Granted that China may be better equipped to institute mandatory quarantines and travel restrictions under their command and control government, the pattern is similar to the disease course for other viral epidemics. Anthony Fauci, M.D., of the National Institutes of Health and a member of the Trump administration's task force, gave some perspective in a New England Journal of Medicine editorial: Posted by: Besoeker 2020-03-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=565603 |