Bunker Mentality Part 2

Applying what was discussed in the prior post to the current pandemic, a list of what is known:

1. The EIS (Epidemic Intelligence Service) of the CDC expressed concerns back in 2014 about chimeric laboratory experiments by the NIH with viruses.  Amazingly in the course of the next few years Congress became aware of and legislated for a moratorium on such experiments. I say amazingly because Congress is often myopic regarding such issues.
2. The NIH however was undeterred and outsourced such experiments in the “…cause of science.” It should be noted that the outsourcing was to laboratories in Wuhan, China.  There is much conjecture as to what these experiments were or what was produced; some journalists are still investigating but such efforts in China are seldom productive, and lately the same can be said here in the US.
3. Again the EIS reported that this virus was with us much earlier than initially thought, perhaps as early as late November. Oddly enough the CDC ignored their findings, and the WHO went on to praise China’s efforts in combating the pandemic despite evidence to the contrary.
4. The administration and its various agencies apparently went along with the CDC and the WHO, allowing air and sea traffic between Asia and Europe well into February and March.
5. As we became more aware of the spread of this virus, governments went into panic mode, essentially locking down many US States in efforts to contain (flatten the curve) the spread, which we were told was by aspiration.
6. In the above, please note that the EIS was more concerned about the spread of this virus as they had found sufficient evidence to indicate that it was airborne, making it extremely ubiquitous; essentially, there’s just no stopping it considering that the air is literally everywhere. This raises the likelihood, which is becoming statistically apparent as testing becomes more prevalent, that there are far more people throughout the world who were infected; this includes those infected who are asymptomatic, or recovered even if they were unaware of being infected, or seemingly immune.
7. We heard early on the concern that we had a shortage of ventilators, which at the time was justified given that the virus attacks the respiratory functions; fortunately with increased supply and falling need we avoided that crisis, at least for the moment.
8. However, the death rate of those on ventilators was about 88%; the efficacy of that treatment is now in doubt by many doctors.
9. The virus’ death rate is dominantly with the aged and/or those with underlying chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, immune disorders, emphysema, cancer, etc.
10. As of today, the US has reported 1.2M cases. It should be noted that on testing, the positive rate is about 20%, indicating that the virus is indeed everywhere despite the lockdowns, which likely contributed little in flattening the curve.
11. The deaths due to COVID19 and the seasonal influenza appear about even at 65K; please note that 73K was reported but a significant number reported as CIVID19 were in fact due to other causes, but counted as COVID19 simply because of detected infection. 
12. The death rate for COVID19 continues to fall from about 4.5% early on to about 2% now; that will likely continue to fall as testing increases. Note that the death rate for seasonal influenza is about .1% based on approximately 50M cases. It is noteworthy that the death rate for SARS was 9.6%, but even that pales in comparison to MERS 65%.
13. There are confirmed cases of medical staff being directed to re-document prior death certificates, i.e. from whatever was initially recorded to revisions for COVID19, or to document the cause of death as COVID19 when it was apparent that there were other causes.
14. The FDA disallowed the use of testing kits available worldwide, and up to late February, the use of laboratory facilities for test analysis other than CDC and related agencies, presenting unacceptable obstacles to securing the public health and obtaining viable statistics.
15. The two leading causes of death in the US remain heart and cancer diseases, accounting for 1.25M people annually. The fastest growing disease in the US is diabetes, which now is the cause of more than 83K deaths annually and growing.
16. Economists divide the American population into quintiles. Of these five groups, the lowest includes those at or near the poverty level.  The next two up the ladder are considered low-mid middle class; the next group is considered mid-upper middle class, and the top group upper middle to rich. These are generalizations and various government agencies, private institutions and  economists define them and assign attributes variably; however, the lower two quintiles and a majority of the third, approximately 52% of Americans, carry the most consumer debt, making them highly vulnerable to negative economic conditions.

There are many more things we can list that governments should have taken into consideration as it deliberated what actions could be taken to combat COVID19, but let’s just look at what is listed compared to what they did:

1. Seek and make sure you have the all information from medical and intelligence sources; this was not done or they would have been aware of the EIS reports, informing them more intelligently and completely as to what they were dealing with.
2. Provide early warnings to the public; while criticism abounds how the administration failed back in January to heed the advice of the CDC, the fact remains that the EIS reports talked about late November.  Where was the CDC and the Who at that time?
3. Avoid panic as this leads to dire consequences, like hoarding essential goods, migrations to outlying areas, violence, etc.; while some Governors like Cuomo preached against panic, it’s not what they practiced.  Being fed the end of the world posturing of the CDC and the mass media, they jumped on the band wagon of draconian policies with lock-downs.
4. Inform the public of just how serious the virus is comparatively, meaning that they should be aware of greater threats to life that we deal with all the time without the need to resort to drastic measures; never discussed, and instead we were told to be prepared for deaths in the millions.
5. Keep the public truthfully and completely informed of all the facts, not just those that support whatever actions have been taken; never happened as politicians only spoke to whatever they perceived supported their policies.
6. Define sensible hygienic measures and protocols, and adjust these as more information is available; started out well enough given what was known with social distancing, masks against aspiration, etc. made some sense, but then again little changed, except for the worse with lock-downs. Discovery of rapid mutation, indicating chimeric characteristics, the EIS reports for airborne migration, the uneven distribution of cases around the world, etc. apparently provided no insights for reconsideration.
7. Help coordinate and expedite the supply chain of medical supplies and equipment; never happened. Consider the pathetic open conflicts between federal, state and local governments on supply chains.
8. Do not allow beauocracy to stand in the way of medical science, i.e. expedite and do not obstruct; the behavior of the FDA and CDC should be viewed as criminal negligence.
9. Avoid draconian measures that suppress the life, life years and livelihood of Americans; given the 32M Americans now out of work, worse than the Great Depression, it’s hard to think of more Draconian measures than what was done.  The long term destruction of American lives with the loss of their livelihoods affecting diet, health care, etc. will be far greater than whatever this pandemic will ultimately bring. 
10. Take into account the long term consequences of any actions over the perceived short term benefits of measures, especially any that seem to provide more of a political cover for “… having done something.” Consider the total health of Americans, including economic and psychological, both of which affect life expectancy, and do so with consideration of long term consequences; again, this is not what politicians think about as their horizon seldom goes beyond their term of office.

The failure to see the pandemic coming to the US despite the early warnings became the focus for blame, and not for solutions. When they chose to act they did so in a panic without sufficient knowledge of the problem, and in true bunker mentality mode grasped at the apparent ready solution to hunker down, coercively isolating everyone without consideration of the consequences. Those that objected were derisively labeled stupid, insensitive, selfish…and so on. The government became all knowing, the mass media bought into it, and the detractors received the vitriol that contrarians usually do.

It is becoming apparent that the long term consequences of the actions taken may be even direr than originally anticipated, which we will discuss next. 

#bunkermentality2