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On 3/31/20 5:04 AM, RKOB via Marxism wrote: > > SARS-CoV-2: fear versus data > > A new scientific study to appear in: International Journal of > Antimicrobial Agents > > https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920300972 Yes, data is a good thing. From the month-old article: "As of 2 March 2020, 90 307 patients had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, with 3086 deaths (mortality rate 3.4%)." Now those 90,000 are over 800,000, the 3000 deaths are 40,000 deaths. Even more remarkably: "As of 2 March 2020, among OECD countries, 7476 patients had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, with 96 deaths (mortality rate 1.3%)" Yeh, and now just a few weeks later, that's over 100,000 just in Italy, nearly 100,000 in Spain, 164,000 in the US, hundreds of thousands more, 11,000 dead just in Italy in conditions that sound like the Black Death, likewise Spain, etc. That's before we even get to what awaits people throughout the poor world when it hits deeper. Michael, really what is the point of this "data" that has become so rapidly irrelevant? You're in Austria, right? You don't see what is happening just across the border?Yes, it is very strange to agree with lockdowns carried out by capitalist governments, even though, in reality, in most cases they are being dragged into it kicking and screaming. But stranger things have happened. I declare myself here and now in support of lockdown. You might say, this would not be necessary if the government had carried out massive testing (like in S. Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam etc), if it had millions of test kits ready, if there were plenty of ICU rooms and ventilators, if there were plenty of hospital beds, isn't so bad that capitalism has cut health spending for decades and the catastrophe hitting the US could have been avoided etc, and lockdowns etc would not be needed. Yes, agreed. But precisely the fact that there ahs not been much testing and governments have devastated the health sector is the point. The "if" statements are good political commentary but make no difference to what needs to be done given the actual situation. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
