Coronavirus: Juxtaposing Perspectives and Glimpses from the Frontline

Preface:  After his bitcoin trends technical analysis in his 3/24/2020 YouTube video post, Crypto Jebb did a good job of summing-up not only why we not only should make the best of our quarantine during this pandemic, but also why we need to be grateful for what we have regardless (a similar message on gratefulness is also deliver very well in this video by Jack Chapple).  The other night I came back home from a 20-hour work day.  It was 1am and I did what I normally do.  Stood in my room which was heated by a mini-heater, ate some food that my wife had prepared, turned on the shower so as to warm up the water, ate some ice cream while looking at news on my phone, and then took a hot shower.  I don’t own a house, I don’t have big bank account, I’m always hustling, working two jobs (which I’m grateful for and provide me with exactly what I signed-up for), and considering all the shit going on and that has gone on in the world, as I crawled into bed with my beautiful wife, I reaffirmed that I am one of the luckiest men alive.  

Coronavirus timeline:
- January 19: 100 cases
- January 24: 1,000 cases
- January 28: 5,000 cases
- February 12: 50,000 cases
- March 6: 100,000 cases
- March 14: 150,000 cases
- March 18: 200,000 cases
- March 19: 225,000 cases
- March 20: 250,000 cases

— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) March 20, 2020

While it remains to be seen how bad the Coronavirus (“corned beef-19”) shitstorm will become – and before we rationalize it as something that is actually beneficial for the natural world (which I plan to do soon) or write it off as a problem that has been blown out of proportion – it’s worth taking a look at some of the more distressing realities that people are facing in the places hardest hit by the pandemic.  In doing so we can at least do some justice to the victims and healthcare workers who are on the frontlines fighting this pandemic and desperately warning others about its ferocity and tenacity.  Ultimately, even if this thing is being blown out of proportion, it is better to take these people by their word and prepare for the worst.  Overreacting and over-preparing is better than getting caught with our pants down.  

But before we do that, let us first examine at two different viewpoints that I feel people mainly hold about this pandemic.  To be sure, these are not the only perspectives (there are those who find themselves in the middle, indifferent, or oblivious to these perspectives – which is fine and arguably healthier that trying to keep up with all the news and formulate an opinion about it), but nevertheless here are the two most common camps that I find people park themselves in amongst my social network.  

1) “Fuck You.”  “The case fatality rate is low, the virus only affects old people who were on their deathbeds anyway, you have to have one or more underlying health issues (hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease) to die, most people get it and recover, some people don’t even know they had it, it’s not as prominent in latitudes with warmer climates, it has already come and gone in China and Wuhan has lifted its lockdown, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong have flattened the curve and are now doing fine, death and infection rates in Italy are dropping, Germany is handling this thing fine, chloroquine can be used to treat and recover victims, worst case scenario we’ll adapt and live with it and sooner or later herd immunity will be established and a vaccine will be widely available, ya’ll are freaking out over nothing because there are many more threats to humanity which kill many more people, marital law and an economic depression would harm and lead to the deaths of many more people than the Wuhan.”

2) “We’re Fucked.”  If this is like the flu then why the hell are so many people dying and why did China (whose numbers and word can’t be trusted and which is now facing a resurgence of cases) have to quarantine it’s entire population to reduce to transmission rate to a reasonable level, why are hospitals in Western Europe totally overwhelmed, a mutated and more resilient strain of the virus could be on the loose in Italy, millions could die in Iran, due to lack of testing we have no idea how many people actually have this, people can be asymptomatic for weeks while spreading the virus, there are many young and healthy people appearing to die from this, they can get the virus again after recovering, we can get it from our dogs, homeless and refugee populations will be ravaged, judging by the spread in Australia and South East Asia the warm climate theory is bunk and even if that’s not the case the summer will only offer a breather before next winter, no one’s taking quarantines seriously, no one’s wearing masks, infection rates are growing exponentially and when this thing peaks there will be millions infected, and by that time all the ICU beds will be taken, we’re gonna soon run out of hospital beds, ventilators, masks, and will have to use trash bags as PPE, CDC models predict 214 million Americans infected and 1.4 million dead, the pandemic is expected to last for over 18 months and will come in multiple waves, people will find ways of dealing with a depression not so much a pandemic.”  

There’s clearly a sense of uncertainty and dread pervading through society nowadays (as if there wasn’t already enough).  I think there are many other things we should be focused on other than this virus, and we should not be consumed by it.  We are constantly smothered by the pandemic.  But we cannot let that prevent us from doing the work that makes us whole and completing the projects that we find meaningful.  If you let it absorb all your mental space and time, permeating and altering your mental landscape and physiological sanctuaries, then it is beating you.  It can win by taking either your life or your time.  Don’t let it do either.  Having said that, it’s important to know what you’re in for, and these are some of the things I’ve seen which provide a sneak preview of what may coming to a theater near you.

Spain:

Italy:

The Italian army takes coffins away in Bergamo as morgues and cemeteries struggle to cope with the number of #coronavirus deaths.
Latest in Europe: https://t.co/sAASNXPTjz pic.twitter.com/qaIcXgpXSj

— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) March 19, 2020

Compounding is the Problem: