Corona Virus

[searchinmyroots]

Here is the latest -

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Map    
GLOBAL TREND

Last update: 2020-03-26 13:16:29 PST Click a place to review local trend.

Source: WHO, NBC News, CDC, Baidu, Wikipedia, and etc.

Aggregated Confirmed  
522,355+50,323

Active Confirmed  
377,757 +40,882

Recovered
121,083+7,138

Death
23,515+2,303

And this from last year's regular flu according to the CDC which is only for America-

CDC estimates that influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season. This burden was similar to estimated burden during the 2012–2013 influenza season.

[Chavak]

Just an opinion.  Honestly, I think people are losing their minds over this flu and we've yet to experience the repercussions of shutting down the economy. I believe that is a huge mistake.  

We are human and when we do normal things like gather together for events either secular or religious  which then becomes criminal, is a more disturbing thought to me.  

Elderly people came in to a store I frequent and were "violating" the social distancing rules as if they didn't care. They probably didn't. And that is just fine with me. What bothered me more was the reaction of the clerks. They were visibly angry.  With all the media attention and fearmongering over this virus we may well be seeing people penalized for what was a month ago, quite normal behavior.

I agree with you 100%.

[Chavak]

There is also an issue of the media reporting someone dying of corona when it hasn't been clearly established, or if it hasn't been determined if there is an underlying cause. Or them just out right lying, as in our area when the headline was "60 year old lady with corona dies" when you had to read the article to learn she had gone into an ER with a heart attack, and that is what killed her, not corona. Very misleading and leads to panic.

[a_Sarah]

I totally agree with RabbiO here. I also think that we need to distinguish fearmongering from rational broadcasting of facts. I do not know the situation in the US well, but in Europe I feel we moved from sensationalist headlines to calm reports and this reduced actual panic (I.e., thinking we are all gonna die or run out of toilet paper). Our stores are starting to remain stocked again as people are now understanding that the situation will last for a while.

We are under lockdown. Businesses are finding new and creative ways to handle the situation (everything is closed except for essentials). And there is governmental help, for both businesses and people (e.g., people cannot be evicted due to not being able to pay rent, but the govnmt in turn helps the landlords, too). It is a hit on the economy, but we will recover. And first and foremost, the economy is not more important than human lives, and in our country, a high importance is placed on also helping those affected by this in the long run.

While it is true that young people recover more likely, it still remains unclear if there will be lasting effects. A "mild" version may still include pneumonia and severe symptoms, just not necessary hospitalization or ventilation. The problem is that this disease is an addition to the annual flu. Hospitals are just equipped to handle the "regular" amount of patients, plus a little extra capacity. But that has been surpassed weeks ago and this will affect regular treatments as well.  This is part of why we all need to support the measures, not only the subjective risk to personally get the disease.

At the moment, a lot of younger people having severe symptoms are emerging, too. A famous musician (the lead of Rammstein) was in ICU, young people, young as teens and twens are dying, with no underlying conditions. A friend of mine currently has it and it's very painful for him - he is fit, a free diver and outdoor type. And according to the findings of Iceland which tested nearly half of their population, people can carry the virus and be asymptomatic in up to 50% of cases, but still infect others so you just cannot know and use your good judgement like with other infections.

I completely understand this being a challenge to all of us and it is hard to change our routines and ways. But I also think we have this responsibility to care for our community by distancing at the moment. I saw an oecumenic worship last Sunday (Christian, Muslim and Jewish! All live broadcast from Berlin!) And they found beautiful words to say that we need to show our love now by doing what feels contraintuitive right now - increasing the distance out of love.

[Dana]

Some of the best stories, the ones that remain with me, have come while learning Hebrew. I wanted to share one, I feel is quite applicable, to the times we find ourselves.  The story is written in Hebrew from the book Ivrit Shalav Gimmel and is titled The Harvest of Madness

I believe it has been drawn from the Mishnah, but, the author did not indicate.  Last year's harvest, referred to from the story,  I feel represents wisdom.

תבואת השגעון

פעם אחת אמר המלך למשנה-למלך: "אני מבין בכוכבים ומזלות, ואני למדתי מן הכוכבים שכל אדם שיאכל מתבואת השנה הזאת יהיה למשֻגע! ואין די תבואה מן השנה שעברה לכל העולם. מה לעשות?"  אמר המשנה-למלך: "אדוני המלך, כך אני מיעץ: אנחנו - אני ואתה - נאכל מתבואת השמה שעברה, ולא של השנה הזאת. ואנחנו לא נהיה למשֻגעים."  ענה המלך: "זאת לא עצה טובה. כל העולם יהיה משגע ואנחנו לא. לכן כל העולם יאמר שאנחנו משגעים."  אמר המשנע-למלך: "מה דעתך, אדוני המלך?"  ענה המלך: "חברי הטוב, אין לנו ברירה. גם אנחנו נאכל מתבואת השנה הזאת וגם אנחנו נהיה למשֻגעים. אבל, נהיה שונים מכל המשֻגעים האחרים. אנחנו נידע שאנחנו משֻגעים."  שאל המשנה-למלך: "אם נהיה למשֻגעים, איך נידע זאת?"  ענה המלך: "אנחנו נכתב אות על ראשינו שאנחנו משֻגעים, ובכל פעם שאני אראה אותך ואתה תראה אותי, נידע שאנחנו משֻגעים."

The Translation, to the best of my knowledge

The Harvest of Madness

One time the king said to his viceroy: I understand from stars and constellations, and learned from the stars that every human that will eat from this year's harvest will become crazy! And there isn't enough harvest from last year for everyone in the world. What is there to do?"

The viceroy answered: "Sir, my king, thus I will advise: We - I and you - We will eat from last year's harvest, and not from this year.  And we will not become as mad people."

The king answered: "This is not good advise. The whole world will become crazy and we will not. Therefore, the whole world will say that we are the crazy ones."

The viceroy said to the king:  "What is your opinion, Sir, my king?"  The king answered: "My good friend, we do not have a choice.  We also will eat from this year's harvest and we also will become as mad people. But, we will be different from all the other crazy people.  We will know that we are crazies."

The viceroy asked the king: "If we will become as mad people, how will we know this?"

The king answered: "We will write a sign upon our heads that we are crazy, and every time that I see you and you see me, we will know that we are crazy people."


So, in relation to the story, for some physical exercise and a chance to visit with my daughter I made reservations to play some tennis.  I've been sent a long list of rules, precautionary measures, to keep us "safe" while we play. Such as, being advised not to play doubles as the temptation to whisper strategy, or any other excuse for close physical contact will be lessened. We are not allowed to do "Bryan Brothers Chest Pumps" upon a victory score. Do people do that in tennis? Apparently. I'll keep that in mind once the Covid thing is over and we can return to normal.  We've been advised to purchase two sets of tennis balls with different numbers so as to not touch the other members tennis balls when they settle on the other side.  

The list goes on, and on, with more precautionary measures.  I plan to brave the game, with a bit of defiance  by skipping the hand washing and returning my partners tennis balls. That means I must actually touch them sometimes and I won't be wearing gloves either. Oh dear.

No literal sign will be on my head but a smile and a twinkle in the eye, with an occasional shaking of the head, so as to assure us we KNOW we're crazy.  

I hope you all are faring well during these strange times.  And remember, "We're all in this together." Sorry, I couldn't resist. Now go wash your hands.

[Ismq]

I think that corona will dissapears as
Others viruses in history.it is just matter of time.

[RabbiO]

I think that corona will dissapears as
Others viruses in history.it is just matter of time.

What about all the viruses that have not disappeared throughout time?