Coronavirus (COVID-19)

informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/

Good information to put it all in perspective folks.

I have been reading a lot about COVID-19 and trying to make sense of it the past few days since my last post. There are the fear mongers who seem like they're actually trying to induce panic, and there are those who insist it's hype, not much worse than the flu, and that it will soon blow over. Looking at hard data, especially from places like South Korea where they have good data, it appears that this virus, while bad, is not a civilization killer, at least it doesn't have to be. It really does seem like those with pre-existing conditions (heart problems, asthma, HIV, etc.) are most at risk, and of course the elderly are more likely to have pre-existing conditions. The rest of the population is unlikely to suffer more than they would from the common cold if they contract the disease. The high death rates in the media reports reflect the fact that people with mild to no symptoms aren't being counted in the total making it seem deadlier than it actually is. All that said, this virus can wreak havoc in hospitals. It can infect hospital workers who then have to stay home leaving hospitals understaffed. That seems to be what is creating the crisis in China and Italy. Hospitals need to be prepared with procedures to isolate COVID-19 patients or they will spread the disease. I don't know how prepared American hospitals are, but I suspect that they are better prepared than the Italian hospitals. The bottom line is that the risk from the virus is relatively low to the general population, but it remains a risk to society as it can impact our health care system and disrupt our economy.

What does this mean for prophecy? I am still figuring that out, but if I were to guess, I would say one scenario is that the panic will soon start to subside as the virus spreads and people realize it's not that much worse than the flu. It may even subside a bit as the weather warms in the northern hemisphere. There might even be a bit of euphoria as the world breaths a sigh of relief and goes shopping again and buying plane tickets. There could be a sort of relief bump to the economy. People will start buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage. Relieved people all over the world will sing "peace and safety" and then...

Or it could get really bad and we will all get really sick and run out of toilet paper. I increasingly think this is a warning shot to the world more than the start of the downturn that will occur after we are gone though.

This opinion comes from a doctor in Italy. We should all read this and pay attention to what she is saying.

www.newsweek.com/young-unafraid-coronavirus-pandemic-good-you-now-stop-killing-people-opinion-1491797

I now think this is worse than is being told. I know our media is trying to use this for political gain and therefore many want to say "ah this is just overblown. The media just wants to take down a President". I have no doubt that is true. And I know the business community wants to mitigate outright panic that is destroying the economy. Also very true. However, outside of that political agenda and need to keep food on the table, the reality may be that this really is different. Italy's death rate is at 6.6%. Why is theirs so much higher? Are their people that much more frail? I can't believe their hospital care and resources are worse than Iran and Korea. Iran and Korea whose confirmed case numbers haven't gone up by a single case in days. Iran which sits at exactly 9,000 cases. No more, no less, for days. Really? North Korea which has not disclosed a single case. Really? While your neighbors to the North and South have thousands? China was rumored to have built incinerators to dispose of thousands of bodies. Cover-up of real death toll to save face or truly trying to slow the outbreak? I even read about a whistle-blower from China saying that the government has now forced factories to keep running their factory machines unmanned because the electric companies were seeing that the government wasn't telling the truth about workers finally being sent back to work as the virus supposedly slows. Their electric grid was telling a different story. Imagine that. I can't seem to re-find that link, sorry. I'm of the opinion these countries and others are under-reporting, stopped reporting, or have no intention to at all. (that's cases and deaths)

www.ccn.com/coronavirus-exiled-billionaire-says-china-burning-1200-bodies-a-day/
nypost.com/2020/02/08/chinas-culture-of-lies-has-helped-spread-the-coronavirus/

So back to Italy. Maybe Italy has decided not to hide the truth. Maybe they've decided not to care about public perception and do what is necessary to save the lives they can. Reveal the true death toll. Quarantine everything. That is what they've done. The entire country has been shutdown. They've just announced that ALL shops are closed except Pharmaceuticals and food. Overreaction? Or is the death rate actually much higher than is being reported?


This is from that Dr. in the first link -

"I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans (and you, Brits) in these still-early days of the Coronavirus pandemic is like watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split into pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement.

The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu; keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning up, we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu. We kept the economy going, pointed fingers at China and urged tourists to keep traveling. And the majority of us told ourselves and each other: this isn't so bad. We're young, we're fit, we'll be fine even if we catch it.

Fast-forward two months, and we are drowning. Statistically speaking—judging by the curve in China—we are not even at the peak yet, but our fatality rate is at over 6 percent, double the known global average.

Put aside statistics. Here is how it looks in practice. Most of my childhood friends are now doctors working in north Italy. In Milan, in Bergamo, in Padua, they are having to choose between intubating a 40-year-old with two kids, a 40-year old who is fit and healthy with no co-morbidities, and a 60-year-old with high blood pressure, because they don't have enough beds. In the hallway, meanwhile, there are another 15 people waiting who are already hardly breathing and need oxygen.

The army is trying to bring some of them to other regions with helicopters but it's not enough: the flow is just too much, too many people are getting sick at the same time.

We are still awaiting the peak of the epidemic in Europe: probably early April for Italy, mid-April for Germany and Switzerland, somewhere around that time for the UK. In the U.S., the infection has only just begun.

But until we're past the peak, the only solution is to impose social restrictions.

And if your government is hesitating, these restrictions are up to you. Stay put. Do not travel. Cancel that family reunion, the promotion party and the big night out. This really sucks, but these are special times. Don't take risks. Do not go to places where you are more than 20 people in the same room. It's not safe and it's not worth it.

But why the urgency, if most people survive?

Here's why: Fatality is the wrong yardstick. Catching the virus can mess up your life in many, many more ways than just straight-up killing you. "We are all young"—okay. "Even if we get the bug, we will survive"—fantastic. How about needing four months of physical therapy before you even feel human again. Or getting scar tissue in your lungs and having your activity level restricted for the rest of your life. Not to mention having every chance of catching another bug in hospital, while you're being treated or waiting to get checked with an immune system distracted even by the false alarm of an ordinary flu. No travel for leisure or business is worth this risk.

Now, odds are, you might catch coronavirus and might not even get symptoms. Great. Good for you. Very bad for everyone else, from your own grandparents to the random older person who got on the subway train a stop or two after you got off. You're fine, you're barely even sneezing or coughing, but you're walking around and you kill a couple of old ladies without even knowing it. Is that fair? You tell me."


Her statements are pretty harsh, but are they untrue? Maybe God's grace will save many by slowing this as the temperature rises, but I do think this was warning shot across the bow of those countries most affected. My hope and prayers are that people across the world will have their eyes opened to the real truth of Jesus as their only hope.

Iran finally updated their totals. They must have received my memo. Lol. However, that doesn't take away from my opinion that there are countries that are under-reporting. The entire country of Russia has only 28 cases? We have states with more than that. And Turkey has 1. Really, One? I think that is highly unlikely and suspicious. Even the small island of Iceland has 85. And the overall death rate is climbing. When I first started tracking this it was just below 3%. It's now at 3.7% and the death rate among new cases is at 4.8%. So it's going up, not down. Also, there are new tests that show that the virus can survive in the air for hours. Probably why cruises have taken such a hit. It's like being in an incubator for days or week.

thehill.com/policy/healthcare/487110-tests-indicate-coronavirus-can-survive-in-the-air

And reports are Norway has shut down it's country.
theweek.com/speedreads/901770/entire-country-norway-shutting-down


I was using the Johns Hopkins site, but I think it is really taking a hit. Its loading slower and slower each day. So try the one Gary gave at the beginning of this thread.
www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Ultimately this may eventually fizzle out, but it is certainly the panic, at this point, that is having effects that are worse. The worldwide economy is suffering and will probably cause longer lasting effects. I was figuring this 2020 year was going to have some eye-opening events, but never figured it would start out with such a bang and we are only 1/4 of the way through.


[Edit] And this new story seems to support what I'm saying. Countries are hiding their deaths.

Headline: Iran's coronavirus burial pits are so vast they're visible from space
www.ctpost.com/news/article/Iran-s-coronavirus-burial-pits-are-so-vast-15125717.php

From link -
In Qom, the spiritual center of Iran's ruling Shiite clerics, more than 846 people have contracted the virus, officials say. Iran's government has not released an official death toll for Qom, however, where about 1.2 million people live. But videos, satellite images and other open-source data from the cemetery - a vast complex six miles north of the city center - suggest that the number of people struck down by the virus there is significantly higher than the official figure.

A senior imagery analyst at Maxar Technologies in Colorado said the size of the trenches and the speed with which they were excavated together mark a clear departure from past burial practices involving individual and family plots at the site. In addition to satellite imagery, videos posted on social media from the cemetery show the extended rows of graves at Behesht-e Masoumeh and say they are meant for coronavirus victims.

The imagery analyst, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, also pointed to an image showing what appears to be a large white pile of lime, which can be used to manage decay and odor in mass graves. Iranian health officials have in recent weeks confirmed the use of lime when burying coronavirus victims.

venge , I can't help but respond to this. In the latter years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, there were famines here and there around the world as well as big earthquakes. There was the swine flu and then the bird flu, etc etc. I believe that the end was not yet, then. Since then we've had MERS, and SARS, and H1N1, and now COVID-19. Also, famines have only increased and then this was from two days ago from the YT channel DutchSinse:



I don't think these earthquakes can be categorized as "in divers places."

I don't mean to be unduly firm about this, but I think that all signs read that the end is now. The bridge is out up ahead. We must pay attention. Am I troubled? No. Am I concerned? Yes, very! I have loved ones who I do not believe have taken the signs seriously or have ignored them all together. I feel safe under Jesus' wing. I know he will protect me and my family. But if I must suffer more before He comes for me, then so be it. His will, and not mine, be done.

Multiple reports are saying that the number of deaths in comparison to the number of new cases is going down.
The doctor friend of ours said this is totally overblown.

He also said that what none of the media is telling is that unlike the common flu, the effect on children is almost none. The cases in children worldwide is very low. And- the mortality rate is usually those over 65 who already have 2 or more health issues- diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma or heart disease [obesity]. (compromised immune system.) In South Korea, there was early, large-scale testing, even drive thru testing centers and the mortality rate was around 1%. Much closer to the flu.
Contrast this with Italy- which has a huge elderly population.
I think - like JD Farag said, the panic and hysteria and hype are far worse than the virus itself.
The stock markets hate uncertainty and we are now officially in a bear market.
I think its still too soon to tell, but the hysteria is spreading and fear lelel spiking because its new.
The same doctor friend said that the medical professionals in Africa say this is a joke compared to Ebola.
We are told over 300 times in scripture do not fear!
Could this be much worse than i think? Yes!
Could I lose my aging parents? Yes!
What's the worst thing that could happen?
This is the event that tips the domino or lights the fuse of prophetic events for the rapture.
I die or I get to be part of those raptured hopefully this Fall.
My trust and faith is not in vaccines or stock market or stock options or governments.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6,7


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