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[Scarlet Pimpernel]

It would be suicidal to make a highly infectious disease without having a vaccine available also.

 

[JP_]

It would be suicidal to make a highly infectious disease without having a vaccine available also.

Yeah, I mean, nobody ever made swords, guns or nuclear bombs for the same reason ....

But, suggestions that it was man-made are pretty daft really. It's not like it's the first outbreak of a virus to kill a lot of people.

 

[Mottie]

It would be suicidal to make a highly infectious disease without having a vaccine available also.

Sorry, remind me again how many deaths China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has suffered compared to even the most modest sized country.......

 

[Brigadier]

It would be suicidal to make a highly infectious disease without having a vaccine available also.

Only if the highly infectious disease was also fatal in a "unacceptable" number of those infected, especially in those that made it.
Otherwise, it's just a nuisance, annoying, or inconvenient.

 

[JP_]

Sorry, remind me again how many deaths China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has suffered compared to even the most modest sized country.......

The Chinese government locked down very quickly when the realised there was a problem. Unlike the UK government, they didn't do a wishy washy go for a drive and keep shopping lockdown, but a proper one that worked.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

If they had a vaccine, they wouldn't need to lockdown.
And if they knew that the fatality rate would be acceptable, why bother with a lockdown?

 

[JP_]

Here's a thing though - one of my business contacts in China mentioned working from home ages ago - might try to dig out the email. Get the impression some were already staying at home before it was in the news.... but maybe it was the school holidays ...

 

[EddieM]

From the figures given it certainly seems that China slowed the infections and subsequent sad deaths. I'm not sure how much faith I'd have in their figures though, they're not the most transparent of countries.

 

[JP_]

It is convenient to speculate that China might be up to something and behind it all, as it distracts from the total failure of our own government. But they really did get on the case a lot quicker. An example:

In mid-January, Chinese authorities introduced unprecedented measures to contain the virus, stopping movement in and out of Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, and 15 other cities in Hubei province — home to more than 60 million people. Flights and trains were suspended, and roads were blocked. - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x
​

While in the UK, the roads,trains and airports remained open. People could still get on a bus, workers could move between hospitals, care homes, shops, etc.

Maybe there are uncounted deaths in China, but with a population about 21 times higher, you'd expect around 850,000 deaths if the death rate was the same as the UK. I don't think even the Chinese government could cover up that many deaths.

Lockdown works.
Masks work.
Social distancing works.
A half-arsed approach doesn't work.

 

[EddieM]

It is convenient to speculate that China might be up to something and behind it all, as it distracts from the total failure of our own government. But they really did get on the case a lot quicker. An example:

In mid-January, Chinese authorities introduced unprecedented measures to contain the virus, stopping movement in and out of Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, and 15 other cities in Hubei province — home to more than 60 million people. Flights and trains were suspended, and roads were blocked. - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x
​

While in the UK, the roads,trains and airports remained open. People could still get on a bus, workers could move between hospitals, care homes, shops, etc.

Maybe there are uncounted deaths in China, but with a population about 21 times higher, you'd expect around 850,000 deaths if the death rate was the same as the UK. I don't think even the Chinese government could cover up that many deaths.

Lockdown works.
Masks work.
Social distancing works.
A half-arsed approach doesn't work.

Fair enough but something doesn't add up. The WHO didn't declare the virus as a pandemic until the 11th of March.

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19

I don't believe any country would impose a lockdown unless they knew something bad could happen, so why wasn't this shared more widely and transparently.

 

[JP_]

The WHO didn't declare the virus as a pandemic until the 11th of March.

Maybe because it was not a pandemic until then? Before that, it was thought to be contained in China, therefore not a pandemic.

 

[JP_]

I don't believe any country would impose a lockdown unless they knew something bad could happen, so why wasn't this shared more widely and transparently.

It was in the world news, just not being talking about here in the UK.

News in January:

China coronavirus: Lockdown measures rise across Hubei province
23 January 2020 - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51217455

China virus: ten cities locked down and Beijing festivities scrapped
Fri 24 Jan 2020
Residents in cities affected by coronavirus hoard supplies and isolate themselves at home
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...preads-in-china-with-three-cities-in-lockdown

China expands coronavirus outbreak lockdown to 56 million people
Number of confirmed cases climbs sharply to more than 1,321 worldwide, with 41 deaths reported in China as of Saturday.
25 Jan 2020
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...own-fast-tracks-hospital-200124201635848.html

But before that ....

SARS fears in China as 27 patients are struck down with 'unidentified' type of pneumonia similar to the killer virus of the early 2000s
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7839625/Dozens-struck-unidentified-pneumonia-China.html
31 December 2019

So even the tabloid news knew about it and even published stories. We just ignored it, thought it would not affect us. Big mistake.

Things escalated quickly.

 

[EddieM]

It was in the world news, just not being talking about here in the UK.

News in January:

China coronavirus: Lockdown measures rise across Hubei province
23 January 2020 - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51217455

China virus: ten cities locked down and Beijing festivities scrapped
Fri 24 Jan 2020
Residents in cities affected by coronavirus hoard supplies and isolate themselves at home
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...preads-in-china-with-three-cities-in-lockdown

China expands coronavirus outbreak lockdown to 56 million people
Number of confirmed cases climbs sharply to more than 1,321 worldwide, with 41 deaths reported in China as of Saturday.
25 Jan 2020
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...own-fast-tracks-hospital-200124201635848.html

But before that ....

SARS fears in China as 27 patients are struck down with 'unidentified' type of pneumonia similar to the killer virus of the early 2000s
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7839625/Dozens-struck-unidentified-pneumonia-China.html
31 December 2019

So even the tabloid news knew about it and even published stories. We just ignored it, thought it would not affect us. Big mistake.

Things escalated quickly.

But then we didn't lockdown for MERS or SARS. Seemingly the UK only had 4 cases of SARS, which originated in China which did lockdown.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

It would be suicidal to make a highly infectious disease without having a vaccine available also.

or in this case homicidal or even genocidal.
how do you know they don’t have a vaccine?

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

Yeah, I mean, nobody ever made swords, guns or nuclear bombs for the same reason ....

But, suggestions that it was man-made are pretty daft really. It's not like it's the first outbreak of a virus to kill a lot of people.

you know what other people see when you bury your head in the sand right?
an ars3hole.