Nations are closing borders, stocks are plummeting and a New York Times headline reads: “The Coronavirus Has Put the World’s Economy in Survival Mode.” Both political parties have realized the crisis could severely impact the November elections — House, Senate, presidency. And sacré bleu, they’ve even
shuttered the Louvre!
Some of these reactions are understandable, much of it pure hysteria. Meanwhile, the spread of the virus continues to slow.
More than 18,000 Americans have died from this season’s generic flu so far, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2018, the CDC estimated, there were 80,000 flu deaths. That’s against
19 coronavirus deaths so far, from about 470 cases.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/08/coron...peak-and-start-falling-sooner-than-you-think/
That's what I thought at first. But the WHO, the CDC, multiple epidemiologists, they're not hysterical.
Are you not seeing what's happening in Italy? In Iran? The virus is slowing in China and South Korea. Everywhere else it's just gotten started:
"Italy today expanded its COVID-19 lockdown to include the whole country, affecting about 60 million people, as the World Health Organization (WHO) today said the threat of a pandemic from the COVID-19 virus is very real, signaling a tone of increased urgency.
Italy's announcement marks the first time a whole country has been placed on lockdown and comes on the heels of 1,797 new cases today and quickly rising numbers in other European countries.
The health ministry today reported 1,797 cases, up from 1,492 new infections reported the day before, raising its overall total to 9,172. The country also reported 97 more deaths, lifting its fatality count to 463. The lockdown involving Lombardy, the hardest-hit province, and nearby regions had put about 16 million people in quarantine.
Italy has the second-most COVID-19 cases in the world, behind China. On Feb 23—just 15 days ago—the nation had only 132 cases.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany reported 237 new cases today, raising its total to 1,139, according to totals from the
Robert Koch Institute. The country has reported two deaths. The hardest-hit states are North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wurttemberg.
And Spain's capital of Madrid over the past 2 days reported 469 more cases, boosting the country's total to 1,050,
Anadolu Agency news reported today, citing the country's health ministry. Health officials have called an emergency meeting, given an epidemic growth rate that is similar to Italy's. France also recently crossed the 1,000-case mark.
Albania reported its first two cases, in a man and his son who had traveled to Italy,
Agence France-Presse reported.
Cases rise in Iran, other Mideast countries
In Iran, one of the world's other hot spots, the health ministry today reported 595 new cases and 43 new deaths, raising its respective total to 7,161 cases, 237 of them fatal.
The country has temporarily released 70,000 prisoners from jail to battle the spread of the virus in the facilities,
Reuters reported today. Judiciary officials said the prisoner release will continue to the point where it doesn't create security problems, and they didn't specify when the released people would return to jail."
Italy expands COVID-19 lockdown to whole country
President suspends all travel from Europe to U.S. for 30 days 
