Is Martial Law Really Necessary?
People have to survive. They can die from a virus, or from starvation. In other words, shutting down free markets will potentially kill more people on its own than the virus. But let’s digress a bit to discover more about what has actually been happening.
There appears to be a cure already available, which would explain why China has been able to abruptly stop the COVID-19 virus from further spreading. See the article here.
“A team of Australian researchers say they’ve found a cure for the novel coronavirus”
The Chronicle, Australia, March, 2020
Well, in the article above, these Aussie doctors “found” a cure because some Chinese visitors to Australia who had the illness told them of the cure—basically under a health-imposed threat of death. Now the Australian “researchers”, who simply listened to their patients, are raising A$750,000 for more testing, having “found” the cure. So much for nationalized health care.
Now, President Trump has picked up on this cure (hydroxychloroquine), and it is being fast-tracked by the FDA for use for the Chinese Virus.
It looks as though it is not the shutting down of economies that works to stop the virus, but very likely just wholesale passing out of the remedy. Perhaps the same Wuhan fish market that introduced the virus had the remedy already verified in advance of the outbreak.
There are also remedies being developed elsewhere, as in Japan, explained here. This drug “has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment” according to a Chinese official.
“Patients who were given the medicine in Shenzhen turned negative for the virus after a median of four days after becoming positive, compared with a median of 11 days for those who were not treated with the drug, public broadcaster NHK said.”
The Guardian, UK, March, 2020
The above China cases flat-lines at about 80,000, for a population of ~1.4 billion
Technically, if the remedy is less costly than/on the order of the testing, and without side-effects, it could be ordered in bulk and sold through private pharmacies, under reasonable prescriptions. Then health infrastructures would not be strained, and the draconian limits on personal and economic liberties that have been imposed in order to reduce the infrastructure stress would be completely unnecessary.
Instead, we have governments halting international travel, closing borders, shutting down businesses, shops, restaurants and pubs, cancelling sports and other public events, even ending schools—literally stopping all non-virtual social and economic life in the name of slowing the spread of the virus, primarily because the socialised healthcare systems cannot handle the stress. How long before this Martial law is rescinded?
“The killing of economic activity in the name of a virus which already has a cure has to end.”
The killing of economic activity in the name of a virus which already has a cure has to end. Testing and dispersal of remedies should be privatized to as large a degree as possible, in order to provide faster responses through established distribution channels, reducing the stress on the health infrastructure.
The socialists won’t like this, unless they are caught with the illness.
The above discussion of the risks of hydroxychloroquine, from a doctor, confirms that one way to alleviate the pressures on health infrastructure, should they occur as they have in Italy, for instance, is to make easily available low-risk, well-understood drugs such as hydroxychloroquine. Just having some available to a household’s responsible person in a cupboard will go a long way to reducing fear and stress. Again, hydroxychloroquine is currently used in many hospitals in China, South Korea and the US as an early medication against the virus.
Because the virus can cause permanent lung damage if it is not stopped quickly, it is a very good reason to get a stop-gap medicine available to everyone easily, without delay.
“Some people who recover from the coronavirus might be left with ’20 to 30%’ less lung function, and gasping for breath when they walk quickly”
Hong Kong doctors, March, 2020
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