JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON CHINA'S CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK - CHINA'S HUGE EFFORTS - THE VIRUS IS NOT THE PLAGUE - IT IS NOT VERY LETHAL - RATE OF GROWTH ALREADY IS SLOWING - AMERICA'S EXTREME HOSTILITY AND THE SPREAD OF PANIC BY EXCESSIVE PRESS COVERAGE - ROLE OF AMERICAN DISINFORMATION

John Chuckman


COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS


"What if China fails to contain the coronavirus outbreak?"


Sorry, I find that a poor headline to be running. Indeed, rather irresponsible.

First, China is doing everything humanly and scientifically possible.

The effort is enormous and costly, everything from closing large areas down to instantly building containment hospitals and conducting massive research and testing.

Two, the virus still is not the plague the press is making it out to be. It is spreading faster than anyone first thought, but infection is a fairly mild experience for many.

The numbers who have died do not yet resemble what we see every flu season in, say, the United States. Many thousands die, especially the old, unnoted year after year.

Three, the rate of growth is definitely slowing, its graph line is flattening, and there are indications that the outbreak will wind up in a fairly short time period, perhaps a couple of weeks or so.

Four, in light of Trump's extreme hostility towards China, unfortunately shared to some degree by Trudeau's disagreeable government, everyone should be very guarded about negative statements during these events.

It can look very much like joining America’s many efforts to discredit or belittle China.

And last, the CBC’s coverage has been excessive. Maybe half a dozen stories a day. That generates its own sense of panic for many.

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Reply to a comment below, saying: "We're all doomed unless the Canadian government can keep anybody who has been to China out of Canada."

Doomed? Please, this is not a matter for superstition or religion. Many who get the virus are not even seriously affected.

Your words reflect the excessive coverage of the press in promoting fear.

And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that American security agencies are at work fanning the flames, getting “stories” out there.

Trying to seriously damage China's economy, hurt its reputation. They certainly did that during the Hong Kong demonstrations and riots.

They do such things routinely, pumping out rumors and fears. They do it in places like Iraq, and they do it in places where they are trying to overthrow a government, as in Venezuela or Bolivia. It's called disinformation, and the CIA has platoons of clever, well-paid people who work to generate and distribute it.

Oh, and by the way, viruses spread in many ways. Already there have been cases abroad of people who had no contact with China.