Corona means “crown” in Spanish, giving new meaning to the Shakespearean line, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” from Henry IV, part 2. Also kinda wrecks the "Queen for a Day" concept.
The virus kills you by entering the lungs and destroying cells there, triggering an immune response that can do further damage. Shortness of breath is an early symptom.
Something like 60% of adult males in China smoke tobacco, and the Chinese government receives as much as 10% of all revenue from its tobacco monopoly, which may explain why the regime is so lax on tobacco control measures. The lag in action on this front may well be contributing to the high morbidity and mortality rates of the new virus. By the same logic, other countries with lower smoking rates may be less susceptible.
The recent spike in new cases results from a revised yardstick for measurement by which the government now includes anyone with a preliminary pneumonia screen, whether or not they can get the more complex test to confirm COVID-19. This is because China does NOT have a single-payer healthcare system, and most citizens must cover around half of all hospital costs. The change is meant to encourage people to present for treatment and not be held back by fear of bankruptcy.
Conclusion: China does some things pretty well. Public health is not one of them.
[to receive alerts of these posts, write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com]
No comments:
Post a Comment