Will Coronavirus Covi-19 spell
the end of humanity, as some are claiming?
Goodbye to the age of the Yellow Vest protests. The age of
the face mask is upon us. Next up will be the age of the rotting corpse. The
planet will be littered with dead bodies, each garbed in a less than useless
face mask, and there will be no one left to bury the dead. But wait, there may
be good news hidden in the bad news, it has been said that maggots are immune
to Covid-19. Therefore, if this worst-case scenario plays out in real life (or
death), the planet will restart itself with a clean slate, and the last
remaining climate alarmists and extinction rebels will be able to celebrate
with their last feverish dying gasps.
Meanwhile, on Facebook the Doomsday Group are signing up a
million new members every day, and the Flat Earth Society are debating a name
change to the Levelled Earth Society. In Washington D.C., Donald Trump
continues his campaign for re-election as the last President of the United
States, and the eternal fame that will go with it. The world is in a state of
lethal turmoil and the bad news is that downing copious cans of Corona Beer
will not drown your Coronavirus. This is the virus to end all viruses for the
rest of eternity . . .
That’s one view.
History is littered with plagues and pandemics; each having
been a large-scale killer of thousands and sometimes millions of unfortunate
people. Interestingly, the greatest killers wrought their havoc when there were
fewer people available for killing, like the Plague of Justinian in Europe in
541-542 A.D. when up to 50 million died, or 50% of the population. From 1331 to
1353 in Europe, Asia and North Africa somewhere between 75 and 200 million
(30-60% of the population) died of the Black Death. In the 18th
century, the greatest loss of life with a single infectious outbreak was the
Persian Plague of 1772 when two million died. In the 19th century,
the Third Cholera Pandemic claimed one million lives in Russia between 1852 and
1860, while another one million died worldwide from the 1889-1890 Influenza
Pandemic. Meanwhile, HIV/AIDS has taken 32 million lives since 1960 and
continues to kill to this day.
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| American victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu in a Kansas hospital |
Infectious diseases took a turn for the worse early in the
20th century with the outbreak of Spanish Flu in 1918. By 1920, the
disease had claimed up to 100 million lives worldwide. Asian Flu in 1957-58
took 2 million lives worldwide, and Hong Kong Flu claimed one million worldwide
in 1968-69. To date, the worst infectious disease outbreak of the 21st
century has been the Ebola Epidemic of 2013 to 2016, claiming 11,000 lives in
West Africa. An outbreak of cholera in Haiti took 10,000 lives from 2010 to
2017. So far Covid-19 has claimed almost 3,000 lives, has peaked in China where
it originated, and will soon peak elsewhere.
Population estimates for ancient history are sketchy at
best. For example, while the world was emerging from the Last Glacial Maximum
12,000 years ago and man discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) agriculture, the
world population was estimated to be between one and 15 million. Some
researchers have estimated an average population of five million with
fluctuations of up to plus or minus four million due to frequent famines, wars
and pandemics. The population, such as it was, was mostly confined to the
tropics and sub-tropics. Life was short and hard, and few people made it to age
20. One positive aspect of life at the time was the generally lower sea level,
making migration easier by way of land bridges that went under the waves as the
great ice sheets succumbed.
It is believed that population totals surged briefly during
the Roman and Medieval Warm periods but slumped again during the Little Ice Age
(1500-1850 approximately). However, it wasn’t until modern census methods were
adopted about 1700 A.D. that reliable data became available for advanced jurisdictions.
The Industrial Revolution, and the lesser revolutions of agriculture, education
and medicine, brought prosperity and longer lives for more people, and an exploding
population for the world. The one billion population milestone was reached in
1804, two billion in 1927, three billion in 1960, four billion in 1974, five
billion in 1987, six billion in 1999, and seven billion in 2011.
See also:
While the population has exploded, it has not been matched
by a similar magnitude increase in pandemics and epidemics. Moreover, compared
with earlier times, when there is an infectious outbreak, the death rate is
generally lower now, and a larger proportion now make a full recovery. In this
regard, Coronavirus Covid-19 may be different. Because it is a new strain of an
old common virus, it wasn’t expected, was slow to be recognized for what it
was, and how to treat it. The cat was quite literally out of the bag before
anyone knew there was a cat in the bag. The cat sprang at the most opportune
time. It was winter in the Northern Hemisphere (the time and hemisphere where
most outbreaks happen) and the world economy was booming with record numbers moving
every which way on business or pleasure. It was inevitable that getting the cat
back in the bag, and giving it the obligatory pill, would be no easy task.
According to Wikipedia, Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses
that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases
such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not
been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they
are transmitted between animals and people. Several known coronaviruses are
circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of
infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath,
and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause
pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand
washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking
meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory
illness such as coughing and sneezing.
After a hesitant start by China, the response of
governments almost everywhere to this new virus has been exemplary. It was
almost as though they were expecting something to happen without knowing
exactly what. We’ve never seen such a response before, even in the deadliest
earlier outbreaks. The measures put in place so swiftly and decisively will
most likely mean that Coronavirus Covid-19 will not have the same effect as the
epidemics of 1957, 1918 or the Black Plague, and the hundreds of pandemics
throughout history. The rapid mass international travel that
is so commonplace today was sure to be the opening for a new pandemic to spread
like an international wildfire, but obviously governments have been up to speed
on the possibility and have acted accordingly. But now governments and the WHO must be careful not to over-react and cause an economic depression that could kill more people than is could save.
There are already signs that the virus has peaked in China
and peaks may soon be reached in other countries. By mid-year the world trend in
new cases should be downward, and by this time next year the whole thing could
be consigned to history. There will be living victims who will
have an economic price to pay in terms of lost business and employment, disrupted
travel, and everything else that flows on from that. But if that stems the loss
of life, it will be worth it.
Meanwhile, for more than 99% of the population, life will
go on as before and there should be no reason for panic buying or heading for
the hills and a hermit lifestyle. Face masks need only be worn by those already
infected. As with any cold or flu bug, the best course of action is to cover
your mouth when coughing, wash and dry your hands thoroughly and frequently,
and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands.
Finally, celebrate the wonderful life your pioneering ancestors
created for you, with a cold Corona Beer, or another drop of your own choosing.
