China

The Number Of Coronavirus Cases Has Just Exploded, And Many Fear That The Worst Is Yet To Come

Just as the mainstream media was starting to speculate that China could be getting this outbreak under control, a dramatic spike in the numbers has changed everything.  All of a sudden people are freaking out again, global financial markets are gyrating all over the place and medical experts all over the world are making bold pronouncements of doom.  On Wednesday, Hubei province reported 14,840 new infections and 242 more deaths from this virus.  But the biggest reason why there was such a jump in the numbers is because a decision was made to reclassify patients that had been “clinically diagnosed” but up until now had not been counted as “confirmed cases”.  The following comes from CNBC…

China’s Hubei province reported an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 new cases as of Feb. 12 — a sharp increase from the previous day. The province said it is starting to include “clinically diagnosed” cases in its figures and that 13,332 of the new cases fall under that classification.

The government said that a total of 1,310 people have died in the province and that 48,206 people have been infected in the region.

So this really wasn’t as big of a change as many are making it out to be.

The following is what Hubei province is saying about the decision to reclassify patients…

With the deepening of understanding of new coronavirus pneumonia and the accumulation of experience in diagnosis and treatment, in view of the characteristics of the epidemic in Hubei Province, the General Office of the National Health and Health Commission and the Office of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued the “Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for New Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia (Trial (Version) “adds” clinical diagnosis “to the case diagnosis classification in Hubei Province, so that patients can receive standardized treatment according to confirmed cases as early as possible to further improve the success rate of treatment.

According to the plan, Hubei Province has recently conducted investigations on suspected cases and revised the diagnosis results, and newly diagnosed patients were diagnosed according to the new diagnosis classification. In order to be consistent with the classification of case diagnosis issued by other provinces across the country, starting today, Hubei Province will include the number of clinically diagnosed cases into the number of confirmed cases for publication.

Overall, there are now 59,805 confirmed cases inside China, and the death toll has now passed the 1,300 mark.

But those are not the most important numbers.

To me, it is far more important to watch what happens to the number of cases around the rest of the world.  Ultimately, that will determine whether this becomes a true global pandemic or not.

A week ago, there were 227 confirmed cases outside of China, and now there are 524.  Over the course of about a week we have seen that number more than double, and that is definitely very troubling.

And we continue to get more anecdotal evidence that the situation inside China is far more dire than government officials are admitting.

For example, the Chinese government has been encouraging many businesses that shut down for the virus to reopen so that the economy can start humming again, but it looks like that may have been a huge mistake.  In the city of Suzhou, a confirmed case was discovered right after one company reopened their doors, and that resulted in 200 employees immediately being placed under quarantine.

This virus is completely and totally out of control in China right now, and any attempts to “return to normal” too quickly will just make things worse.

Wishful thinking isn’t going to solve anything.  It has become exceedingly apparent that this virus can be transmitted from person to person with extreme ease, and the Chinese need to settle in for a very long battle with this virus.

At this point, this virus is spreading very rapidly even among the police and the military…

A staff member at the Central Theater General Hospital (Hankou Hospital) in Wuhan confirmed armed police officers were hospitalized.

Among them, 1,500 Chinese soldiers and 1,000 armed police are being quarantined, and China Human Rights and Democracy Information Center, headquartered in Hong Kong, reported on February 10 that 10 CCP soldiers and 15 armed police have been diagnosed with the new virus in Hubei province.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (Hainan) Hospital in Sanya is preparing to test 3,000 people for new virus pneumonia samples.

300 armed police were isolated to a training site of the Hubei Provincial Corps of the Armed Police.

An epidemic has emerged in the Chinese Navy. After a serviceman of the Navy Submarine Force in Sanya, Hainan, was diagnosed with Covid-19, 300 sailors were isolated, and training programs on nuclear submarines, scheduled to start this month, have been suspended.

As this crisis continues to intensify, experts all over the planet are fearing the worst.  Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London says that the death rate among those that have the virus in Wuhan could ultimately go as high as 18 percent, and Hong Kong epidemiologist Gabriel Leung is warning that most of the population of the globe could end up being infected if dramatic action is not taken.

But other medical professionals believe that this outbreak will start to fade once warmer weather arrives.  Hopefully they are correct, but Dr. Nancy Messionnier says that it is still way too early to make that sort of an assumption…

Dr. Nancy Messionnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sounds a similar note when it comes to predicting a slowdown of cases with warmer weather. “I think it’s premature to assume that,” she said during a call with reporters on Wednesday. “We haven’t been through even a single year with this pathogen.”

We shall see what happens.  But even if this outbreak subsides when the weather is warm, it could still flare back up again in a massive way once next winter arrives.

In fact, many experts believe that we will now be dealing with this coronavirus year after year for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully that is not true, but without a doubt our world is getting a little bit crazier with each passing day.

It seems like one crisis after another just keeps popping up, and there will almost certainly be more great challenges that we must face in the months ahead.

For the moment, this coronavirus outbreak is taking center stage, and the numbers are getting significantly worse every 24 hours.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

This Coronavirus Outbreak Is Really Starting To Take A Very Serious Toll On The Global Economy

Factories all over China have been shut down, global supply chains have been hit by an unprecedented shock, the Baltic Dry Index is absolutely collapsing, the tourism industry is being absolutely devastated, and companies all over the globe are warning that sales will be lower than anticipated this quarter.  This coronavirus outbreak is already taking a very serious toll on the global economy, and experts are warning that we could still be in the very early chapters of this crisis.  If this outbreak ultimately evolves into a horrifying worldwide pandemic that kills millions of people, what will the global economy look like a few months from now?

For the moment, more than 98 percent of the confirmed cases are still in China, but that could soon change.

And if this virus does start spreading in other countries like it is in China, that could rapidly push us into a deep global recession.

Many are fearing the worst.  In fact, Forbes is already labeling this outbreak as “a black swan event”…

A black swan event is a term used on Wall Street that refers to a rare and unpredictable occurrence that is beyond what is expected and has severe consequences. It’s derived from European explorers who had previously thought that all swans were white and only white, as that was all they knew. They were overcome with shock and confusion when Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh discovered the existence of black swans in Australia.

The coronavirus is a black swan event, which may have serious consequences for your job, the stock market and global economy.

Needless to say, China is feeling the most economic pain from this outbreak so far.  In this sort of an environment, it makes sense that very few Chinese citizens would want to buy homes, and that is precisely what we are currently witnessing…

Bloomberg cited a new report via China Merchants Securities (CMSC) that said new apartment sales crashed 90% in the first week of February over the same period last year. Sales of existing homes in 8 cities plunged 91% over the same period.

“The sector is bracing for a worse impact than the 2003 SARS pandemic,” said Bai Yanjun, an analyst at property-consulting firm China Index Holdings Ltd. “In 2003, the home market was on a cyclical rise. Now, it’s already reeling from an adjustment.”

We have never seen an economic catastrophe of this nature since the communists took power in China, and everyone agrees that all of the Chinese economic numbers are going to be absolutely terrible for the foreseeable future.

And since more global trade goes through China than anywhere else in the world, the ripple effects are literally being felt all over the planet.

In fact, the Baltic Dry Index has fallen more than 80 percent since September and is rapidly headed toward an all-time low…

The BDI is now in freefall, closing at 466 on Monday, down over 80% since September 2019. Rates for Capesize bulkers (vessels with capacity of around 180,000 deadweight tons) are now at around $3,500-$4,000 per day — less than a third of their mid-teens breakeven rates.

With economic activity all over the world steadily slowing down, there just isn’t a lot of demand right now, and large shipping companies are potentially facing an extended slump.

But things are going to be even worse for the tourism industry.  After what we have witnessed in recent days, very few people are going to want to set foot on a cruise ship any time soon.  In particular, the case of the Diamond Princess continues to make headlines all over the world, and the number of confirmed cases on board has now risen to 174…

After a relatively quiet 36 hours for the ‘Diamond Princess’, Japanese authorities reported 39 more cases, bringing the total to 174 out of 492 people on board tested, while Japan’s defense Minister Taro Kono tweeted that a quarantine officer from the health ministry also tested positive for the virus. As Bloomberg notes, Carnival’s Diamond Princess cruise ship has become the biggest center of infection of any place outside of China. The Diamond Princess was placed under quarantine last week and checks were conducted after a passenger from Hong Kong who had been on the ship tested positive for the virus. The ship has become a case of concern because of the possibility of more infections in the vessel’s confined spaces, and the increased risks to elderly passengers.

To a lesser extent, the airline industry is being affected as well.

Many airlines have already suspended all flights to China, and on Tuesday American Airlines actually extended their flight cancellations until late April…

Due to a reduction in demand, American Airlines on Tuesday extended its flight cancellations to and from mainland China and Hong Kong amid the coronavirus outbreak.

According to a company statement, the airline is extending the suspensions between mainland China and Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles through April 24.

Flights from Dallas to Hong Kong are suspended through April 23. Flights between Los Angeles and Hong Kong are suspended through April 23.

So what is going to happen if this virus starts spreading all over the globe like it is currently spreading in China?

At that point, very few people would want to fly anywhere at all.

In fact, most people would want to avoid public places entirely.

If this crisis gets bad enough, we are potentially facing a global economic shutdown unlike anything we have ever seen before.

Let us hope that we never get to that point.

Here in the United States there have only been 13 confirmed cases so far, and most businesses continue to operate normally.

But without a doubt this crisis will have an impact, and the truth is that the U.S. economy was already starting to slow down before this virus appeared on the scene.  For example, the number of job openings in the U.S. plummeted dramatically in both November and December…

The number of job openings in December dropped by 364,000 from November (seasonally adjusted), after having already plunged by 574,000 in November, according to the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). This two-month plunge of 938,000 job openings came after a series of ups and downs with downward trend starting after the peak in January 2019.

If this virus gets out of control in this country, it is probably going to be impossible to avoid a very serious economic downturn.

Of course even if this virus were to completely disappear tomorrow, the truth is that we would still be headed for very difficult times.

Life as we have all known it is starting to change, and the chapters ahead are going to be very, very painful.

As for this virus, let us keep hoping that this outbreak will start to subside.  Because we already have enough problems, and a horrifying global pandemic would definitely be more than enough to push us over the edge.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

Why Is The Government Turning 11 Military Bases Inside The United States Into Quarantine Camps?

If this coronavirus outbreak is not a serious threat, then why is the U.S. government preparing to quarantine victims all over America?  As you will see below, 11 U.S. military bases located close to major airports are being converted into “quarantine centers” for potential patients.  When I first learned about this, I was greatly alarmed, because we have all seen what is going on in China right now.  People are literally being physically dragged out of their homes and are being forcibly relocated to “mass quarantine camps” with hordes of other very sick people.  Sadly, many of them will never come out of those camps alive.  If this virus starts spreading like wildfire here in the United States, is it possible that something similar could start happening here?

The vast majority of the confirmed cases are still in China, but over the last couple of weeks the number of cases in the rest of the world has escalated dramatically.

Back on January 20th there were only 4 confirmed cases outside of China and now there are 464.  At this point there are victims in at least 28 different countries, and that number is almost certain to keep growing.

The reason why the virus has already spread to so many nations is because it is highly contagious.  Scientists have discovered that it can be transmitted from person to person very easily, it has an incubation period of up to 24 days, and it can survive on smooth surfaces for up to 9 days.

If this coronavirus starts spreading very rapidly in the western world it is going to create a tremendous amount of panic.  Many are still trying to compare this virus to the common flu, but that is a huge mistake.  China would never lock down major cities for weeks on end for the flu.

Obviously something really big is happening, and the U.S. government is preparing for a worst case scenario.  According to the Miami Herald, 11 military bases inside the United States are currently in the process of being transformed into “quarantine centers”…

Eleven military bases near major airports in the United States are setting up quarantine centers for possible coronavirus patients, the Department of Defense said.

The Department of Health and Human Services asked the Pentagon for quarantine space in case beds fill up at other coronavirus centers around the country, according to a DOD statement.

Is this an indication that the threat that this virus poses to our country is far greater than we are being told?

The Department of Defense has released a statement about this new program, and in that statement the 11 military bases were specifically identified…

  • JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI (HNL)
  • Great Lakes Training Center Navy Base, IL (ORD)
  • Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, TX (DFW)
  • March ARB, CA (LAX)
  • Travis AFB, CA (SFO)
  • Dobbins ARB, GA (ATL)
  • Fort Hamilton, NY (JFK)
  • Naval Base Kitsap, WA (SEA)
  • Joint Base Anacostia, DC (IAD)
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ (EWR)
  • Fort Custer Training Center (DTW)

Hopefully not all of those facilities will be needed, but things are certainly looking more grim with each passing day.

For example, the number of confirmed cases on a cruise ship anchored off the coast of Japan nearly doubled on Monday.  Of the total number of people that have been infected, at least 24 of them are Americans…

There are at least 24 Americans among the 135 people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, according to information from Princess Cruises and a CNN tally.

Japanese authorities are still testing hundreds of passengers on board the ship, which has been stuck at a harbor south of Japanese capital Tokyo for almost a week now.

Once the quarantine of that cruise ship is over, those Americans will certainly want to return home.

Will they be allowed to do so, or will they be required to go to one of these quarantine centers first?

Elsewhere in the country, people are being put in “self quarantine” until officials believe that it is safe for them to resume their normal lives.  According to local officials, this is being done to “an unspecified number of people in Bexar County” right now…

A number of Texans have been put in ‘self quarantine’ in their homes in case they have the coronavirus after recently returning from China.

Officials in the city of San Antonio confirmed that an unspecified number of people in Bexar County were being confined to their homes for 14 days.

Their quarantine period began at 10am Sunday, News 4 San Antonio reported.

Hopefully they know what they are doing, because if this virus gets out of control it could potentially sweep across America like wildfire.

We have already seen what has happened in China, and we definitely do not want that to happen here.

The Chinese have implemented extreme measures in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the virus, but so far the most effective thing that they have done to reduce the numbers is to literally change the definition of a “confirmed case”.  The following comes from Zero Hedge…

As reported by local media this morning, the Chinese National Health Commission quietly changed its definition of Coronavirus “confirmed case” in the latest guideline dated 7/2. As a result, going forward patients who tested positive for the virus but have no symptoms will no longer be regarded as confirmed. As Alex Lam observes, “this inevitably will lower the numbers.”

Of course there has been a tremendous amount of skepticism about the numbers that China has been giving us from the very beginning, and so this latest move isn’t that surprising.

But no matter how much China tries to spin things, there is no hiding the fact that this is a very serious outbreak, and it will almost certainly continue to intensify in the weeks ahead.

At this point, even the director-general of the World Health Organization is admitting that “we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg”…

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, warned that the numbers may not tell the entire story.

“There’ve been some concerning instances of … spread from people with no travel history to China,” Tedros said. “The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries. In short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.”

As I discussed yesterday, humanity is now facing a “perfect storm”, and what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning.

Personally, I am still hoping that this outbreak will fade.  I don’t know if this is the sort of extremely deadly global pandemic that so many experts have been warning could happen one day, but without a doubt it is definitely clear that a lot of people are dying over in China.

Will the final death toll from this outbreak eventually number in the thousands or the millions?

I don’t know, but all of us should definitely continue to monitor the latest developments on a daily basis.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

Cruise Ship Horror: Confirmed And Potential Coronavirus Cases On 4 Different Ships Cause A Frenzy Of Panic All Over The Globe

If the coronavirus is not a serious threat, why are countries all over the world acting so crazy all of a sudden?  Perhaps someday we will look back and laugh about how this coronavirus outbreak caused so much hysteria, but right now government officials around the globe are certainly acting as if we were right in the middle of a really bad science fiction movie.  Are they just being overly cautious, or is this virus actually more dangerous than we are being told?  As I discussed yesterday, one AI-powered simulation is projecting that this virus could kill 52 million people.  Even if that projection is off by 95 percent, it would still make sense for countries to do all that they can to keep infected people from crossing their borders.

So that may help to explain why there is such a frenzy of panic about confirmed and potential cases aboard cruise ships right now.  For example, a cruise ship named The Diamond Princess is anchored off the coast of Yokohama, Japan at this moment.  There are 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members on board, and the ship has been placed under strict quarantine since Tuesday.

And they are being quarantined for good reason.  At this point, the number of confirmed cases on board the ship has now risen to 61…

At least 61 passengers — including 11 Americans — aboard a cruise ship in Japan have been infected with the coronavirus. The number of cases on the ship tripled overnight from 20 to 61, CNN’s Will Ripley reports.

Ripley reports that passengers aboard the ship have to stay inside 23 hours a day. They are allowed outside for less than an hour under close supervision, and they have to stand 3 feet away from each other and wear masks.

The quarantine of the ship is scheduled to last for 11 more days.

There are 428 Americans on board, and when the quarantine is over they will want to come home.

But will it be safe from them to do so?

In an interview with Fox News over Skype, two of the American passengers were pleading for help from President Trump…

‘We are kind of worried because we’ve still got two weeks on here assuming that works out in our favor and we still have to get onto American soil,’ passenger Gaetano Cerullo explained to Fox News over Skype from their cabin on board. ‘And, if Donald Trump could help us in any way…’

‘We need help. We are in a desperate, desperate state,’ his wife Milena Basso pleaded. ‘We’re American citizens and we just want to get home.’

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas is currently docked in Bayonne, New Jersey.  Of the 27 passengers that had “recently traveled from mainland China”, four were taken off the ship to a nearby hospital…

More than two dozen passengers on a cruise ship docked near New York City have been tested for the new coronavirus, state officials said Friday, and four have been hospitalized.

Personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention boarded the ship to test 27 passengers “who recently traveled from mainland China,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday.

We haven’t been told if any of those passengers are infected or not, but what we do know is that the emergency workers that took them to the hospital were not wearing masks, and considering how easily this virus spreads that is quite alarming.

A third cruise ship that is making headlines doesn’t have anywhere to dock because it has been turned away from four different countries.

The MS Westerdam is operated by Holland America, and it left Hong Kong on February 1st carrying 802 crew members and 1,455 passengers.

The crew insists that there are no coronavirus cases on board at all, but they are being turned away at port after port…

More than 2,000 people are marooned at sea after four countries denied entry to a cruise ship over coronavirus fears – despite the crew’s insistence that there are no virus cases on board.

Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and the US territory of Guam have all denied permission for the MS Westerdam to dock.

Japanese leader Shinzo Abe yesterday said his country would not allow foreign passengers to disembark, saying there were suspected virus patients on board.

Is this a case of needless hysteria, or is the crew not being entirely honest with authorities?

According to CNBC, a fourth cruise ship that is currently docked in Hong Kong is being quarantined after “several crew members reported symptoms” that are associated with the coronavirus…

And almost 2,000 tourists are being held on a cruise ship operated by Genting’s Dream Cruises in Hong Kong and being tested for the coronavirus after several crew members reported symptoms associated with the illness.

Things are getting crazy out there, and I have a feeling that they are only going to get crazier as this year rolls along.

Stock prices had been doing relatively well this week, but concern about the coronavirus pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 270 points on Friday…

Stocks fell on Friday as worries over the coronavirus’ impact on the Chinese economy outweighed the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 277.26 points lower, or nearly 1%, to 29,102.51. The S&P 500 dipped 0.5% to 3,327.71. The Nasdaq Composite also slid 0.5% to close at 9,520.51.

If this coronavirus outbreak fizzles out, and that is what I am still hoping, then the impact of this crisis is not going to weigh too heavily on Wall Street.

But if the number of cases worldwide soars into the millions, it is going to be absolutely devastating for stock prices.

We will wait and see what happens.  Here in the U.S. authorities continue to insist that we don’t have very much to be concerned about, but at the same time the WHO is warning of “a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment” around the world…

The world is facing a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against a spreading coronavirus epidemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.

The U.N. agency has been sending testing kits, masks, gloves, respirators and gowns to every region, Tedros told the WHO Executive Board in Geneva.

Will lots of “testing kits, masks, gloves, respirators and gowns” soon be needed in every part of the globe?

Is there something they aren’t telling us?

Unfortunately, there is probably quite a bit that they aren’t telling us.

In any crisis, one of the top goals for authorities is to keep the public “calm”, but that comes at a great cost.

Right now most people are not doing anything to get prepared for a potential pandemic, and that could have very serious consequences down the road.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

This Coronavirus Outbreak Is Causing A Lot Of People To Go Completely Nuts

In my entire lifetime, I have never seen so much panic over a potential global pandemic.  Emergency supplies are flying off the shelves, people are going to great lengths to avoid public gatherings, and flu masks are selling out all over the world.  I was recently talking to a friend of mine who lives in Florida, and he told me that he has seen a number of people already wearing masks out in public.  But we haven’t even had 20 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States yet.  If people are freaking out this much now, how bad will things get when the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. reaches 20,000?

As the level of fear about a pandemic rises, it is inevitable that some people will start doing really stupid things.

For example, just a few days ago a man in Illinois decided to walk into a Wal-Mart wearing a yellow face mask, and he really startled other shoppers when he began spraying down all the merchandise with Lysol…

A man wearing a yellow face mask and a sign on his back reading, ‘Caution, I have the Coronavirus,’ walked into a Walmart store in Illinois on Sunday and sprayed Lysol on merchandise, police said.

The man entered the store in Joliet with another man at around 4pm and began spraying what turned out to be disinfectant on produce, clothing, and health and beauty items, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Over in China, the level of craziness is far worse.

At this point, flu masks are worth their weight in gold in China, and one city actually decided to hijack a shipment of masks that was intended for another city…

The government of Dali City, situated in the southwest province of Yunnan, ordered the “emergency requisition”, according to state media reports. Hospitals, towns and cities across China have been scrambling to get their hands on whatever medical supplies they can as the outbreak drains resources, sparking a country-wide shortage as the number of confirmed cases nears 30,000 (with the real number still suspected of being much higher).

The masks stolen by Dali were on their way to the city of Chongqing. When Chongqing told Dali to give the masks back, the government replied that it was too late, and that the 598 masks had already been distributed to its citizens.

Right now, cities in China with a combined population of more than 50 million people are under quarantine.  We have never seen the Chinese government do anything like this before, and at this moment major streets in those quarantined cities are virtually empty.  Millions upon millions of people are deathly afraid to leave their own homes because they might catch the virus.

And those that do have the virus are in danger of being locked up in their own homes for an indefinite period of time…

Shocking videos have emerged of Chinese policemen locking up suspected patients in their home, vigilantes beating up sufferer’s family members and a cleaver-wielding potential carrier fighting off police as the country tries to tackle the new coronavirus.

The official death toll continues to rise as China’s National Health Commission reported 73 new deaths overnight – another daily record.

But being locked up in your own home would definitely be preferable to being shipped off to a mass quarantine camp, and it is being reported that officials in China are converting several large facilities for such purposes.

Meanwhile, the medical system in China continues to be absolutely overwhelmed.  According to a Bloomberg report, some people are standing in line for up to eight hours just to get tested for the virus…

People are queuing for eight hours just to get tested for the coronavirus, said the college graduate, John Chen, who’s 23. His feverish mother is yet to be tested.

“At first I was upset that the hospitals and officials I called for help weren’t willing to do their job, but later I realized that it’s not that they are unwilling to help, but that everywhere is way too short of resources,” he said.

Chinese citizen journalist Chen Qiushi is also confirming that this outbreak is way too much for the system to handle, and he has personally seen dead bodies waiting to be shipped off…

There was a video that showed three dead bodies lying in a Wuhan hospital’s corridors circulating widely online before. I was told by some nurses in a local hospital that the video was true. The nurses also said this situation was because the local funeral homes did not have the capacity to transfer all those bodies. I have seen bodies many times during the past days, which makes me feel emotional. I saw two dead bodies at a hospital, one was lying in the corridor, and one was in an emergency room being wrapped up by nurses… I could not take a close shot of them because that would be disrespectful to the deceased. It is not unusual for bodies to be seen in hospitals, but the fact they were left there for a long time means it is an abnormal situation. The fact the bodies were lying there means even funeral homes are struggling to deal with the number of bodies waiting to be picked up.

The reason why there is a backlog of dead bodies is because there aren’t enough cremation centers to handle them all.

As I wrote about yesterday, the crematoriums in Wuhan have been burning bodies 24 hours a day for several weeks.

Here in the U.S. we haven’t had a single death from the virus yet, but the federal government is already converting military housing locations into potential quarantine camps…

The Defense Department expects to announce today that 11 additional military housing locations have been approved to accept people for quarantine if public health authorities believe there are coronavirus concerns, according to two US officials.

The request for the additional military housing has come from the Department of Health and Human Services and has been preliminarily approved by the Pentagon.

If the number of cases continues to rise at an exponential rate around the world, we are going to have a nightmare on our hands very rapidly.

We are living in unprecedented times, and you should use the time that you have left to get prepared for what is ahead.

According to Ready.gov, here are some of the ways you can prepare before a pandemic arrives in your area…

  • Store a two week supply of water and food.
  • Periodically check your regular prescription drugs to ensure a continuous supply in your home.
  • Have any nonprescription drugs and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins.
  • Get copies and maintain electronic versions of health records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other sources and store them, for personal reference. Get help accessing electronic health records.
  • Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home.

And once a pandemic begins, here is a list of things that they suggest you should do…

  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
  • Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
  • Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

It is very interesting to note that the Department of Homeland Security recently updated their preparedness information to include a link to the CDC’s “About Human Coronavirus” page.

Even as they work very hard to try to keep the public calm, there are all sorts of indications that government officials believe that this is a very serious threat.

Let us hope that this outbreak fizzles out very soon, because if people start dropping dead on the streets of the U.S. like they have been in China, the level of panic that would cause in our country would be off the charts.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

The Coronavirus Outbreak Shows “No Signs Of Slowing” As Crematoriums Burn Bodies 24 Hours A Day

The outbreak of this mysterious new coronavirus is getting more frightening with each passing day.  As you will see below, even the mainstream media is admitting that the number of cases shows “no signs of slowing” even though the Chinese government has implemented draconian measures in a desperate attempt to contain the virus.  Many in the western world continue to insist that this disease is not any more dangerous than the common flu, but the Chinese never locked down entire cities for the flu before.  In recent days, the images that have been coming out of China have been absolutely horrifying.  If these images are accurate, people are literally dropping dead in restaurants, in shopping malls and in public transportation hubs.  At the epicenter of this outbreak, crematoriums in Wuhan are burning bodies 24 hours a day as they try to keep up with the flood of dead bodies coming in, and the workers at those facilities are completely and totally overwhelmed.

When I last posted an article about this pandemic on The Economic Collapse Blog three days ago, there were 14,637 confirmed cases and the death toll had risen to 305.

Since that time, both numbers have nearly doubled…

The death toll and number of people infected by the Wuhan coronavirus continues to grow, with no signs of slowing despite severe quarantine and population control methods put in place in central China.

The number of confirmed cases globally stood at 28,256 as of Thursday morning, with more than 28,000 of those in China. The number of cases in China grew by 3,694, or 15%, on the previous day. There have been 563 deaths so far, all but two of which were in China, with one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong.

Can you imagine how bad things are going to get if the numbers keep roughly doubling every three days?

Of course many are extremely skeptical that the official numbers that the Chinese government is giving us are accurate.  Anecdotal reports seem to indicate that the situation is far worse than we are being told, and that includes firsthand testimony from a funeral home worker in Wuhan…

One worker at the Caidan Funeral Home, in suburban Wuhan, has claimed employees are working “24/7” to deal with the bodies, reports Epoch Times.

The worker said staff are exhausted and are working without proper equipment.

Identified only as Mr Yun, he said: “90 percent of our employees are working 24/7 … we couldn’t go back home.”

Chillingly, he claimed: “All Wuhan cremation chambers are working 24 hours.”

According to Mr. Yun, his facility needs “at least 100 body bags” every single day.  If every other cremation center in the city is handling a similar workload, that would strongly indicate that the true death toll is far, far larger than the official numbers we are being given.

Video footage that has been circulating on social media also seems to back up Mr. Yun’s claims…

Meanwhile, videos from workers dealing with the crisis have been circulating on social media, including one from a worker at a Wuhan funeral home who shared footage of more than 10 bodies lying on gurneys, lined up for cremation.

Some netizens also shared videos they shot within different hospitals in Wuhan, showing bodies waiting to be transferred from the hospitals to funeral homes.

Here in the western world, a lot of people are not taking this crisis very seriously yet.

But over in China things are happening that are absolutely crazy.

If you can believe it, Chinese authorities have actually started locking some victims inside their own homes…

The clip shows two officers padlocking the door while asking the resident inside, “Do you have enough rice and vegetables at home?“

“I think so,” responds the person inside.

“OK, so don’t come out,” responds the officer, adding, “We are locking your door from outside. Don’t come out. It’s good for everyone.”

Eventually the police will go back and check on those victims.

If they are no longer living, they will be put in body bags and shipped off to a crematorium.

Could we soon see similar things happen in western countries?

Let us hope not, but it has become quite clear that this is a very serious outbreak.

Out of all the stories I have come across, perhaps the most heartbreaking of all is the story of a woman that passed the virus on to her newborn baby…

A Chinese baby has been diagnosed with coronavirus just 30 hours after a woman who had tested positive for the deadly disease gave birth in the epicenter city of Wuhan, according to state media.

Doctors at the Wuhan Children’s Hospital on Wednesday cited the case as evidence that pregnant women infected with the virus may be able to pass it to their unborn children, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Can you imagine how heartbroken that mother must be right now?

Unfortunately, it looks like it won’t be too long before this is a true global pandemic.  At this point, Singapore and South Korea both have more than 20 confirmed cases…

Singapore announced a new confirmed case of the coronavirus today, bringing its total to 25.

South Korea also confirmed four more cases today, bringing the national total to 23.

And here in the United States we now have our 12th confirmed case…

Wisconsin has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, state officials said on Wednesday.

The new patient, of undisclosed age and gender, is the twelfth confirmed case in the US after testing positive for the virus at University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.

As I keep stressing, we still don’t really know how bad this outbreak will eventually become in the western world.

We have entered a time of great chaos for the entire planet, and this virus certainly has the potential to greatly accelerate that chaos.

But this outbreak could also fizzle out soon, and then it would be regarded by most people in western countries as a “false alarm”.

For now, we will continue to carefully watch the latest developments each day.  The World Health Organization says that there are “no effective remedies” for this virus, and the number of cases continues to escalate.  China has already been completely gripped by panic, and if this outbreak continues to spread it is only a matter of time before more nations are paralyzed by fear as well.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

4 Plagues Are Marching Across Asia Simultaneously: Coronavirus, African Swine Fever, H5N1 Bird Flu And H1N1 Swine Flu

The coronavirus outbreak that is raging all over China right now has been making headlines on a daily basis all over the globe, and rightly so.  At this point we don’t know if it will ultimately become a horrifying global pandemic that will affect tens of millions of people, but what we do know is that the virus spreads very easily and the number of cases has been rising at an exponential rate.  Meanwhile, three other plagues have also been marching across Asia, and most people in the western world don’t even realize that this is happening.  What I am about to share with you in this article is quite chilling, and the months ahead will be very dark if these plagues continue to spread.

Long before we ever heard of this new coronavirus, African Swine Fever was devastating pork farms from one end of China to the other.  There is no vaccine for “pig ebola”, there is no cure, and once it hits a farm the only thing that can be done is to kill every single pig so that it won’t spread anywhere else.  But even though draconian measures have been implemented, it has just kept spreading, and at this point “about two-thirds of China’s swine herd has been lost”…

Video of people fighting over pork at Chinese meat counters will likely become more common as the fallout from the African swine fever outbreak in China progresses.

Brett Stuart, president of the market research and analysis firm Global AgriTrends, estimates that about two-thirds of China’s swine herd has been lost to the disease and contrary to official government reports of recovery, more pigs are dying every day as ASF continues to spread.

Prior to this crisis, approximately half of all the pigs in the entire world lived in China, and they would usually slaughter about 700 million a year.  But now pork production has absolutely plummeted, and this is driving pork prices in China through the roof…

In China itself, pork prices are at an all-time high at just under $300 per hundredweight and the country outbids Japan, which is usually the top bidder. Food inflation is soaring and some Chinese people have been unable to buy pork in six months.

Unfortunately, this insidious disease has also been devastating farms in many other nations all over the planet.  In particular, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines have been hit particularly hard.

It has been estimated that one out of every four pigs in the entire world has already died, and this crisis is far from over.

Fortunately, African Swine Fever does not affect humans, but this new coronavirus seems perfectly suited to be transmitted from person to person.  Johns Hopkins has put up a map that is continually updated, and according to the latest official numbers there are now 14,637 cases and the death toll has risen to 305.  But by the time you read this article those numbers are likely to be even higher.

Of course many are extremely skeptical that the official numbers coming out of China are accurate, and this is something that I have written about repeatedly.  There have been multiple reports that indicate that China has been falsely categorizing the deaths of many of the victims to keep the death toll down, and it is also suspicious that so many corpses are being taken “directly to the crematorium”…

Radio Free Asia (RFA) has tweeted a disturbing video on its Twitter account on Saturday morning detailing how those who died of coronavirus in Wuhan, the outbreak area in China, were loaded up on a bus and taken “directly to the crematorium.”

RFA said (in a translated tweet): “[Latest Situation of Wuhan Fifth Hospital] Some Wuhan citizens entered Wuhan Fifth Hospital on February 1st and found many patients who died of pneumonia. The corpses were packed directly to the crematorium. Paramedics are busy rescuing the dying patient.”

RFA’s video is in line with our report from Friday that said those who died of the deadly virus were hauled off to a crematorium in Wuhan by Chinese authorities.

At this point we don’t know how bad this outbreak will ultimately become, but we do know that the very first death outside of China has now been confirmed…

The Philippine Department of Health said a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan was admitted on Jan. 25 after experiencing a fever, cough, and sore throat. He developed severe pneumonia, and in his last few days, “the patient was stable and showed signs of improvement, however, the condition of the patient deteriorated within his last 24 hours resulting in his demise.”

The man’s 38-year-old female companion, also from Wuhan, also tested positive for the virus and remains in hospital isolation in Manila.

Meanwhile, there has been a very alarming resurgence of the H5N1 bird flu in China.

According to the Daily Mail, more than 17,000 chickens have been culled in an effort to keep this new outbreak from spreading further…

China has reportedly seen an outbreak of a ‘highly pathogenic’ strain of H5N1 bird flu which has already killed 4,500 chickens.

The outbreak was initially reported at a farm in Shaoyang city in the southern province of Hunan, south of the epicentre of the Coronavirus in Wuhan.

According to the Reuters report, Chinese authorities have already culled 17,828 poultry in the wake of the outbreak.

Unlike African Swine Fever, humans can become infected by the H5N1 bird flu.

And according to the World Health Organization, the mortality rate for human cases is approximately 60 percent.

So let us hope that this current outbreak remains limited to chickens.

Alarmingly, the H5N1 bird flu has also popped up at a facility in India…

Authorities in an eastern Indian state will start culling chickens and destroying eggs from Tuesday to contain a bird flu virus of the H5N1 strain, a government statement said on Monday.

The samples collected from a poultry breeding and research farm of a veterinary college in Odisha state tested positive, the statement said.

We haven’t heard much about the H5N1 bird flu in recent years, but this is an extremely deadly disease, and so we will want to monitor these developments very carefully.

On top of everything else, the H1N1 swine flu is starting to spread once again.  In fact, more than 100,000 people in Taiwan “sought medical treatment for flu-like symptoms at hospitals across the country over the past week” and there have been 13 confirmed deaths…

At a time when the world is panicking over a 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak, the H1N1 flu virus is actually posing a greater threat in Taiwan, claiming 13 lives in the country in just one week, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

At a weekly meeting Friday, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said 116,705 people sought medical treatment for flu-like symptoms at hospitals across the country over the past week, including 61 more confirmed flu cases.

Not too long ago, the H1N1 swine flu caused mass panic all over the globe, and I personally knew someone that was killed by it.

So the truth is that all of these outbreaks are very concerning.

And never before have we seen so many alarming outbreaks occur simultaneously.  Could it be possible that we have entered a period of time when mass pandemics are going to become “the new normal”?

Hopefully none of these current outbreaks will end up killing millions of people all over the globe.

But we have been warned for a long time about how vulnerable we are, and the experts assure us that it is just a matter of time before a mass pandemic brings death to every corner of the planet.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

The True Number Of Coronavirus Victims Is Far Larger Than You Are Being Told

The World Health Organization says that we are facing an “unprecedented outbreak”, and they are basing that assessment on the official numbers that we have been given so far.  But what if those numbers are not accurate and this outbreak is actually much, much worse than we have been led to believe?  According to the Chinese government, there are now 9,692 confirmed coronavirus cases in China, and the official death toll has risen to 213.  But the Wall Street Journal has already documented the fact that the death toll is being artificially suppressed.  As I discussed the other day, many of those that have died are being categorized as dying from “severe pneumonia” so that they won’t count as coronavirus deaths.  Meanwhile, it is becoming exceedingly clear that the number of confirmed cases is also much lower than it should be.  Large numbers of victims are being classified as “suspected cases” even after it is quite obvious that they have the virus.

CNN spoke to a Chinese woman named Shi Muying who has been told by her doctor that she has the coronravirus, but because a fourth test has not been administered yet she is still considered to be a “suspected case”…

By January 26, Shi began to have a fever — one of the symptoms of the novel coronavirus. She went to the hospital’s fever clinic where she found over 20 patients, all waiting to be tested by one doctor.

She says she was given three tests — a nasal swipe to rule out the flu, a CT scan to compare her lungs against those of infected patients, and a blood test. After nine hours of tests and waiting for results she says the doctor told her that she had coronavirus, but because he could not give her the fourth and most definitive test, she could only be considered a suspected patient. Her 67-year-old father is in the same situation.

So this woman and her father do not count as confirmed cases at this point.  Instead, they are among the 12,100 suspected cases that are still supposedly waiting to be confirmed.

Of course Shi and her father were quite fortunate to actually be tested in the first place.  Many others have visited hospital after hospital only to be turned away each time.

The truth is that the Chinese medical system is simply unable to handle an outbreak of this magnitude.  The hospitals are being absolutely flooded by very sick people, and there aren’t enough doctors or enough resources to deal with them all.

According to a nurse that works at a hospital in Wuhan, what they are facing is truly a very desperate situation…

According to a nurse in Wuhan who asked not to be identified for fear of professional repercussions, staff are overwhelmed, resources are running low, and there are no beds. There are so few hazmat suits that staff disinfect them at the end of their shift to wear again the next day, she said. Around 30 of the 500 medical staff at her hospital are now sick and admitted to hospital, and others — including her — have self-quarantined at home.

“There really are a lot of people who can’t get admitted, but there’s no point in blaming the nurses. There are no beds, no resources. Are we supposed to just fight this battle bare-handed?” she said. “Right now, loads of medical staff are at breaking point … I see my sisters charging toward the front line and I feel so powerless.”

Will similar things start happening in other countries all over the globe?

On Thursday, the number of confirmed cases outside of China surpassed 100 for the first time.  The World Health Organization finally declared a global health emergency, and the head of the WHO warned that this is truly “an unprecedented outbreak”…

“Over the past few weeks we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen that has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference at the organization’s Geneva headquarters on Thursday. “We must act together now to limit the spread.”

Of course there has only been a handful of cases in the United States so far, and so most Americans are not really overly concerned about this crisis at this point.

But if this virus continues to spread, that will soon change.

Reuters interviewed a 21-year-old American-born college student that is living in Wuhan named Nicholas Schneider, and he told Reuters that he has been trying to find a way out of the city.  Now that Wuhan has been totally locked down, he says that he feels “like I’m in an apocalypse somehow”…

An eerie calm has descended on the normally bustling streets of the city of 11 million people, where Schneider has been studying geodesy – a branch of applied mathematics – at Wuhan University, about 10 miles (16 km) from where experts believe the new coronavirus originated in a market illegally trading in wildlife.

“It’s like a ghost town, barely any people and cars. It’s a weird feeling. I feel like I’m in an apocalypse somehow,” said Schneider in a phone interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

If this virus starts spreading like wildfire in the U.S., it is just a matter of time before U.S. cities are locked down in a similar manner.

And will our medical system be able to handle a large scale outbreak?

Certainly our system has more resources than China’s does, but the truth is that there aren’t enough hospital beds for all of us.

In fact, right now there are less than a million hospital beds in the entire country.

And there won’t be enough test kits for everyone either.  So far, all testing in the U.S. has been done at the CDC, and officials are hoping to make test kits available to local communities soon.

But what if thousands of sick people showed up at your local hospital demanding to be tested?

Would there be enough test kits?

In China, one journalist tried to get tested, and he was told there are only “100 or several hundred test-kits per hospital per day”…

I tried getting tested at a hospital to see what the process was like. They asked me questions and told me to queue for testing. I went with a patient to Tongji Hospital. Lots of patients had been to multiple hospitals. I was genuinely scared.

The corridors in the out-patients department were all full of beds, lots of people were breathing with masks and oxygen tanks. In the corridors. They had to be seriously ill.

Dr said we need to select which patients to do the test on. There are only I was told 100 or several hundred test-kits per hospital per day. There aren’t enough, so doctors need to select those to check. So some people have been to 5-6 hospitals trying to get tested.

So a lot of sick people in Wuhan may never get tested at all.  Instead, many of them will just sit at home “and wait to die”.

Ultimately, we really do not know how many coronavirus victims there are in China right now.  As I discussed yesterday, researchers at the University of Hong Kong are estimating that there could be 44,000 victims at this point, but they have no way of knowing for sure.

But what we do know is that this pandemic is getting worse with each passing day.  Even if you just look at the official numbers, they are growing at an exponential rate.  Mysterious pandemics are one element of “the perfect storm” that we have been anticipating, and it looks like this current pandemic is only going to intensify in the months ahead.

And the more this pandemic grows, the more fear we are going to see.  Large numbers of people are going to be desperately afraid of getting sick and dying, and that has the potential to paralyze our society to an extent that we have never seen before.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.

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