Thread: Corona Virus

Where the coronavirus bioweapon conspiracy theories really come from.


"Conspiracy theories infect us faster than the virus itself, it seems."

Originally Posted by JDNSW

A significant proportion of workers simply cannot take a fortnight off for for quarantine purposes. Something over 30% of US workers have no sick leave and no leave entitlements. Given the possibility of their being ordered to self-quarantine if diagnosed, how many of these workers are going to even consider getting tested? What is this going to do to the rate of spread of the virus there? And if they get sick and require hospital treatment, around the same proportion have no health insurance. If they are actually treated, they face certain bankruptcy, and loss of their house if they actually own one, or eviction if they are renting.

I am employed, like many many others in this "profit before all else" ecomomy, as a casual with all the added perks. No annual leave, no sick leave, basically no leave. So if I, or someone in my situation, is required to "self quarantine" or worse, is hospitalised, will we still have a job to go back too? In a lot of circumstances I would say 'no' because there is always someone else and probably a queue, to fill the position. What of those (and here I'm talking about the legit recipients, not those that sit at home with their hand out) on centrelink allowances? Do they get cut off because they cannot look for work, attend appointments, or work for the dole? I know you can provide a medical certificate for illness but for how long?

The industry I work in relies heavily on imported goods from, you guessed it, China. If China remains closed for a significant length of time then we will eventually have limited goods for sale and therefore my continued employment will be in danger. What will the grubberment do to protect me? My guess is SFA! (Hope that is not construed as political.) We are in the fortunate position to own our house but I still have bills to pay, and Newstart is not going cut it.

My employer is already complaining about the wages bill due to the down turn in the retail sector (post christmas) as many stores don't/can't make budgets. This virus maybe the straw that breaks the global economic camel's back. Or at least Australia's because the only thing we manufacture here is toilet paper.

"... because the only thing we manufacture here is toilet paper...."

From imported pulp.... but at least from continental US West Coastal areas... NOT China !

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...pons-research/


Elsa Kania, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said that while Chinese officials had expressed public interest in the potential weaponization of biotechnology, a coronavirus would not be a useful weapon.

“Hypothetically, a bioweapon would be designed to be highly targeted in its effects, whereas since its outbreak the coronavirus is already on track to become widespread in China and worldwide,” she said.


Vipin Narang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a message on Twitter that a good bioweapon “in theory has high lethality but low, not [high], communicability” and that spreading such ideas would be “incredibly irresponsible.”

After the 2014 Ebola outbreak, fringe news outlets suggested spuriously that the U.S. Department of Defense had manufactured the virus. In the Soviet Union, military labs did look into whether the virus could be used as a weapon but ultimately abandoned those hopes.

Late Tuesday, Hu Xijin, editor of the nationalistic Global Timesnewspaper, wrote that a conspiracy theory had emerged in China that the United States was responsible for the outbreak. “Their logic: Why always China?” Hu wrote on Twitter. “But most Chinese don’t believe it.”

I've already had Corona virus , drank too many and apparently was eating the lime as well.

Originally Posted by superquag

"... because the only thing we manufacture here is toilet paper...."

From imported pulp.... but at least from continental US West Coastal areas... NOT China !

Well at least we won't get a corona virarse.

Originally Posted by Arapiles

Point is, how many unreported cases are there?

Well if we use that logic and the death rate is less than 2%, then there are at least 400 unconfirmed cases in that area of Washington and have been for a week or two. If that is the case, they are well beyond any chance of containment.

"Where are we going Piglet?" asked Pooh.


"We need to get supplies," said Piglet. "For the Coronavirus"


"Ahh," said Pooh, nodding in understanding. "Things like bread, milk, cough mixture, tissues and cat litter even though we don't have a cat?"


Piglet did a little laugh, and a sort of leap and bit of a cough. "No," said Piglet. "No, those aren't the sort of supplies we need at all! What we need are family sized bags of chocolate buttons, massive toblerone, jelly babies and crunchies and a freezer full of stuffed crust pizzas, and all of the Prosecco that we can possibly carry, so that when we get quarantined we won't mind it even slightly. THOSE are supplies."


All of a sudden, Pooh thought that the idea of coronavirus didn't seem quite so bad, and actually, getting quarantined with Piglet and their supplies really didn't sound such a terrible thing after all. "Oh Piglet," said Pooh. "I really do think you are a very wise animal."