This site includes my past two decades' teaching-n-leaning in Social Science fields, Educational Technology, Art, some of my cross-cultural observations, non-academic/sociocultural critiques, and pasquinades (after retirement). At the current stage, no guest blogs. No advertisements. All rights are reserved.
It is really really heartwrenching for me to see it happening as I foresaw it 2 months ago.
Is there anything more brutal than this to witness the just happened catastrophes re-happening that is unfolding vividly in front of your eyes while you cannot do anything to help since late January???
On the individual level, to reduce the guilt, I have been trying to be a whistle-blower on my social media (facebook and blogger), though, powerlessly as an insignificant person... As mentioned in the previous posts, the potential label of being fearmonger or the irritating crying wolf pushed my writing over-self-refrained.
On the international level, the great news is that the Taiwan government collaborates with the US. in vaccine research, and donates 100,000 units of masks per week. Later, 10 million masks are aided to the frontline health caregivers of hit hard countries. Currently, Taiwan adds up 60 mass production lines through the cooperation of the public and private sectors, producing 10 million units of masks Per Day.
Taiwan to donate 10 million masks to countries hit hardest by coronavirus. The country seeks to collaborate with other nations to fight the pandemic.
By Stacy Chen April 1, 2020, 9:58 PM
Here is how to come to this point from my previous posts to alert friends and folks in the US. on facebook and this blogger (from the closest to the earliest) within my capacity:
March 31 (T) United, We Stand!
March 26 (TH)
March 24 (T)
March 16 (M)
March 13 (F)
February 28 (F)
Other relevant pages:
March 16 (M)
March 19 (TH)
March 15 (Sn)
March 13 (F)
On March 1, I expressed yy stand toward "Don't need to buy face masks," posted on facebook.
On January 26, I alerted on facebook that the Pandemic had begun. On March 24, my fb friends asked why I used Pandemic to the early stage of spreading:
"All mortuary workers and other deathcare workers who have contact with human remains known or suspected to be contaminated with COVID-19 must wear appropriate PPE (see OSHA's PPE standards, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I):
Double surgical gloves interposed with a layer of cut-proof synthetic mesh gloves Scrub suit worn under an impermeable gown or apron Goggles or face shield Shoe covers Surgical cap"
The required PPE for managing the infected dead bodies:
just happened in New York (three, only with the basic gears, while the other three without PPEs... The infected dead body (and the virus) was exposed openly... (no personal/personnel biohazard suits- encased stretcher to transport the infected deceased.)
Working managers moved the infected dead persons into the frozen trailer.
Only 2 out of the 9 working people had the basic gears.
Again, the infected deceased was without an encased biohazard suit stretcher.
I suggest that the above heavy-duty working personnel need to request a test and with at least 14 days' self-isolation or self-quarantine, and then for a 2nd test!!! ------------------------------------ From January 26 (based on what I observed from China, Japan, S. Korea, surly to my native country- Taiwan), I started posting urgent messages on facebook about this pandemic catastrophe. At that time, I needed to refrain from the urgent-sensitive words that some friends in the US. might be skeptical of my being a fearmonger.
In the above post on facebook, February 29, the condition, HERE, in the Midwest, Wisconsin, not East Coast, nor West Coast frontiers, was frightening!!
I saw people enjoying normalcy, peace, and tranquillity, everywhere.
No any sense of the viral crisis whatsoever - a blessing, or not...
Yes, you can call me "over-sensitive" or a fear-monger!!
I just, fortunately, or unfortunately, learned and observed too much information happening on the west side of the Pacific regions. I see the potential novel coronavirus carriers, super-carries (show no symptoms), the vulnerable, the old; I see no preparation whatsoever; I see the potential issues in mobilizing of all required medical and daily resources; I see the looming pandemoniums all over the US. I told my best friends (non-Asian-Americans), and they just wanted me to take it easy!
------------------------------------------------- April 1 (W), 2020
Now, NOT all Fools' Day: from the President, his cabinets, governors, mayors, media workers, still gathering, talking, haranguing without a BASIC MASK!!
This is not a time to be showy how robust or tough, one is!
At this chaotic juncture, still, some people question, defy or bicker about the social distancing and the rest of relevant self-isolation, self-quarantine "gentle and nice" codes or "advice"!!! The right-wing conservative national talkshow mouthpieces, indeed, never lack the energy to contribute to life-n-death disarrays. Yesterday, a local golf course requested to open for golfers, because keeping 6-foot social distance wasn't an issue in the vast golf ground. I could understand that the anxiety of losing business and the desire for outdoor relaxation were important to return to the normalcy...
It is hard for me to see all these "apocalyptic" pandemoniums hitting the US now after my cautiously studying what happened from late January to the end of March in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and S. Korea.
It looks like rerunning the videos - heartlessly in saying so. More or less, now, New York is re-playing Wuhan at the end of January. New Orlean is acting out South Korea, and Michigan, Japan... The whole calamity directs toward what has happened in Italy and Spain! No one truly knows how stringent, Taiwan, the first whistle-blowing country, the very first one started on fighting the Pandemic since January 25.
I shared a post on Facebook how shocked I was on February 5, in reading the rendering of the first case happening in Wisconsin (the 12th of the US). The missing protocols (the health caregivers' PPE issues) in screening, testing, treating, self-quarantine, and tracking the contacted people and places frightened me tremendously.
I also shared an observation on facebook ( March 16 ) about a trip to a local hospital with a friend.
The frontline register associates faced a sick role's severe coughing droplets without any basic protection gears. I reluctantly took out of my facial-mask from my bag to distance this sick role. That precarious action truly scared several people in the hospital. For, in this still peaceful region (during Mid March), the facial mask looks like a monster, particularly, worn by a non-Caucasian!!
Before I left the hospital, I found a courageous RN to share my thoughts and suggestion: "Please provide those frontline register associates, at least, with facial masks, in addition to your hospital's protective measures."
During the last two weeks, I had a couple of shopping trips for groceries with my hat and shades on, plus, facial masks in my pocket. I still had not had enough courage to wear one which my sister mailed me from her friend in Taiwan. So I possess a couple of pieces of N95 - priceless!! Wearing a facial mask, a taboo, here, a small-town in Wisconsin!!!? Reluctantly, I had to use a piece of a handkerchief that looked less menacing, covering my nose and mouth. Awkwardly, I completed one of the most adventurous trips during the challenging times - shopping for food.
And now, people may gradually understand that hoarding toilet papers, mainly, was because the facial masks were unknown items, and most importantly, unavailable!
These "low-end" production lines almost don't exist in the US. (3M has been increasing different types of facial, surgical masks and respirators...etc. equipment after vice president Pence's visiting.) Surly, the unit price will be much more costly than that of MIC- made in China! (The governmental subsidy is needed.)
To prevent people from panickingly competing for the medical resources with the healthcare personnel, the facial mask was "mystified." None of the people on the west side of the Pacific rim don't understand how important the facial mask is. Taiwan even invented software in early February to calculate the production lines/capacity and the way to distribute to residents by households and ID card for the fair quota to everyone.
China does everything for We, The People... This low-end dependency may turn into a powerful security strategic weaponry...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Today, I heard some regions that due to a small amount of penalty imposed on violating the social distancing rule, the infectious condition was slow down a little bit.
While the novel coronaviruses are still sweeping throughout the world in their third and fourth waves, some countries are ready to either inviting credits or playing blaming games.
The original epicenter claims their lockdowns preventing the further spreading, while their citizens, now get the chance to smell something "fishy." During the first wave of disaster, some journalists tracked where the one-million body-bags went without a factual confirmation due to the data and information suppression. After the slowdown of the first wave, people got time to recall what actually happened...gradually, if reminiscence is legal...
Here is a report from the National Review: Wuhan Residents Dismiss Official Coronavirus Death Toll: ‘The Incinerators Have Been Working Around the Clock’
"Wuhan residents are increasingly skeptical of the Chinese Communist Party’s reported coronavirus death count of approximately 2,500 deaths in the city to date, with most people believing the actual number is at least 40,000.
'Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality,” a Wuhan resident, who gave only his surname Mao, told Radio Free Asia.
A city source added that, based on the aggregation of funeral and cremation numbers, authorities likely know the real number and are keeping it under wraps.
'Every funeral home reports data on cremations directly to the authorities twice daily,' the source said. “This means that each funeral home only knows how many cremations it has conducted, but not the situation at the other funeral homes.'
The city began lifting its lockdown on Saturday after two months of the mandatory shutdown, with a complete lift of restrictions set for April 8. Funeral homes in Wuhan have been handing out the cremated remains to families every day, but rumors began circulating after one funeral home received two shipments of 5,000 urns over the course of two days, according to photos reported by Chinese media outlet Caixin, which were later censored.
Reports of the funeral’s crematoriums working nonstop also raised questions.
'It can’t be right … because the incinerators have been working round the clock, so how can so few people have died?” a man surnamed Zhang told RFA.
Wuhan residents said the government was paying families 3,000 yuan for “funeral allowances' in exchange for silence."
2 days ago, I shared the following info. Unfortunately, today, this was what happened (see, the breaking news, attached below) in Louisanna a few minutes ago (March 30 M, 2020).
Several churches in different states insist to meet with their gods.
A vivid story happened a few weeks ago:
The epicenter of the pandemic in South Korea from February to March came from a Church / 大邱 gathering which caused the community/city contagion, then spreading over the whole country:
The "Temple of the Tabernacle of Evidence of Jesus in Xintiandi" founded by Li Wanxi is currently in the midst of the storm. Many of the confirmed cases in South Korea are related to this church. A 61-year-old believer in this church is the 31st diagnosed person in South Korea. More than 2,000 related people have been diagnosed in the Xintiandi Daegu Church, she has visited many times, accounting for nearly 60% of those diagnosed in South Korea. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world-51707937
-------------------------------
Today, in Louisiana, a few minutes ago (March 30 M, 2020).
Though, the infected cases jumped from 2746 to 4025,
the fast-virus-spreading did not stop people wanting to see gods at churches...
Some good, not so good, and sad stories/practices of this week...
DIY during critical moments.
Lack of medical crews.
Several churches in different states insist to meet with their gods.
A vivid story happened a few weeks ago:
The epicenter of the pandemic in South Korea from February to March came from a Church / 大邱 gathering which caused the community/city contagion, then spreading over the whole country:
The "Temple of the Tabernacle of Evidence of Jesus in Xintiandi" founded by Li Wanxi is currently in the midst of the storm. Many of the confirmed cases in South Korea are related to this church. A 61-year-old believer in this church is the 31st diagnosed person in South Korea. More than 2,000 related people have been diagnosed in the Xintiandi Daegu Church, she has visited many times, accounting for nearly 60% of those diagnosed in South Korea. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world-51707937
The by-products of the viral crisis.
The creation of sanitizer, delivered by gods.
Wartime stimulates ingenuity.
The by-product of the viral crisis.
The above cases are "the most effective way" to spread viruses. News reported that a female associate intentionally coughed on 3500 items of merchandise...
That's another reason to have a thorough hand-hygiene with facial masks. Or avoid unnecessary gathering.
Till today (the end of March), some states' officials have difficulties to "convince" residents to "follow" the social-distancing rule, not to mention "obey" the self-quarantine, self-isolation procedures. The pandemonium happening in other countries does not have any impact, here ...
Some lessons have to be learned by oneself, physically, mentally, vividly, and then, traumatically.
Though the following are extreme cases, they are effective during the viral crisis:
In Hong Kong, two residents were charged last week for violating quarantine rules. Under the rules, those who visited China in the two weeks before their entry into Hong Kong must self-quarantine for two weeks. That means they can’t step outside their homes or hotel rooms and are barred from leaving the city. The two men were stopped at border checkpoints trying to leave Hong Kong this month, according to a government spokeswoman.
If they are convicted, they face a maximum fine of $3,200 and up to six months in prison.
This Singapore case involves a Chinese man from Wuhan, where the global outbreak is believed to have started, who traveled to the city-state in January and later tested positive. His wife, who lives in Singapore, was quarantined, the Health Ministry said. Both were interviewed about the places they visited in the days before they were isolated and the people with whom they came into contact.
Identifying those people is central to Singapore’s virus-fighting strategy. Authorities said the two gave incorrect information about their whereabouts, which officials later uncovered. The case against them is scheduled to be heard in court on Friday. If convicted, they face prison terms of up to six months, fines of up to $7,150 or both.
South Korea has tightened entry rules for travelers from countries suffering big outbreaks, subjecting them to two weeks of mandatory quarantine but at least 11 people violated self-quarantine rules between March 13 and 24, the health ministry said. It did not specify their nationalities. “We will apply zero-tolerance principles in taking action against those who leave their self-isolation venue without legitimate reasons,” Yoon Tae-ho, director-general for public health policy at the health ministry, told a briefing.
South Koreans who violate the rules could be jailed for up to a year and fined10 million won ($8,100).
In Taiwan, authorities in the capital, Taipei, said Tuesday that the city has fined 67 people who broke quarantine measures with fines ranging from $330 to $2,300. Taiwan President signed a law this week that increases the penalty for breaching quarantine restrictions to a maximum of $30,000.
Royal role modeling.
The dinosaur's storytelling
Without dollars, life has no meaning!!!?
黃昶
The following information is based on my data collection from different sources and personal observations. For details, many online medical journals and reports are available.
Many death tolls happening during the first wave of Pandemic were due to the draconic deteriorating of the lung functions within a very short period of time. I reviewed many videos (of Iran, Italy, Spain, France, and China) that some passengers walked normally and next second, suddenly collapsed in the street with breathing problems (this is not a good analogy - like fish out of water...) and died.
Other deaths during this wave were caused by inadequate PPEs, lack of medical crews, and other essential medical resources, such as ventilators, isolation negative pressure rooms/wards. The exhaustive medical caregivers and personnel were the major issues too.
The most precarious condition to overwhelm the medical resources was the community contagions which happened quickly and the infected cases grew exponentially. It tended to happen in schools, theaters, churches, restaurants, military camps, prisons and the rest of social gathering settings.
In the US. due to the notion of Populist Democracy (e.g. individual freedom and choice), many rules, orders from states or Federal governments are not issued, or, taken seriously. For example, my friend shared with me from Taiwan about this rule: If citizens travel outside Taiwan and fail to report places visited, they will get a fine of NT150,000 ($5000 dollars). This sounds like an undemocratic practice, but everyone is aware that the 140 miles away is the world viral epicenter, and containments and treatments have to be reinforced. This is a life-n-death serious WAR.
NOTE: Many travel agencies and airline companies keep all the travelers' itineraries, times, places and the rest of the information (in particular, cell phone numbers which are sources of personal mobility - retrievable under non-violating individual confidentiality). In the US, perhaps, due to valuing privacy issues, these important data might not be fully "MINED" for tracking?
Another note: Due to this airline ticket tracking mechanism, the day before Wuhan's lockdown (Jan 23rd, 24th, for 25th was the Lunar New Year), among 5 million of the 11 million residents escaped out of Wuhan to the rest of 30+ provinces. The worst was among the 5 million escapers, about 60,000 of the high-end citizens got out of their country to other nations. Italy was among the first ones to get hit. One of the reasons was due to the Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路) international business liaisons and associates (about 10,000 Chinese) who reside in Milan and its proximities, were back and forth between Wuhan-n-other provinces and Italy's major cities for business before, and during the outbreak.
(This piece of information was reported by some Asian Journalists and relevant business parties who explored the airline itineraries as well as the locality functions of the users' cell phones. They found the above mentioned 60,000 travelers' visited and stayed places-n- countries the day before the lockdown of Wuhan, and the subsequent weeks' traveling activities.)
For details, stay tuned.
--------------------
Here are some data available. (For authenticity and further information, please refer to relevant resources.)
Big data mining companies tracked down the traveling itineraries (based on flight tickets and cellphone messages) of the above 60,000 escapers from Wuhan right before the city lockdown.
Each red line refers to a trip from the epicenter, then to the hotspots, finally reaching all over the world.
黃昶 The virus can incubate more than 24 days (14-day quarantine or self-isolation is a minimal requirement). Some people don't show symptoms while being viral carriers. Clinical reports that some people take more than 3 times' testing to confirm positive. This new type of viruses has been mutating to several versions. They are not that kind of one size fitting all FLU or nice viruses. https://www.theguardian.com/.../what-happens-to-peoples...
黃昶 The main reason triggering me to post the above information was due to a disappointment happening last night of a radio talk show (at this critical point of time - March 26). I respect the host a lot, but he posted a question that truly shocked me (this, could be my own bias). He asked a doctor why so many countries reacted in similar patterns in rendering this novel coronavirus, such as lockdowns, social distancing, and so on so forth. Unfortunately, this interviewed professional/doctor believed that these governments were over-reacting which imposed tremendous damage to the economy. Again, the issue of Lives vs. Dollars dilemma.
The creation of sanitizer, delivered by gods.
