What is currently responsible for the suspension or postponement of countless sporting events worldwide? The Corona virus. While people in Europe initially thought that this was a matter for the Chinese, now that the virus has been "successfully" transported to Europe, an unprecedented panic is breaking out and normal life is coming to an almost complete standstill in large parts of Europe. A catastrophe of almost biblical proportions is looming.
In view of all the crises, wars and diseases that have afflicted and survived the people of Europe over the last 50 years, one can certainly understand a certain relaxation in dealing with threats of the same kind. But when you see how governments are now desperately searching for solutions on a day-to-day basis and what extraordinary emergency measures they are meanwhile against their population, one has to speak of massive irresponsibility and sheer stupidity in the top echelons of politics and medicine. Certainly, it is easy to criticize, but certainly one may also expect that in the future with similar health threats more reasonable and responsible action will be taken.
China - Origin of the Evil?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the new Corona virus, which is currently causing disruption to life not seen in 100 years, is taking root in China. On December 31, 2019, the WHO China Country Office was notified of cases of pneumonia, the cause of which is unknown, in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China. The fish market (Huanan Seafood Market) of Wuhan quickly came under suspicion because exotic animals such as live koalas, snakes or rats were also sold there, which is why the market was quickly closed by the authorities. There are also reports that a Chinese laboratory near this market is testing and using bats for research purposes, which could have transmitted the viruses. Exact evidence is not available to date.
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain discovered in 2019 that has not yet been identified in humans.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and humans. Detailed investigations revealed that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV was transmitted from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses circulate in animals that have not yet infected humans.
Europe has been asleep and is now trying in a panic to make up for lost time
Instead of taking the threats of the novel Corona virus seriously, it has been taken lightly, both by the people and the government. China may be the source, but the Europeans knew about it long before they even began to take the threat seriously and protect against it. In particular, they maintained ties with China as late as March and allowed countless travelers from China to enter Europe without checking incoming guests for the virus. This was irresponsible and stupid. The chains of contagion were not broken, but maintained by the Europeans. Now they are trying to make up for what they missed with ever more drastic measures. The result: normal life in Europe comes almost to a standstill and whole nations are imprisoned with house arrest and curfew. This is absolute madness! This is also stupidity of biblical proportions. One underestimated the threat on the part of the governments massively, although one should have recognized nevertheless actually by the harsh reactions in China, how threatening the enemy is this time.
Take figures with a grain of salt
The figures available from the WHO must be taken with a grain of salt. Not only are there different measurement methods, which is why the figures from Johns Hopkins University in the USA differ from those of the WHO by around 20-25%, but the measurement of an infection can only be made once the disease has broken out - and a factor of around two weeks must be added to this - and such measurements must also be ordered. In Germany and France, the first cases became known as early as January. But little attention was paid to the few cases, which is why no ambition was developed to carry out extensive measurements and they waited. Now they are trying to make up for lost time and are encountering ever-increasing numbers of cases. Experts assume that the number of unreported cases is many times higher.
When will the wave spill over? Rethinking necessary among the population
If you observe the development of the disease in China, you can see that the exponential spread could be reached after about 2-3 weeks thanks to total isolation of individual areas, until after 4-5 weeks a stagnation can be observed. In Europe, a first flattening of the curve could be achieved in 2 weeks, but only if the population finally takes this disease seriously and follows drastic measures. The Johns Hopkins University in the USA states that of the approximately 81,000 people infected with the Corona virus, currently over 71,000 have been cured and over 3,200 have died. After about 2 months, China has managed with rigorous measures to massively contain the spread and overcome the disease for the most part, even though it has caused numerous deaths. This would mean that, with the same behavior, the virus could be largely overcome in Europe by the beginning of May, but only if people now completely rethink and behave differently than before. Only when the population accepts and understands that it must follow the new rules of behavior for its own protection, only then can the crisis be overcome. But a change in thinking must take place in Europe. It must not be forgotten that the Situation in Europe is currently worse than in ChinaWe currently count about 140,000 infected people in Europe, Italy alone has more deaths than China with over 4000 deaths, in Europe there are now over 6,000 deaths due to the Corona virus. Just because you're doing well doesn't mean you're always doing well! The comfortable life in Europe seems to be deceptive for many people and now even deadly. People need to get used to self-discipline and live a little less "oh fuck you" mentality, then chances are good that the matter will be over soon.
Source: World Health Organization WHO
Effective consequences not assessable - economic crisis could become greater than currently assumed
There has never been a shutdown of social life and large parts of the global economy on this scale. A look at the stock market shows it. There has never been a crash of such dimensions. But what threatens to be much worse are the long-term consequences. It is precisely the entanglement with China as a producer of millions of articles for everyday life and leisure that will not be felt by many industries for six months to a year. Laissez-fair and coolness in all honor, that is as inappropriate as panic. Europe and the U.S. need to think seriously about their dependence on China and Asia and perhaps take another step back in globalization. It is precisely globalization that has encouraged the worldwide spread of disease. Italy in particular, whose north is virtually flooded by the Chinese and their businesses, was a gateway for infected people entering Italy and thus Europe from China. Not only epidemiologically but also economically, this global concatenation is now even showing itself to be dangerous. I think that the governments in Europe underestimate these economic consequences as much as the disease itself. We must also reckon with a massive ripple effect economically, and this will last until 2021, causing massive damage to companies and shaking up the economy in unexpected ways. Here, too, a rethink is needed among the people of Europe. Favorable prices in all honor, but for economic and obviously medical reasons, that must not be the only decision-making factor in choosing a provider. People in Europe have to learn again to spend more money for products produced in Europe and to question the dependence on Asia. In the current case, a supply chain in Europe alone obviously also protects the health of people in Europe.
Consequences for the sport
Sponsors also have a limit, organizers anyway. Many sporting events around the world have either been canceled altogether or postponed. This means a lack of entertainment for spectators and a real disaster for many organizers. Not all of them will be able to cope with the massive cancellations. Accordingly, it is to be feared that established events will even be cancelled completely in the future because the organizer has had to give up his business existence. It is still completely impossible to make a forecast. In sports, too, there will be billions in damages to mourn. Who will pay for it? China? Probably not. Who is liable for the damage? At the moment, no one. Governments will want to prevent the worst with economic programs and central banks and will certainly achieve some things, but how it will turn out in the end is still quite uncertain. A glimmer of hope comes from Asia, Japan. There, people are bluntly and confidently holding out for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Japan is also hardly affected with 1000 infected and also the rest of Asia shows more and more recovery from the crisis. If the West shows the necessary efforts, nothing should stand in the way of the Olympics from July 24 to August 9, 2020. Now the West must show what it is capable of in terms of crisis management, but the whole Corona virus issue will keep us busy for a long time to come.
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