where things like meat and fish are sold. In some places they also have the live animals and fish which are then killed on the spot in order for them to be as fresh as possible. The mix of live and dead and the often low (perhaps non-existent) standards of hygiene means disease will flourish.
It may or may not have been the cause of Covid19 but it certainly helped to spread it. I have no doubts about that. A friend who is still in China has no doubts either. He stays well away from such places and has eaten no meat or fish since he went there. His family has been sending him "care" packages since he arrived there. He is due home at the end of this year but wishes he was home now. He is telling us things which suggest the situation in China is really very different from the one we are being told through the news services. Yes, he is being very cautious about what he is saying and how he is saying it but that in itself is telling.
I am reminded of the time my late friend E... spent in Kunming. She was teaching at the medical school there - one of the biggest in China. Almost immediately she succumbed to illness - but was still expected to carry on teaching. Not wanting to eat the meat she was eating the carp, the only other available source of protein, from the lake. Yes, the locals were eating it too. Then she discovered that raw sewage flowed into the lake. Perhaps the locals were immune to all the problems that caused. E... was not. She became so ill she was hospitalised - but not in the teaching hospital. As a Westerner she was sent to the military hospital because the care there was better. That hospital had wooden floors - and the intermittent electricity was supplied through live wires going across the floors. The workers there "just avoided them". She was sent back to her room at the university with the drip in her arm and told to take it out herself when it was finished. I was about to fly over and get her when another member of staff from her university here had to go and brought her back instead. I have always been thankful it worked out that way.
Things may be a little better now but not by much. China's claim that they have the virus under control is nonsense. They are simply no longer reporting the situation. Their media and their communication sources are so tightly controlled they are not letting information out. People within China do not know what is going on. Even when there is no such emergency the Chinese are ill informed. Those in authority believe it is the only way to control such a big population. Now they want the rest of the world to believe the same.
There are calls for the rest of the world to rethink the relationship with China. I saw a video of Chinese medical staff apparently arriving in London to "help". It disturbed me deeply. This isn't about any sort of "conspiracy" theory. It is simply about appalling standards of hygiene in a country which struggles to feed the population. It is also about the leaders of that same country using the situation to try and gain economic influence. We need to be aware of that...and change it.
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2 comments:
True, the death count is not accurate, since it only includes those diagnosed and dying in hospital. So both cases and deaths are under reported. But the lock down has helped, and I have sincere respect for those I know on The WHO team who just returned from China. As they are reporting decreases, I will accept their word.
Please be careful on assumptions, I was reminded of that again this morning while listening to a wonderful Scots accent from a faculty member of Glasgow. A native Scot, she just happens to be ethnically Chinese.
Also of note, the virus did NOT originate in THE WETMARKET. It was circulating back in Nov. Bringing it in to markets just helped it spread faster.
I don't think "Cat" was suggesting the WETMARKET was the source - just that it was one of the agents which helped to spread it. As I understand it we don't actually know the source and may never know it but it is considered likely to have first come from something like bats.
Yes, the lock down has helped - for now. It remains to be seen whether this will continue to be so when freedom of movement/association resumes.
With respect to the WHO you must be aware that there are severe restrictions placed on their reporting. The general tenor may be accurate but it is what is not being said which can be of greater importance. There is still a major threat in China.
Li Hsiao
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