The international model on how to contain the virus is South Korea. It imposed a total lockdown in the areas where the virus was first detected last January and conducted mass testing and relentless contact tracing. It only suffered 200+ deaths despite the fact that it shares a border with China where the virus originated. The other Asian countries also have low Covid mortality rates compared to those of Europe and America.
The Philippines, for instance, a relatively dense country in terms of population just suffered 700+ deaths. While this is still shocking considering the value of human life, it is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of deaths in European countries and in America. US President Trump earlier said that the number of American deaths will reach 100 thousand by June. He was very wrong. That figure will be reached in a few days from now, or long before May ends.
Brazil is now becoming the epicentre of Covid-19 in South America. Though its president, Bolsonaro, also referred to as the Tropical Trump, continues to belittle the virus as a “small flu” or “little cold.” He even does not like to impose social distancing or lockdowns or other health meassures, which however some Brazilian state governors are openly contradicting. In about two months, two health department heads of that country successively resigned. The Brazilians, except for his avid supporters, are now shouting for Bolsoanaro to resign.
How about the Americans? They are not shouting loud enough, or so many of them are Trump supporters despite his gross incompetence in dealing with Covid-19.
So what went wrong in America, Europe and Brazil? Why their shocking number of Covid-19 fatalities? Arrogance.
These so called developed countries of the west think that they are the brightest and the best in the world considering their being advanced in the physical sciences or in material progress. They might even consider themselves the bravest as exemplified by the defiant attitude of US President Trump. But Covid-19 does not care whether you are brave or intelligent, or rich or poor.
Where does their arrogance lie? They refuse to learn from the experience of people they derogatory call chinky eyed, or little brown, or other names (accompanied by a furtive smirk) which are also known as Asians.
These westerners would not like to stoop to our low level. So they continue to be stupid and are prematurely opening up their societies, dangerously courting another dangerous wave of new Covid-19 cases, which will surely come.
Their more dangerous kind of arrogance is their ignoring common sense. What are being implemented now to combat Covid-19 are not new. These were the measures implemented to counter the influenza pandemic in 1918 to 1919 that killed millions (12 million in India alone) of people..
That is what arrogance does. You fail to see common sense solutions even if these are right there, in your face. More so if Asians are doing it, and effectively at that?**