I have been focusing a lot on the coronavirus epidemic because of the potential impacts that it will have on global trends and markets. The issue really is not about the virus, but about what the virus will be blamed for or be used as a cover to do. It is sort of like the kid who feels sick, but really uses the sickness as a cover to skip school and stay in bed while drinking soda and playing video games. Yes, there is an illness, but his motivations are far from honest.
Many have expressed fear about what happens when “the virus” comes to the US. There has already been one death, and a general sense of panic seems to be gripping the public. But how much should people worry? According to the Stamford Advocate, they recently published a piece by an American man who has the coronavirus that he caugh while on the Diamond Princess ship. He has been quarantined by the government, but according to him, for the most part he has said he is fine.
During the first few days, the hospital staff hooked me up to an IV, mostly as a precaution, and used it to administer magnesium and potassium, just to make sure I had plenty of vitamins. Other than that, my treatment has consisted of what felt like gallons and gallons of Gatorade – and, when my fever rose just above 100 degrees, some ibuprofen. The nurses came to the room every four hours or so, to check my vitals, ask if I needed anything and to draw my blood. I got very good at unhooking all the monitors checking my oxygen level, blood pressure and heart rate so I could go to the bathroom or just pace around the room a little, to get my blood flowing. I never quite got the hang of hooking them back up without making a tangled mess. After 10 days, I moved out of biocontainment and into the same facility as Jeri. Now we can videochat from our separate quarantines, in neighboring rooms.
As of my most recent test, on Thursday, I am still testing positive for the virus. But by now, I don’t require much medical care. The nurses check my temperature twice a day and draw my blood, because I’ve agreed to participate in a clinical study to try to find a treatment for coronavirus. If I test negative three days in a row, then I get to leave.The time has passed more quickly than I would’ve expected. With my laptop, I get as much work done as I can, remotely. I catch up with friends. I take walks around my room, trying to take a thousand more steps each day. I also watch the news. It’s surreal to see everyone panic – news conferences, the stock market falling, school closures – about a disease I have. (source)
This is the experience of one person. Things could be a lot worse than his experience, but one is yet to see this.
What we can say is that the threat of the virus is as much or greater of a threat right now than the virus itself, because the perception of fear is enough to cause social instability that leads to market instability.
The reasons for why this is could be many.
Could it be that given how the US economy is already in very bad health, certain actors in government want to try and use the virus to forcibly crash it early to try and do “control” the potential political impacts? One cannot say for sure, as there is no direct proof, but such ideas, and certainly many more possibilities, should not be discounted.
What we can say is there is a man right now, in the US, who has the virus, and he is spending his days drinking Gatorate, taking over-the-counter painkillers, and following the news, otherwise living mostly like how the rest of us do.
He is not panicking, and neither should you.
This does not mean not to be cautious. It does mean to think first before reacting.
Perhaps instead of preparing for the world to end, one could get some Gatorade (as he says in the article), a few bottles of ibuprofen, and an ice pack and while being aware, relax and take one day at a time, for what else can one reasonably do?