{"id":50923,"date":"2020-02-03T14:37:59","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T19:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=50923"},"modified":"2020-02-03T14:38:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T19:38:04","slug":"brace-for-impact-global-pandemic-already-baked-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=50923","title":{"rendered":"Brace for Impact: Global Pandemic Already Baked In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brace for Impact: Global Pandemic Already Baked In<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If we accept what is known about the virus, then logic, science and probabilities all suggest we brace for impact.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a summary of what is known or credibly estimated about the 2019-nCoV virus as of January 31, 2019:<\/strong>1. A statistical study from highly credentialed Chinese academics estimates the virus has an RO (R-naught) of slightly over 4, meaning every carrier infects four other people on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is very high.<\/strong>\u00a0Run-of-the-mill flu viruses average about 1.3 (i.e. each carrier infects 1.3 other people while contagious). Chris Martenson (PhD) goes over the study in some detail\u00a0in this video.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s say the study over-estimates the contagiousness due to insufficient data, etc. Even an RO of 3 means the number of infected people rises geometrically (parabolically).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This matters because it negates any plan to track every potentially infected person who came in contact with a carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coronaviruses tend to be contagious in relatively close contact (within two meters \/ six feet) but masks may not be enough protection, as it may spread by contact with surfaces and through the eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All available evidence supports the conclusion that this virus is highly contagious, i.e. it isn’t that difficult to catch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Along with its contagiousness, the most consequential feature of this virus is that\u00a0asymptomatic carriers can transmit it to other people, who will also be unaware they’ve been infected with the pathogen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means carriers have no reason to self-quarantine until they develop symptoms, which may be a week or more after they’ve begun spreading the virus to others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s easy to imagine a situation where an asymptomatic carrier from Wuhan took a flight to Beijing,<\/strong>\u00a0infecting passengers and people in the airport, who then got on flights going to international destinations, where a few days later they become asymptomatic transmitters of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brace for Impact: Global Pandemic Already Baked In If we accept what is known about the virus, then logic, science and probabilities all suggest we brace for impact. Here’s a summary of what is known or credibly estimated about the 2019-nCoV virus as of January 31, 2019:1. A statistical study from highly credentialed Chinese academics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[127,19255,587,7258],"class_list":["post-50923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-environment","tag-charles-hugh-smith","tag-global-pandemic","tag-of-two-minds","tag-viral-outbreak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50923"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50925,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50923\/revisions\/50925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}