Queensland is trialling drive through Coronavirus testing in Caloundra and Toowoomba to relieve some pressure on medical staff.
Where a UN country declares martial law, the law that they are relying on is The Hague Convention for the Customs of Warfare on Land (1907). The main document that was used to develop those customs was the Lieber Code, or General Order 100 issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. A careful read of the Lieber Code, along with tracing how acts and statutes have developed and changed over time and comparing the Lieber Code to the foundational Constitutions, I'm pretty certain that the Lieber Code is the psychopaths playbook - right down to idea that deceit is honourable and the police become revenue collectors - recorded in 1863!
Constitutions were basically written to describe the limitations of the powers of government, but all of that changes under martial law and in commercial contracts.
The classification of coronavirus planning meetings was first covered by Reuters, which noted that the decision to classify was “an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government’s response to the contagion.” Reuters further noted that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar, and his chief of staff had “resisted” the classification order, which was made in mid-January by the National Security Council (NSC), led by Robert O’Brien — a longtime friend and colleague of his predecessor John Bolton.
Following this order, HHS officials with the appropriate security clearances held meetings on coronavirus response at the department’s Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF), which are facilities “usually reserved for intelligence and military operations” and — in HHS’ case — for responses to “biowarfare or chemical attacks.” Several officials who spoke to Reuters noted that the classification decision prevented key experts from participating in meetings and slowed down the ability of HHS and the agencies it oversees, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to respond to the crisis by limiting participation and information sharing.
It has since been speculated that the decision was made to prevent potential leaks of information by stifling participation and that aspects of the planned response would cause controversy if made public, especially given that the decision to classify government meetings on coronavirus response negatively impacted HHS’ ability to respond to the crisis.
After the classification decision was made public, a subsequent report in Politico revealed that not only is the National Security Council managing the federal government’s overall response but that they are doing so in close coordination with the U.S. intelligence community and the U.S. military. It states specifically that “NSC officials have been coordinating behind the scenes with the intelligence and defense communities to gauge the threat and prepare for the possibility that the U.S. government will have to respond to much bigger numbers—and soon.”
Little attention was given to the fact that the response to this apparently imminent jump in cases was being coordinated largely between elements of the national security state (i.e. the NSC, Pentagon, and intelligence), as opposed to civilian agencies or those focused on public health issues, and in a classified manner.
The Politico article also noted that the intelligence community is set to play a “key role” in a pandemic situation, but did not specify what the role would specifically entail. However, it did note that intelligence agencies would “almost certainly see an opportunity to exploit the crisis” given that international “epicenters of coronavirus [are] in high-priority counterintelligence targets like China and Iran.” It further added, citing former intelligence officials, that efforts would be made to recruit new human sources in those countries.
Politico cited the official explanation for intelligence’s interest in “exploiting the crisis” as merely being aimed at determining accurate statistics of coronavirus cases in “closed societies,” i.e. nations that do not readily cooperate or share intelligence with the U.S. government. Yet, Politico fails to note that Iran has long been targeted for CIA-driven U.S. regime change, specifically under the Trump administration, and that China had been fingered as the top threat to U.S. global hegemony by military officials well before the coronavirus outbreak.
The CBP’s pandemic response document, obtained by The Nation, reveals that the CBP’s pandemic directive “allows the agency to actively surveil and detain individuals suspected of carrying the illness indefinitely.” The Nation further notes that the plan was drafted during the George W. Bush administration, but is the agency’s most recent pandemic response plan and remains in effect.
Though only CBP’s pandemic response plan has now been made public, those of other agencies are likely to be similar, particularly on their emphasis on surveillance, given past precedent following the September 11 attacks and other times of national panic. Notably, several recent media reports have likened coronavirus to 9/11 and broached the possibility of a “9/11-like” response to coronavirus, suggestions that should concern critics of the post-9/11 “Patriot Act” and other controversial laws, executive orders and policies that followed.
While the plans of the federal government remain classified, recent reports have revealed that the military and intelligence communities — now working with the NSC to develop the government’s coronavirus response — have anticipated a massive explosion in cases for weeks. U.S. military intelligence came to the conclusion over a month ago that coronavirus cases would reach “pandemic proportions” domestically by the end of March. That military intelligence agency, known as the National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), coordinates closely with the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct “medical SIGINT [signals intelligence].”
The coming government response, the agencies largely responsible for crafting it and its classified nature deserve public scrutiny now, particularly given the federal government’s tendency to not let “a serious crisis to go to waste,” as former President Obama’s then-chief of staff Rahm Emanuel infamously said during the 2008 financial crisis. Indeed, during a time of panic — over a pandemic and over a simultaneous major economic downturn — concern over government overreach is warranted, particularly now given the involvement of intelligence agencies and the classification of planning for an explosion of domestic cases that the government believes is only weeks away.
One of the things I'm hearing now which is contributing to the ongoing emotional combustion is that Italy's mortality rate due to the CV is around 7%. Yikes!
Except...
"Italy, however, is also reporting an above average mortality rate at 4%. The average age of coronavirus patients who have died because of the virus in Italy is 81, according to the National Health Institute. Italy, which has one the world’s oldest populations, could be facing a higher mortality rate as a result of its above-average elderly population. “Italy is the oldest country in the oldest continent in the world,” says Lorenzo Casani, the health director of a clinic for elderly people in Lombardy told TIME. “We have a lot of people over 65.”
"Casani also suggests the mortality rate might be higher than average because Italy is testing only the critical cases. “We are not doing enough,” he said.
"Casani says that pollution in northern Italy could be a factor in higher death rates. According to a report by the Swiss air monitoring platform IQAir, 24 of Europe’s 100 most polluted cities are in Italy. “Studies have shown a high correlation between mortality rates from viral respiratory conditions and pollution,” Casani says. “This could be a factor.”"
Why Is the Coronavirus Outbreak So Bad in Italy?
Italy has placed its 60 millions resident under quarantine, as the number of coronavirus cases throughout the country continues to rise.time.com
Grouping the age in ten-year-intervals and comparing the percentage shares of cases that fall into each age group reveals a striking dissimilarity between South Korea (red bars) and Italy (green bars): Recently, 3% of all confirmed cases in South Korea were at least 80 years old. At about the same time, 19.1% of all confirmed cases in Italy were at least 80 years old.
This enormous difference occurred while the absolute numbers of confirmed cases overall were similar in the two countries (8,036 in Italy vs 7,134 in South Korea). Consequently, Italy’s healthcare and hospital system had to take care of a much higher number of infected older patients than the South Korean one — patients that need more intensive care and that are simultaneously more likely to pass away.
A clear implication is that the Italian CFR is not comparable to the Korean CFR — the people infected with the coronavirus that enter the Italian CFR are much older than those that enter the Korean CFR, and as older people are much more likely to die of COVID-19, they push the Italian CFR upwards.
...
In South Korea, the age structure of the coronavirus cases is remarkably similar to the age structure of the population, in particular for the older age groups. The 20–29-year-olds are still hugely overrepresented among the confirmed cases relative to their population share, but their surplus is balanced by the underrepresentation of cases among the 0–9- and 10–19-year-olds. These three youngest age groups face a very low risk of dying from COVID-19. The South Korean CFR is hence not depressed or exaggerated by an under- or overrepresentation of older Koreans among the confirmed cases.
The same is not true for Italy: The share of confirmed cases at age 70–79 exceeds the population share of this age group by more than a factor of two. Among those aged 80 and more, the case share is almost three times as high as the population share. By contrast, young people and hence low-fatality-risk people are visibly underrepresented among the confirmed cases.
{AI: just wondering if this might be cultural. From reading one of the doctor reports, I got the impression that Italians might be less likely to go to the hospital unless absolutely necessary - so it could be that some of the overrepresentation of older people is just because they got sick enough that they felt they HAD to get checked out.}
Hence, the question remains why the age distribution of cases is shaped so differently in Italy compared to South Korea. It has also been pointed out that the testing procedures for coronavirus in the countries are very different — Italy has predominantly been testing people with symptoms of a coronavirus infection, while South Korea has been testing basically everyone since the outbreak had become apparent. Consequently, South Korea has detected more asymptomatic, but positive cases of coronavirus than Italy, in particular among young people.
A complementary reason is that the Korean outbreak took place mainly among followers of the Shincheonji megachurch/sect in and around the city of Daegu. Possibly, many followers of this movement are of relatively young age, explaining the unusual spike of cases among the 20–29-year-olds once testing intensified around this group. This might have also prevented the virus from spreading extensively among the Korean elderly so far. ...
...
If the virus spreads predominantly among young people, as appears to have been the case in South Korea, there is no immediate risk of collapse to the hospitals. However, if it spreads to the old population, as in Italy, collapse is looming; and it might be a matter of days. When (not if) this happens is another factor that is hard to predict, as some efforts are underway.
...
Based on this comparison, Germany has even been a bit “luckier” than South Korea for now, as the coronavirus apparently has been spreading among the younger German population. This finding could be reflected in the currently very low German CFR of 0.2%. ...
South Korea provides a useful estimate of the CFR — but no guarantee
We can learn something more that is potentially very useful from the Korean statistics. We have seen above that the age distribution of the confirmed cases corresponds rather closely to the age distribution of the overall population in South Korea if we subsume everyone below age 30 into one group where almost nobody dies from COVID-19. At the time of reporting, 50 of the confirmed 7,134 people infected with the coronavirus had died, implying an aggregate CFR of 0.7%. Since then, the Korean CFR has been creeping up to 0.89%. Hence, 1% seems to be a reasonable estimate of the case fatality rate in a high-income country (!) in the absence of any major failures of the hospital and care system (!). This 1% CFR estimate is close to what Dr. Jeremy Faust has been suggesting based on the Diamond Princess cruise ship case. ...
Another factor is that the world is way more connected than it was even 10 years ago, via social media. Panic and hysteria spread more easily that way, IMO. So we have a whole collection of causal factors: cosmic, psychological social, technological, all working together.I can't help but think about how the social cohesion has been destroyed over the last few generations and how this just adds another layer. With that I am thinking of the destruction of the family unit via amongst others the feminist movement, downgrading of the female nurture/carer role in the families, the push for women to be in the work place, downgrading of the male role, the destruction of the marriage institution, destruction of religion, the sacred and more.
I wonder, what section in the playbook "the unspecified intelligence" will play in it's response now that Trump has called "an Emergency"?
Martial Law in a hostile country consists in the suspension, by the occupying military authority, of the criminal and civil law, and of the domestic administration and government in the occupied place or territory, and in the substitution of military rule and force for the same, as well as in the dictation of general laws, as far as military necessity requires this suspension, substitution, or dictation.
The commander of the forces may proclaim that the administration of all civil and penal law shall continue either wholly or in part, as in times of peace, unless otherwise ordered by the military authority.
Can I disavow myself from these predictions? They aren't even mine
If the fatality rate really is 3%, there will be a lot of people who know somebody who knows somebody who died from it and it will be the subject of around town gossip for awhile, but that population can be replaced in a couple of years.
Italy's health system is overwhelmed:
- "We're close to the point of no return for intensive care beds in Lombardy. We have 15 to 20 intensive care beds left. With 85 new people entering ICU every day and 2 or 3 leaving, we're close to the point of no return. "There are no more ambulances" - Lombardy Welfare Councilor Gallera added - "and therefore someone will have to wait late in the evening." [source] 732 patients are currently treated in intensive care in Lombardy, and 76 new deaths were reported in the region today [source]
- In Bergamo, "deaths have quintupled from a week ago. There is a burial every half hour" said Councilor for Cemetery Services Giacomo Angeloni. "There are many elderly people at home with breathing difficulties. They are not hospitalized because the hospitals are full" said the mayor of Alzano Lombardo Carmelo Bertocchi [source]
Well, last night the PM did a 180 degree turnaround and cancelled the Christchurch Massacre memorial as advice indicated it was too risky. Also anybody flying into NZ has to self isolate for 14 days, which will completely dry up the tourist trade. Cruise ships are banned until 30 June. Large gatherings are being discouraged and most sports events are cancelled. But of course, we have the most stringent isolation measures in the world we are told - just to make us feel safe.
Seems to me that the Coronavirus pendant has some HUGE momentum now and the more momentum, the more people will fall under its influence. Some serious feeding going on here, it seems.
For those who speak German, there is a Youtube talk with Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, who in 2009 was mentioned in this thread.
Dr Wodarg has some information to share about influenza and Corona type infections. From what I understand about 10 % of the people affected by infections in the airways each year have corona viruses if testet. He also says that viruses do not operate alone, but just like we have several bacterias and micro organisms in the digestive system, so we also carry around more than one virus. To determine which one is the one that makes us feel sick is not always easy to determine and little is know about the possible synergetic effects among the viruses.
The link is here: Lungenfacharzt Wolfgang Wodarg spricht jetzt LIVE über die Auswirkungen des Corona Virus Frontal21 FB Link
Edit: There is a page here where he explains his position in words: Hier die Slideshow mit weiteren Infos
I agree.I also think that the attack via this virus threat will fizzle out as quickly as it came up. Cooler heads will prevail. The next week should tell the tale. Look to China for research development in the treatment, mortality rates and other answers.
I am not quite sure that the world powers are ready for things to go south so quickly. Shutting down the world is a major issue that I am quite sure most of the World leaders don't want.
Supposedly 5G wireless interferes with blood oxygen transport. That could feel like difficulty breathing, or just cause brain fog in less sensitive and aware people. Does Canarias have a new 5G network up now?There is something in the air, a strange odour an savor like soap, something very disagreeable, almost taking my breath out. I really had a little difficulty to breath normally. Nope. I will not go outside again, the air is not good at all.
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There is something in the air that I don't like at all... Something artificial. In fact the air would be suppose to be better because less trafic. So what is happening here!