The Corona situation in Southern Scandinavia
Over the last week the news about the Corona virus in Danish papers like Berlingske, Politiken and Jyllands-Posten have grown first slowly and now extremely rapidly especially in the first two papers published in Copenhagen. All other issues have almost faded out. So far, there are still
only 156 confirmed cases with no dead and most leveled is probably the business paper Borsen.dk which still says that Norwegian has cancelled 3000 flight and send workers home on a temporary basis, that
Italy has closed down the economy and that Germany is moving into recession.
The main concerns seems to be that the health system will collapse if the spread of the disease is too rapid, but there is a general understanding that it will eventually reach most people. The Government will call students of medicine, and retired doctors. The priorities will be to take care of the elderly and the weak, others will have less service if the system is challenged. In Italy however they have in some places, according to this article also other priorities as they also look at who has the best chances of surviving and who has statistically most years left to live.
"Symptoms" in society
At the dentist I visited yesterday, there was a note on the door saying that if one has been to Italy, China, Iran or ... then one should not enter, but go home and arrange for another appointment. One high school has been closed, etc. People are advised to avoid travelling during rush hours, but how is that going to be practical or possible? The PM has recommend to cancel events with more than 1000 people gathered. The National Board of Health recommends people to avoid handshakes, kisses and hugs. (Will they be checking the compliance rate in 9 months
). In spite of local recommendations to avoid the handshakes
, kisses, and hugs
the virtual ones are still legal. Today, there was an article with
a headline saying the population is at risk of going up in flames
due to the much increased use of sanitary alcohol which is about 80 % ethanol and flammable
- that was a joke, but last weekend, I entered a building store which encouraged people to use the bottle of sanitary alcohol before entering the shop area.
The information from Government institutes
Surgeon: Almost everyone will be affected by corona over a number of years
We must focus on the fact that coronavirus has come to stay, says department head of the State Serum Institute.
The coronavirus has come to stay, and it is likely that almost all Danes will be infected with the disease over a number of years.
This is what Dr. Tyra Grove Krause of the State Serum Institute says. She is the Head of Department at the Department of Infectious Epidemiology and Prevention.
- We are all susceptible to the virus, and it will probably behave like what we know from pandemic influenza, where more waves of infection will occur.
Later she says that up to 10-15 % could get infected in the first round, and that the Winter is more serious. The task she says is to limit the infection rate so the health system will be able to cope. (Denmark has about 6 ICU beds per 100,000). Come to stay means also that one may expect many more lasting changes in society.
The police has
a page with advice which includes measures regarding pets. Let us see how people take this, but if anyone considered buying a dog, would they change their mind after reading the guidelines? The problem is how to walk a dog if one gets the virus and has to stay inside. This is easier for people who own a house, but if it is only a flat it sure increases the level of complications.
Some effects on the local economy
Financially, the present Corona panic may cause many more issues than the sole concern of the health system being overloaded. The share market has gone down so much, that the tax revenues already now will be less by the hundreds and hundreds of millions. Add to this all the incomes not earned due to people being advised to stay more at home, venues cancelled, and some companies, at this very early stage, already asking for help and lenience from the Government to avoid economic problems and even default, but with less tax incomes, Government will need to make changes in the policies implemented. It is not difficult to speculate what changes in society might come as a result, but the future is also open, so what will be experienced is not a given. What would be nice to avoid would be mandatory vaccination schemes.
Political issues pushed down on the priority list because of Corona
Besides the Corona issue, another prominent issue which would have taken center stage had not the Corona come, is that the large majority of political parties and politicians have been convinced that the country needs to save the thriving polar bears from dying out, the ice that is not melting from melting and in general save the world from CO2 and become a world leader of CO2 virtues. To reach the goal there will be, the highest CO2 tax in the world, new taxes on beef and air travel, expert recommendations for
40 % more for car gas, and a determination to have 40 % electric cars by 2030.
Few dare ask if this ambition to be a world leader in CO2 reduction is meaningful. Still another concern is the European refugee and illegal immigrants issues that drains the present social welfare systems while adding more CO2 consumers, perhaps that is why the Danish Government has suggested to set up camps in countries closer to places the people come from.
One positive outcome is that the Corona response may assist a few to bring their attention to more fundamental questions of life, at a time when besides the politics of CO2, the culture of political correctness has
increasingly gained status of dogma. Who knows maybe some kind of rational realism may enter?
Commentary from a newspaper: Is there a doctor present? (For the stock market.)
A few weeks ago showing the Chinese flag with Corona stars rather than the usual stars. Today Jyllands-Posten had a
drawing that concerns the drops on the stock market. In the middle of the trading frenzy depicted, someone shouts: "Is there a doctor present?" At the same time there were
spectacular gains in Asia, so it is not everywhere.
Overall I would say that it was a pretty rough cold and flu season without any cases of coronavirus.