Winnie the Flu from the Land of Wu

I see that Europe is closing down again due to Winnie the Flu from the land of Wu.

All of France’s 67 million people have been ordered to stay at home at all times with no visitors, or risk steep fines or prosecution, as coronavirus cases in the country continue to rise.

“Your papers, please“

Butt, Butt, Butt (excusez moi but(t) it strikes me that this is once again an appropriate spelling for this great conjunction) isn’t Europe the template for the correct-a-vous handling of the Corona? Isn’t President Trump the only* reprobate world leader who failed miserably to protect his citizens from contracting the deadly virus by refusing to hermetically seal the country’s citizens inside to prevent the deadly spread of the disease? And isn’t that failure the only thing (aside from the end of fossil fuels and Obamacare-for-all) that Joey Biden is running on?

Please don’t tell me the European strategy (gasp!) failed? Please don’t tell me that you can’t trick a virus into going away by hiding from it with face masks and hand sanitizer for 6 months?

Huh. Well this is interesting. The current ratio of deaths to cases seems to be the inverse of what it was last spring. Closer now to what you’d see from – oh, I don’t know, a normal flu season perhaps? Seems maybe we’ve learned a thing or two since then about testing for and treating the Wuhan virus. Either that and/or it’s mutating into a somewhat less lethal strain.

Meanwhile, in the USA, President Trump’s approach has been to clear bureaucratic paths (no mean task) for drug companies to develop, manufacture and distribute a vaccine post haste without sacrificing safety or efficacy. I’d vote for that approach over more lockdowns every day of the week.

And then there’s Michigan. Here in the Mitten State our Governor, Wretched Gretchen, has determined that – for your own good – you too will have to show your papers if you wish to go out: Michigan Bars, Restaurants Will Require Customer’s Names And Phone Numbers Starting Monday.

Michigan officials claim there have been 12 coronavirus outbreaks stemming from bars and restaurants, so now the state wants patrons to provide their name and phone number for future potential contact tracing.

Apparently Mother Gretchen did not like having her executive orders overturned by the Supreme Court so she’s punishing us in other ways that she deems legal.

“It’s not nice to mess with Mother’s Nature!” She will find a way to punish you.

The new order reads: “All dine-in food service establishments must maintain accurate records of the names and phone numbers of patrons who purchase food for consumption on the premises, and the date and time of entry.”

The orders require restaurants, along with schools and other businesses, to provide names and phone numbers of individuals with possible COVID-19 exposure to local health officials “to aid in contact tracing and case investigation efforts.” – Detroit News

I wonder if Gretch knows that Washington state’s Gov. Jay Inslee was forced to retract a similar requirement last May when even the ACLU complained the data gathering was a risk “to people’s fundamental rights to privacy and association?” 

I think perhaps I should send a copy of my latest edition of Imprimis to both President Macron and Governor Wretched: A Sensible and Compassionate Anti-COVID Strategy. In this article the Stanford doc explains in simple terms the difference between COVID-19 “infections” and “cases” and why the original WHO statement that “three percent of people who get COVID die from it” was wrong by at least one order of magnitude (closer to 0.2 or 0.3 percent).

I’ll let Dr. Jay Bhattacharya – Professor of Medicine at Stanford University where he received both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in economics – explain his objective:

My goal today is, first, to present the facts about how deadly COVID-19 actually is; second, to present the facts about who is at risk from COVID; third, to present some facts about how deadly the widespread lockdowns have been; and fourth, to recommend a shift in public policy.

And lastly, the perfunctory “don’t forget to vote tomorrow like your life depended on it” message. Because this time it might, literally, be true.

President Trump, yesterday, Washington, MI

*Except for Sweden, where herd immunity seems to be allowing life to go on quite normally, thank you.