"Those who are in terrific shape, are young and have no prior illness can, indeed, be critically ill from COVID..Many died and many will die. In addition, healthy people are continuing to unknowingly spread COVID to elderly, who become ill and are at higher risk for death."
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"To young adults who doubt their vulnerability.. I would invite them to visit our ICU and see the multiple tragedies of younger people infected with COVID,..I think people are willing themselves to believe they are not at risk but that's a very dangerous and mistaken belief."
As the first European country to go back to national lockdown, Ireland now averages less than a quarter of their recent peak and is now set to announce the exit plan from the lockdown.
France's daily cases also saw steady decreases, the daily change of active cases (new cases minus recovers and deaths) is down to 10k and expected to dwindle further as the case rate decreases and recovery accelerates.
Germany became the 12th country to reached 1 million confirmed cases, as their daily average more than 20k recently. Yesterday, Germany reported 430 deaths, their second highest ever.
What is the economic cost of not going to #ZeroCOVID?
Some countries are enjoying normal life, minimal restrictions except limitations on international travel. Domestic economies are thriving and even tourism benefits from local travel.
Let’s look at several reports:
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Boston Consulting Group Report
“the sooner a country can limit the spread of the virus…the shorter the period that the economy will be frozen, and the sooner people can get back to work”
"Weeks before the state rolled out its color-coded tier system for reopening counties, a pandemic expert warned reopening the economy so soon would eventually just lead to more shutdowns.
"New England Complex Systems Institute founder Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam has advised presidential administrations and worked to end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
“All you’re doing is perpetuating the situation,” said Bar-Yam in an interview with NBC 7 back in August
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“If you have a fire in your house,” said Bar-Yam. “What you really want to do is get rid of it. And you don’t want to leave any fire around.”
“The fastest, best way to get out of this is to go all in and get rid of the disease,” said Bar-Yam.
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Europe (blue curve) continues to see decreasing case counts. The daily average is now 214k, significantly lower than the peak during late Oct. to Nov. Several countries are still experiencing exponential growth including Serbia, yesterday a new high of 7,579.
South Africa saw surges in Eastern Cape and Western Cape recently. Yesterday, the national increase was 3,250 cases, highest since August. Their daily average increases by 30% in the last two weeks.
South Korea reported 583 cases yesterday, surpassing the peak of its previous wave. Seoul, Gyeonggi-do recorded 213 and 183 new cases, significantly higher than recent averages.
Canada yesterday saw a new high of 6,795 cases, based on JHU data. Though Ontario and Quebec are leveling in the past two weeks, Alberta's daily average rose from 851 to 1,406. Saskatchewan is also on the rise.
Belgium reported 1,123 cases yesterday, the lowest since Sept. 21, as the country finishes the third week of the recent national lockdown. Now the daily average is 1/6 of what it was one month ago. Daily deaths also have been trending downward.
Yesterday Turkey reported 6,713 cases with 153 deaths, both highest since the pandemic. Testing positivity also recently surged.