Quote Originally Posted by studsg View Post
Europe, USA, Italy even here will have huge numbers of infected. Simply because there is no policing for sick or potentially sick ppl to isolate themselves. So many people have returned from infected countries like Iran, Korea, etc who are supposed to "self isolate" goes right out to work or into the crowds, etc.

While we may slam China for their political harshness. They have shown that strong policing to isolate people is effective in controlling the spread. For a country that has 1.3Billion ppl to have only 80k infected is no mean feat. Look at Italy, while it's closed its borders, people who may be potentially sick are still free to roam around everywhere inside its borders.
Yes, this virus is like a big F-you to human rights activists everywhere. When it all boils down, which one do you choose, human rights or human survival?
They called this a "black swan" event for financial markets, I think it will go further than that. Could it change the world order? It is exposing fundamental weaknesses in all countries. Like Italy, always had a huge problem with its ageing population... The oldest median age in all of Europe. That's why the death rate there is so high.
Or the US. Why do you think stock markets are panicking the moment it hit the US? Their medical infrastructure is too fragile, too weak to deal with this scale of epidemic. Only rich people can afford healthcare there. Worse, their Donald is only thinking about keeping his job!
However, you look at China: authoritarian, single-minded, focused on the health of the nation, seems to not give a shit about human-rights. That is the best way to fight this thing!