As the US covid death toll exceeds one million, the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center reports the US death rate at 291 per 100,000. Only two countries--Brazil and Poland--have higher mortality rates. Already thinking about how the US can say it's so good yet look so bad, I came across an article comparing the US and Australia in covid terms. Australia's death rate is about one-tenth of ours. Both countries are English-speaking democracies and have similar demographics. The median age in both countries is 38. The 83 percent of Americans living in urban areas compares well to Australia's 86 percent urban. So why the big difference? Dozens of interviews, surveys, and scientific studies point to one thing: trust. That would be trust in science and institutions but most importantly, trust in one another.
The first positive covid case was found in Australia on January 25, 2020. The first in the US was January 31, 2020. On that very day, the now-ex POTUS noted, "We think it's going to have a very good ending for us." The same day, Australia's health minister reported, "Border isolation, surveillance, and case tracing mechanisms are already in place in Australia." Australia closed its border with China on February 1 despite its being their largest trading partner. Two days later, they brought Australians in China back to Australia where they spent 14 days in quarantine. There were other factors besides Australia's taking action faster, including differences in the health care system, obtaining and used personal protective equipment, and a smaller gap between the rich and the poor. A final factor and, to me, perhaps the most important was that following rules was the social norm in Australia. We in the US are much more every-person-for-themselves. Currently, 95 percent of Australian adults are fully vaccinated and 85 percent of the total population has gotten two doses. The US is holding steady at 66 percent being fully vaccinated.
I noted a day or two ago that deaths from guns and drug overdoses hit new highs during the pandemic. It seems that deaths from sexually-transmitted diseases also peaked. The only remotely causal factors I can think of are reluctance to see a doctor to be tested and a reluctance to go to a pharmacy for medicine.
Covid. The disease that keeps on giving even more than we thought already? A new article in the Lancet with the title " Severe acute hepatitis in children: Investigate SARS-CoV-2 superantigens" posits a relationship between covid and the cases of severe hepatitis in children that have are cropping up. The suggestion compares to covid's loading a gun, the trigger of which is then pulled by an adenovirus. As you might expect, this is somewhat controversial. It's been pointed out that not all children with the new hepatitis have tested positive for adenovirus. At the same time, 76 percent of children with hepatitis have covid antibodies. I hope to see more on this in the near future.
Both WHO and China have offered help to North Korea. China, especially, has a priority of keeping its neighbor stable. At the same time, though, it is not at all clear that North Korea wants aid agencies in the country. Some sources suggest there may be another nuclear test as a distraction. Should North Korea decide to lock down as tightly as Shanghai, starvation is a real concern. Eleven million of the total population of 25 million are already undernourished. A US vaccine expert offers, "They really have only one option. They've got to find a way to bring in vaccines and to rapidly vaccinate the population. The world is ready to help North Korea, but they have to be willing to invite that help." And not wait until the last minute to invite it, I might add.
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