In addition to infecting virtually every media headline and lead story, the coronavirus has spread deep into the body politic, the global economy, and equity markets.
Seizing on the coronavirus outbreak, political hacks – not an array of qualified doctors and health experts in relevant fields – have taken full control of nations, states, and communities as their justification to declare, in effect, Martial Law.
Giving orders not to travel, not to kiss, not to shake hands, not to stand next to anyone – bureaucratic measures are being disseminated to the entire nation while health officials say the virus is effecting mostly the elderly and chronically ill.
Virtually ignored is the fact that these puppet masters’ measures are robbing citizens of their personal freedoms and destroying the global economy. From airplane manufactures to airlines and from tourism to the hospitality sector, businesses big and small are being devastated as a result of government actions.
Italy, a nation of 60 million, with some 9,100 hit by the virus and 463 victims of it, is now in lockdown. On Monday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte issued orders banning public gatherings, suspending sporting events, and closing schools until 3 April.
“Stay at Home” is what Italy’s supreme leader and self-anointed COVID-19 authority has declared… and if you don’t, you’ll be fined and sent to jail.
Over the weekend, after four additional cases, Saudi Arabia imposed a lockdown on the eastern section of the country, making a grand total of 11 people there who have contracted the virus. All educational institutions are closed, and the government banned pilgrimages to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
In Israel, where about 50 cases of have been reported, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that all foreigners now arriving into the country will be quarantined.
From Ireland to Massachusetts, St. Patrick’s Day parades have been cancelled.
While COVID-19 fear spreads further with each new headline, barely reported in the avalanche of fear headlines is that in China, where the coronavirus started and by far has had the most serious effect, the rate of new infections is dropping and transmission is slowing down.
And when it is reported, it is mostly dismissed as Chinese propaganda, with the general conclusion that conditions are far worse than what is being reported.
TREND FORECAST: Today, Japan’s Cabinet approved a bill to give its prime minister the ability to declare a state of emergency… instructing residents to stay indoors, close schools, cancel events, prohibit mass gatherings, etc.
Austria is banning indoor events of more than 100 people and outdoor events of more than 500.
Across the globe, from leaders to local authorities, the ruling political class effectively have injected the virus into the lifeblood of society, killing business and equity markets and destroying individual freedoms. Thus, when desired, to quell social unrest and political opposition, governments will declare states of emergency.