A NOTABLE FOURSOME

The United States, Russia, England, and Brazil the notable foursome (and you thought I was talking about golf) have one thing in common.  They are the best at having ignored the warnings and were all slow to respond to the current Covid-19 pandemic. 

Jair Bolsonario, the 65 year old President of Brazil, like Trump, is someone that initially stated the virus was just like another flu and has become another presidential ostrich.  Taking his ques from The Donald, he ignores his medical professionals and defies the social distancing requirements, by mingling with his constituents and not wearing a mask.  He is also a climate change denier like Trump, he does not believe in science and as it appears medicine as well.  It looks like he is headed for heard immunity?  With 211 million people, it would take approx. 148 million individuals to have herd immunity without a vaccine or mitigation.  If the virus death rate is said to be from .8% to .5%, then the total deaths needed to reach heard status would be 750,000 to 1.2 million deaths.  I guess he feels that is an acceptable outcome?  His country is 6^th in total deaths and 128^th in per capita testing.  Without the knowledge that testing gives you, you might just as well be an ostrich.  Keep in mind their surge will come in the next 3-4 months when they are in their winter months.  Watch for this to be a tragic outcome by September, with dire consequences for the people of brazil.

Boris Johnson Prime Minister of England knows the effects of the virus, as he has had the virus and has recovered.  England’s response to the initial phases of the virus was also to ignore it, taking his ques from Donald and not locking down or social distancing until the virus had reached epidemic rates within its shores.  The lockdown was slow and can account for the higher than average death toll.  England is 2^nd behind the U.S. in total deaths, with 37,000 and 29^th in testing per capita.  The U.K is right behind Spain in the largest death rate by a developed country, with a population of over 12 million.

Vladimir Putin, the 68-year-old president of Russia, was also slow to respond to the virus.  22^nd in testing per capita and is experiencing a surge in new cases, second behind the U.S. with almost 9,000 new cases per day.  This spike in cases has the medical professionals taking notice and has warned that without social distancing and masks, the virus will spread in catastrophic proportions. His actions were also as a denier initially and he too was slow in his response and will pay a price with the spike in new cases.

Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, denied the existence of the epidemic, and rhetorically denied it being a problem for 4-5 weeks.  His concern initially was the stock market.  When it crashed, he took notice and every move he has made since, has been made with an eye on the market and thus he favors opening the economy over medical advice.  The U.S is 35^Th in testing per capita. Not a stellar rate, as testing is the key for containment and elimination of the virus.  The common thread with all these individuals (I would have said leaders, however there is at least one I would not consider at all to be leading anything, but us off a cliff) is their procrastination of having a dichotomy of public health and balancing that with economic health.  In other words, who do you want to sacrifice, your base or the public at large?

Countries like South Korea, Germany, New Zealand, reacted immediately to the epidemic and instituted what Trump would say was draconian measures. These measures succeeded to control the outbreak and have had significantly different outcomes.  This as the U.S. death toll is now over 100,000 and climbing.