Italy has surpassed China in the number of deaths due to corona virus, despite the large difference between the population of each country, as Europe has overtaken China, especially as the latter has surpassed the health crisis caused by this global epidemic. This leads to a broad question: Why have European countries not succeeded in repeating China's experience in containing the virus?
Let me point to the following essential angle: The cultural view of knowledge and learning hasn't reached an adequate level, this is specially in the developing countries.
Assuming the figures announced are correct, I express my opinion. The epidemic in China was considered serious from the outset, and the authoritarian structure in the country implemented for better enforcement of the rules.
The European countries could not predict an explosive occurrence of the pandemic cases, so they did not implement the extreme measures such as total lockdown before now. Well, it is just a matter of time, the European countries shall overcome this current situation.
Ilhami Unluoglu , yes agree with you. Many factors could explain this difference, some are logical and scientific and others are unscientific or remain relatively like talking about the people's discipline to orders under the rule of undemocratic rule such as the case of the Communist Party in China when he issued quarantine orders in the country.
European countries have not succeeded in repeating China 's experience in containing the virus because their people are not committed to staying away from the pathogens and not isolating themselves well.
This is a stress test for governments, societies, people. While the West is losing to the East.
This novel virus, unlike the previous corona viruses have the faculty to be transmitted from one person to another. The preventive measures are quite hard to follow on a humanitarian ground as man is used to socializing with each other. For Europe, very few could accept the novel virus could jeopardize anything and took it for granted perhaps. Statistics show that, once managed well, recovery percentages are high but I'm made to understand that climatic conditions such as temperature could have aggravated the recorded deaths.
Dear Prof. Khleifat!
Thank YOU for the excellent question YOU raised! I consider the EU is a colorful community with many different approach to solve problems. In the case of coronoa virus this positive gain has turned into a negative factor. There should be a common approach in order to be able to deal effectively with the virus:
Tobias Buck (2020)."Germany’s coronavirus anomaly: high infection rates but few deaths" 20 March 2020, © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2020, Available at:
https://www.ft.com/content/c0755b30-69bb-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3
European countries have in place different measures, as in each country the situation and the resources to fight against the virus are different. In Finland they test only limited range of people who work in the Healthcare sector and officials of the government. Still as of 22 March in this country only ONE person died so far from the disease. The peak of the pandemic has not reached Europe yet. In Italy they made fatal mistakes: they underestimated the virus, and when the situation got serious they did not have the capacity to respond. One factor must be emphasized though: there are huge amount of refugees in Italy and huge amount of tourists as well. So they had a difficult situation in the beginning already. Coordinated measures are needed.Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely
Book Handbook of COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment
The quality of health systems is very different in Europe, concerning e.g. the patient/treatment ratio. Bulcsu Szekely did already hit the nail on its head.
I am going to focus on the problem of the pandemic in my country, Spain (unfortunately also very affected, and the maximum of the curve of evolution of the pandemic has not yet been defined). As for the population, since the government decreed a state of alarm, people have respected almost 100 percent of the measures imposed, including home confinement. The problem for me is that our rulers, despite the experience of nearby Italy, have not wanted or known how to see the problem that is coming, and have started to act a little late. This has highlighted a problem that my country and other countries have, the lack of leadership in our rulers. And it is precisely in situations like this, when it becomes more evident that what democracies need are rulers capable of putting aside their partisan interests and having a global vision, that is, they need authentic statesmen.
External factors (lifestyles, climatic conditions, diet, importance of the city / country, ...) would affect the spread more than is suspected.
Has China contained the virus? Really?
I empathize with their plight, but we are working with the numbers they give us, and they have changed the criteria on who is a (critical) patient several times.
Plus, we do not have the stats on how many Chinese people have died of the virus at their homes.
Not to mention that Chinese people residing/ studying in other countries have bought up all the protective/ surgical masks/ 95% alcohol around before calling in the epidemic in China.
An example - our on-line pharmacies are full of recorded orders for 500 000+ surgical masks from Chinese buyers.
Early January, I was myself the witness of a Chinese national asking in broken English for surgical masks and medical grade alcohol in a shop selling medical consumatives.
As a result, Europe has been left with hardly any protective equipment at all. Small number of manifacturers in Germany, Italy, Spain and France - and they are saving this critical equipment for their own countries.
Now the Chinese people are making mask donations to Italy and other EU countries. Seriously?
On a more positive note, the Chinese people do eat a lot of spicy and hot food, fermented veggies and pig offal, fermented milk products, sweet/salt water fish - all of which alkalize the body.
So do the Germans - plenty of sauerkraut and gherkins. A lot of sweet cold water river fish. Black pepper, aniseed and cumin. They however acidify the body with pig muscle tissue consumption.
Country dynamics also plays a role...
How to control the spread of the coronavirus: Lessons from Taiwan
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/taiwan-reins-spread-coronavirus-countries-stumble-200307034353325.html
Diverse perspectives...
Trump sparks anger by calling coronavirus the 'Chinese virus'
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/17/trump-calls-covid-19-the-chinese-virus-as-rift-with-coronavirus-beijing-escalates
Public response...
Coronavirus: Lessons from Italy
https://euobserver.com/coronavirus/147753
Well, I do not see why anyone should be angry with anyone else.
The Chinese government apparently called the virus - the "Italian virus".
Also, they accused the US of sending the virus to China with virtually no proof whatsoever.
Perhaps the US president was just trying to be accurate - it is a virus that has originated in China and spread to other countries.
On a different note, survivors of the Spanish flu from the last century, call it the Asian flu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k20VFZeLKY
Most of the reasons are that they didn't detect the virus at the first point of entry into Europe which caused wide spreading of Covid-19, and EU failed to take adequate preventive measures such as boarder closure, etc., before the virus came into Europe.
Unfortunately the virus has spread significantly before all these latest measures and level of seriousness were taken
I wonder why many countries allowed the virus to enter into their territory before they closed boarders. Why not close the boarders before it enters? It simply means that most world leaders didn't take the viral outbreak serious at the early stages.
I hope that, the unification of human by this terrifying virus, is a new beginning for another reading of the relationship of man to man, the ruler of the ruled, and man with nature, reclaiming human anxiety for a decent life for all in which human thought dominates the financial and economic obsession? Or is it a passing spring that ends with the end of the epidemic?
Dear RG friends, why should Europe copy the Chinese approach to the coronavirus? Is there evidence that this method was effective? In China, we need to differentiate between Wuhan and beyond. Wuhan and Weibo locked up. What happened to other Chinese urban areas. We don't know yet. As far as I'm concerned, there's a two-stage rocket. In the first place, it's science, and in the second place, politics that determines what measures have to be taken. The measures expected are partly culturally determined. With others, what is a good measure in China does not have to be in the Netherlands. I hope you will find my answer interesting. Kind regards, Carl
Because they underestimated the strength of the virulence of the virus .. If they banned roaming in their countries when the first episodes appeared, they could control this epidemic.
Many countries, if not all, only closed all their boarders when the virus has already entered into their territory, and now the number of infected people are increasing rapidly. They should have closed the boarders before the virus enter.
Very important question that provoked several valuable information.
Looking forward for more.
My dear RG friends, I wonder why there's no social scientific research being done on the coronavirus. I was thinking of longitudinal research per country with tests and questions about what people do like all day. Repeated measurements would also give us an impression of how the virus is spreading and what that has to do with human group behavior. All the best, Carl
Another factor for the fast spread in Europe could well be travel and livelihood trends (especially due to the timing of different religious festivities - e.g. Christmas vs Chinese New Year):
https://www.academia.edu/4483030/Chinese_communities_in_Milan_and_Prato
http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/index.php?chinese-diaspora
+ Italy has been historically known to be one of the important gateways for mass infection (e.g. black death) through rats on merchant ships travelling to/ from Asia (via Venice and Genova; the other two gateways being the UK - through the East India company, and the Netherlands - through the Hanseatic league; both conglomerates - no longer in existence).
A hint - malaria was one of the most severe illnesses that tormented tradesmen/ sailors from the UK and the Netherlands.
Has anyone checked the movement of goods and live farm & pet animals via the sea route from Asia?
Carl HD Steinmetz, yes it is good question, I think the public health or Epidemiology researchers will do with time being?
Several factors including the relaxation of old democratic beaurucratic systems and advancing capitalism economy over humanitarian care of the weaks in society
Another suggestion: European two-legged "bats" (i.e. humans :) ) do not consume the Thelephora vialis mushroom. :)
i think some factors are:
1- we have to agree that chine is stronger in many ways.
2- wrong political calculations.
3- fear of economic consequences.
4- the virus period of incubation.
5- the virus unknown behaviour.
No country has succeeded yet despite the scientific advancement of these countries, but it can be said that China has succeeded now because of its totalitarian and dictatorial rule and the rigor of its laws, and Europe has failed so far due to its pride and false spirit of arrogance.
Plz see the following link for this Essay titled below (https://www.ccn.com/coronavirus-exiled-billionaire-says-china-burning-1200-bodies-a-day/).
Coronavirus: Exiled Billionaire Says China Is Burning 1,200 Bodies a Day
Guo Wengui has a history of making outlandish claims against the CPC. He's now alleging that China could be incinerating 1,200 bodies daily.
📷Chinese billionaire dissident Guo Wengui says Beijing's communist party is burning thousands of dead bodies a day due to coronavirus. | Image: NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP
- Evidence suggesting the Chinese government is hiding the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak is mounting.
- Exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui says that the government is cremating 1,200 corpses a day in Wuhan alone.
- Guo claims the government will install as many as 1.4 million portable incinerators across China to cremate coronavirus victims.
First of all, because in Europe, Coronavirus appeared much later in view of the appearance of this virus in China. In some countries in Europe, currently (March 2020) the epidemic is just entering the maximum, culminating phase of development, in some countries in Europe, according to prediction models, this phase will appear only in 2-3 weeks, while in China this phase occurred 2-3 weeks ago. In addition, it is not excluded that in Europe, Coronavirus is another type of this virus relative to the Coronavirus that developed in China.
Have a nice day. Regards.
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Dear Khalet Khleifat, is this fake news? I see daily reports from the WHO. They don't subscribe to this message. If it's true what I think is fake news, I'm very sorry. Because being sick and dying because of the coronavirus is very drastic for the victims and her/his next of kin. Please check the source of this news. Greetings Carl
I think that non succeeded in solving and enhancing such crisis,neither China,nor any other country.It is just a matter of fake news and facts obliteration.
the data released on the containment of the virus are not credible and valid yet. European countries like Italy report the death toll claimed by the virus objectively; however, many countries try to cover up the realities because of political reasons. The lesson and message which the situation is offering to human beings and nations is that it is time to put differences aside and cooperate to eradicate the disease. We are all the organs of the same body and when one organ is pain, the other organs cannot be at rest and comfortable.
Khaled Khleifat, the late discovery of the virus along with the nonserious compliance at the early beginning to the processes of the quarantine and lockdown.
In China there is a dictatorship, and in Europe there are democratic regimes
Dear
firstly sure some of Europpeen contries don't take the menace seriously, secondly in china people havn't a free life all thing it's controled this situation don't exist in Europe.
Best regards
Jordan is a country that has taken advanced steps in tackling Corona
In my country, Portugal, we take the menace very seriously, and the situation is better than others Europen countries.
The world witnessed several casualties in Iraq. The injuries were concentrated in Kurdistan, Najaf, Basra, and Baghdad, Karbala, while the lowest injuries were in Mosul, Al-Akhbar, and Salah al-Din. Eating immune food was thought to be effective in preventing the effect, and the areas that made the TB vaccination were less infected with the virus
Please Professor dr. Khaled Khleifat, what is your academic source of telling that the coronavirus is produced in the United States of America? The WHO does not provide this theory. But it might be that you got better academic sources than other scientists. All the best, Carl
Qusay Al-DulameyI agree with your observation...🙌
Prayers for your wellbeing..
I agree or disagree with the statement of Sir Khaled Khleifat, "Coronavirus made by America and then struck by fire?" But there's no proof or shreds of evidence on the alleged conspiracy which I heard already and watch from other sources. However, let us put this way, in terms of strategic management, China had a better move than Europe and America, and that's the fact. The problem there, Europe and America, they did not make the pandemic seriously but just a normal cause of illness. So, what happened? And as we all know and again, the USA is always wants to become the number one and to prove to the whole world that China is wrong, right?
Dear Prof. Khaled Khleifat,
I think that china no better than European countries regarding the experience of containing the virus. But it seems that China has hidden previous experiences in this regard, and also that the measures seem to have been preset, so it has shown unusual capabilities against the virus and since the early days of the announcement of its emergence in China, while Europe has received a shock surprisingly and this requires an extraordinary time to address Perfectly for the new virus.
Regards.
I wonder why we make politics out of the virus. I think it's better if we wait for the research results instead of creating conspiracy theories. Why there is speculation on the scientific website instead of evidence-based conclusions. Let us not be guided by our own emotions, let us be people of science.
Please RG friends, let's await the scientific research on COVID-19, how it originated, how we can help people who have COVID-19, and how we can find a vaccine. Speculation is not part of our métier. We ask questions, we work with hypotheses and theories and use scientific methods to find answers. I admire all scientists who ask questions and look for answers, the more the better. Gradually, in addition to doctors, social scientists, philosophers, IT specialists, architects, and economists are joining us. By the way, let's not forget the historians because they can look forward and backward through their methods. All the best and stay safe and healthy, Carl
الصين اتخذت إجراءات صارمة منذ البداية وحاولت تطويق المنطقة الموبوئة ونجحت في ذلك وانا بدوري احيي هذي الخطوة الجريئة
It is apalling to suggest that the USA created the virus. I am not a defender of the USA but this kind of political trouble making and paranoia belongs on an internet site not on RG. Disgraceful!
Dear RG friends, why should we hold countries and people responsible for the virus COVID-19. I read yesterday from Oxford scholars that this virus has been circulating on Earth for much longer. That this virus was waiting to break out. The scientists don't know why one virus becomes contagious and another doesn't. We also have to be careful because there's a lot of fake news about viruses. All the best, stay safe and healthy, Carl
Thanks Carl and Stanley,
speculation can lead astray and fire the minds of those that are already kindling invalid assumptions.
No one has asked the question in this thread of cuts in research and healthcare.
Politics, science and education and culture live side by side and are the cogs and wheels of our systems. Who are we in the picture?
informative discussion ,, thanks for sharing dear dr. khaled ..despite the old medical institutes and centers in europe ,, i think both european and chines have control the virus and minimize death % through struggling scientific efforts .. unlike US ..
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