It's not the virus that's racist. It's the racial inequality in society that the virus reveals.

I think this is more of a case where we find the few people that actually did take this seriously.

The human genome has been sequenced now for almost two decades. Some still believe there are races among humans. There are not. That's a long time to be ignorant. So grouping anyone by "race" is cultural discrimination, and no responsible agency will do that.

And the sequenced genes for SARS-COV2 tell us what we need to know. The important facts are:

1. SARS-COV2 has not been seen in humans before, so it must run through the population to build antibodies and herd immunity before it becomes part of the normal cycle of flu and coronaviruses.

2. SARS-COV2 is an unusually fast spreading virus that kills those with pre-existing conditions almost exclusively. That limits the expected number of deaths to those with pre-existing conditions - a population already at risk from the normal cycle of flus and coronaviruses.

3. The Chinese Communist Party tried to cover it up. Because they did, there was virtually no chance of stopping it from infecting the World in a month or so, except for those nations which had advance notice of SARS-COV2.

4. Sweden's low death rate proves that self quarantine is irrelevant for nations without advance notice. This means that draconian measures that risk economic stability are counter-productive in just about every measure.

@RobBlair As of January, no experts knew anything about this new coronavirus. Now, we know a little about it, but so much misinformation has been circulated and it is getting worse. Rumours, conspiracy theories... many people can't seem to get enough of them.

Doesn't make much of a difference how seriously you take it if you can't work from home and have to cram into public transportation and work as a cashier every day, for example.

@WilyRickWiles That's true.
Yesterday, Japanese PM declared State of Emergency (for the second time I believe), and announced that the Japanese government will provide a 6-trillion-yen ($1 trillion) package for parents, small/medium-sized businesses and freelancers. The UK government has a similar plan. The oppositions are bound to say that it's not enough, but still, it's better than nothing. I hope that the US government is preparing a similar aid.

[asia.nikkei.com]

If only they'd stop whining they'd stop dying from COVID-19!

@WilyRickWiles I understand why the word whining upsets you so much...you do it do much

NOTHING is racist! Never!

Is this reality what equality of opportunity looks like?

@WilyRickWiles - Not really. The opportunity is to be safely confined to home. Not much of an option for people that live paycheck to paycheck. And, for people that live in cities, this winds up being a prison sentence where the cell is the boundary of a small apartment. Nothing racial though. I do think about poorer countries right now that don't even have options for sheltering, testing or advanced medical treatments. India is probably being hit hard right now and they don't have the testing to even know it.

@RobBlair Is it really that wild of a notion that class might be tied up with race in this country?

@RobBlair My friends in India told me about this. Villages are isolating themselves for 14 days in trees to protect their families because they don't have separate rooms in their houses.

@Naomi - good for them. This will work if they can get the virus day 1 and return home to take care of the elderly after developing immunity. I actually thought sending our young adults on spring break for three weeks would have been a good idea for all involved.

@WilyRickWiles - Class tied to race is put to the test by Oprah and the Obamas. Further, Korean-Americans, who had no previous foundation in this country have risen above the economic status of the average American.

@RobBlair A few exceptions do not change the broader disparity. And people do not immigrate to this country as blank slates--they bring their class/wealth with them.

@RobBlair The poverty they're in is beyond comprehension, though... They have no access to health care. They are the very last class to be considered. The caste system is a terrible part of Indian society.

@WilyRickWiles - OK, but I think it is quite a challenge to isolate the external disparity that this country imposes against black people and not against East Asians. Further, when one of the exceptions was duly elected by a majority of this country twice, this external disparity becomes even more puzzling. The other exception is one of the richest most powerful women in the world who came from humble beginnings. What is this external disparity that is keeping black people down in the US (except for a former president, one of the most powerful women in the world, sports stars, actors, etc...)? I'd say that political pandering and victimhood is more likely to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

@RobBlair An election does not magically give millions of people good health, wealth, and connections, nor does it cure every form of racism.

@WilyRickWiles - true but I haven't heard a good reason why a racist country would vote for someone they are racist against. I would go so far as to say that the election shows that racism is marginalized and doesn't play a major part in the evident racial disparity.

@RobBlair That's a pretty simplistic view of racism.

@WilyRickWiles - KISS