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COVID-19 deaths have been going down in most countries. Spain has even been allowing children under 14 to go out for one hour a day -- so David who is 13 and 1/2 would be allowed to go out if we lived in Spain. There is no news on how they will ease restrictions in Romania -- but the death toll here has not been large with at most 30 people dying a day; a lot of them being with terminal diseases (various forms of cancers, leukemia, kidney failure, cirrhosis, etc) with infections likely incurred when going to the hospital to treat those conditions. Normally, about 800 people die every day in Romania. So, a number 30 or under is not a large perturbation to the daily deaths and the number of detected cases are going down. They are, of course, very dependent on how many tests are performed, but it may help with easing restrictions on May 15, when we hope the emergency state will end.

I can't wait for grandma to be free to go outside again -- without fear of huge fines. Like the therapist who treats grandpa says, when one is past 65 (he also past 70), one has few joys and those should not be taken away from them at the whim of a government -- any government.  I can't imagine being cooked up in an apartment all day long today or when I'll be 70. That's one reason we have not moved to England yet -- because dad has not had the time and energy to get a house. I can't see how being inside keeps them safe when the overall well-being a person at that age is very important -- sun, vitamin D, being outside, seeing people they love-- all that is connected to feeling alive and being alive. Of course, one can choose to stay inside and not meet people if it makes them feel safer at this time -- but it should not be an imposition by the government. 

They  had the first person die of COVID-19 from Belint -- it's the village next to Chizatau where we have a house -- the man who died was only 49, but was undergoing dialysis (perhaps he would have lived in normal circumstances). The former mayor who is in his seventies (he has cancer and is undergoing Cytostatic treatment) is also sick. We've met him once when we were trying to fix our electric system -- he had worked as an electrician before becoming interested in politics and still enjoyed small projects on the side. While it was nice to talk to him, our house was too large and had too much work needed at the time. We've heard that he was sick from Tanti Ana who is our next door neighbour. She is our source of news -- only we no longer talk to her in person -- just chat on the phone from time to time. She said several families are in quarantine in Belint and one family has a confirmed case in Chizatau. Belint was very silent today. It's the first time we've driven through Belint when there were no potatoes for sale outside the various gates. Belint is known for its high quality potatoes.

Quarantine by the government done for people entering countries is even worse. One does not have the comfort of familiar belongings. We've heard on the grandpa's radio how children and old people have trouble walking at the end of the 14 day period and they stumble as they go outside. They must understand how it feels to return from space to Earth -- only they don't have the benefit of an astronaut's training.  They are also not as healthy as astronauts to begin with.

The police even shot a person making trouble in a hotel in Bucharest -- after scaring the hotel staff, he attacked the police with some scissors and they shot him six times in the abdomen. He died pretty quickly after that. I've seen police confining people in Zurich -- likely some drug dealer -- several were sitting on one person lying down, but here they don't have the training to do that or even the aim to shot at one's hand and not in lethal locations. Later there was some claim that he was high on drugs. Many people use alcohol and drugs as way to cope with the confinement. We've heard teenagers shopping in the store and exclaiming who they need to be drunk to be inside.

It started raining this week. While rain has been sparse so far, I hope it will help with wheat and vegetable production, and that there will be less hunger because of it. It's been very hot up to now. The earth is dry and cracked. A few weeks ago, Mom and I planted potatoes, onions, tomatoes, radishes, pumpkins, parsely, salad and beans -- a few of the onions, a hand-full of the beans, two or three of the potatoes and more of the radishes came out so far. I am hoping the rain will help more of our seeds survive.

Yesterday we bought twelve new baby chicks and put them under Zburli's daughter -- a red chicken -- half Silky half egg layer.  She had been lying on eggs for a long time with Road Runner (a black hen), but Road Runner either stole or ate her eggs. So to console her, we bought her chicks instead. I am now building an enclosure for her. Road Runner is lying on the left-over eggs to see if anything comes out. Before we put them under the hen, James played with the chicks and put them in water. They did not drawn. I took them out, and mom brought a cloth to cover them. They seem fine today, and pretty happy to have a mother.

Welcome Edwin and Eva Van Goat to the COVID-19 world

 Our goat Edwina gave birth to twins on Easter Sunday. The boy, Edwin van Goat, came first at about 8 p.m on Sunday. His position was correct. Goats are supposed to arrive feet first. David and I assisted Edwina and Grandma. It's the first time we have seen an animal give birth. About 20 minutes later Eva was born. She was positioned head first, and so grandma pulled a little to ease the delivery. The pictures are from when we took them out the next day. We have a nice green area next to our house -- just at the end of the street. People have thrown lots of trash there, but other than that it is very beautiful. There is plenty of grass and trees and some old trains that are surrounded by vegetation. A big apple tree has grown through one of the trains which makes it look like a piece from a movie about life after civilization. Perhaps I will write about the trains later.  Edwin and Eva have grey-bluish eyes -- just like I had as a baby. James and David had darker eyes. However, they change color faster than the eyes of human babies. Eva's eyes have started to turn brown on the outside retaining a circle of blueish-gray on the inside. Baby goats do everything faster -- they walk in the first day, they talk to their mom, and they start nibbling on everything from plants to carpets to figure out what's good and what's not so good.

Since Edwin and Eva were born on Easter some people might say they are sacred and others than that they will bring good luck. I am hoping their birthday might keep them safe from people -- who would most likely want to eat them. Edwina is very proud of them, and James imitates the communication between her and the twins. He sounds pretty similar to me.

People like Edwin and Eva for now because they are so cute. The person guarding the car repair place next door wanted to take pictures with them to send to his sister in Germany. He had a Samsung phone on which you could type -- likely one of the first generation, but it had a surprisingly good camera. We took the pictures for him. Technically, it would not have been allowed given the country is in emergency state. Everyone is supposed to keep to themselves and not talk to anyone else and definitely not touch other people's things -- phone can have lots of viruses as they are touched by both hands and mouths -- the dirtiest parts of the human body as far as germs are concerned. He told us he is old -- about 43 -- and has two children who have children themselves. He lives at work now. I did not ask what happened to his wife or to his front teeth -- as they've gone missing. Mom says we should be nice and listen to people, but not ask questions -- especially about their private lives. The next day, he assured us he was healthy and brought us a red Easter egg, a piece of cake, and some new T-shirts, which he received as charity, but were small for him. Every time I see kindness it makes me feel better about the world.

In the olden days I would have written sooner, and the post would have had a different tone. But today it almost feels wrong to be glad or happy.

Edwina, Caprioara (front), and us with Edwin and Eva

Trump :: kill Coronavirus with light or by injecting disinfectant inside the body?

It is the latest news from the US. Please don't try this at home. Many disinfectants are poisonous and hospitals have enough to deal with at the moment.

They say the clown is the first to tell the truth at the king's court. 

While other countries keep people indoors, here is a president voting for sunshine. I strongly hope he doesn't mean nuclear bombs to get a stronger source of light...

When he talks about injecting disinfectant inside the body, he's on the same page with the dictator of Belarus who suggested treating Coronavirus with good old Vodka. Great minds think alike. 

In order to tell the truth, a dictator must be free. Democracy has curtailed dictator freedom to the point that they can't speak their mind, they don't speak freely and make no original decisive contribution to running the country. To their credit, vodka as a coronavirus respiratory tract desinfectant might work better than breathing machines, who appear to have a significant detrimental impact on survival despite their extreme cost and widespread use. 

Elon Musk also came under fire for sourcing less invasive and vastly cheaper breathing machines that, in my view, also seem less deadly than the famous respirators everyone scrambles to get. 

And yet, as little love and care as rotating the patient to lie on the stomach once in a while seems to also increase survival more than respirators do.

Preliminary results from antibody tests: Austrian village immune?

Antibody tests find 50% immunity in Austrian village and the local doctor suggests their last flu wave was COVID-19. While they claim that antibody tests are 100% accurate, there is still some cross-checking needed to see that this is true.
 
IF it is, it means COVID-19 is more widespread, and the mortality is not as high as claimed (likely closer to that of the flu or it would not have been mistaken for flu -- perhaps 0.1-0.2% like Stanford and Mihai suggest). Note that because it is a new virus even a 0.1% to 0.2% death rate can cause what happened in Lombardy and NY -- since everybody is affected at once, and this is disastrous in large cities.

A crusade against children? Popular decisions.

We are some of the lucky ones. We have a yard, but there are few like us around the world. As I look outside the window I see two long ears, and two yellow-brownish eyes. Is it a zombie? David is afraid of zombies because he watched too many horror movies in school. I am not. Oh, no, it's eating the wall! It is Edwina, our goat! And, no, she is not a zombie, we just forgot to buy her Calcium before the lock-down and she is now adjusting herself to the measures by eating our wall instead.

There is no school now. Today it's popular to lock children in. We have no essential responsibility and it's debatable if we should be allowed to move or exercise. In Spain, the country we used to love to visit and where Mom had been pre-selected for a faculty position just before the COVID-19 disaster, children have not been outside for the past six weeks. They have not been allowed to go out for any reason. BUT in a little under 10 days from now, the Spanish prime-minister has promised to relax the rules and let children out carefully -- but only those under the age of 12 or so is reported by BBC news. This means that I would be allowed out, carefully, but not David because he has made the mistake of being 13 and 1/2. David and I have our difference especially because David believes the world is against him. Of course, he does not see that he gets more and more annoying with every day that passes. Mom says it's part of being a teenager. Egypt is also releasing some people from their homes -- but only if they are between 20 and 65. So, while I've wanted to visit Egypt and see the pyramids, both David and I would still be locked-in there -- if we had been allowed to travel in the first place.

But is David right? Does the world have something against children? and against teenagers? and perhaps against young adults, too? When one looks for an apartment to rent, people prefer childless couples or single individuals who are older, but childless. When we used to rent in Switzerland and mom listed me on the form, we got (and lived in) an apartment that that was scheduled to be demolished after we moved out and later one in a building that would be completely refurbished/modernized immediately after our lease would end.  So, in the midst of this pandemic, do our leaders make popular decisions that are backed up by hatred? After all they had difficulty in taking decisions in peace-time and to determine what a helpful decision is during a pandemic is hard. And they want to be popular and want to stay in power. 

In addition to disliking children, people also hate foreigners. So, all countries closed borders first. Some now allow Eastern Europeans to come on scheduled flights as temporary workers -- a modern form of slavery -- at a time when they cannot work or even leave the house in their own countries. Everybody needs money to survive. So, parents and sometimes even grandparents leave their families to work abroad now more than ever because they cannot work at home. Foreigners are OK as long as they are a form of slaves that are kept away from the locals who help by sitting in their homes and doing nothing.

Will this hatred fade and be hidden again? Or will it erupt in a war that lasts for years? Isn't it dangerous to feed the hatred? In movies, it turns you into zombies, but what does it do in real life? So, far the idea is that 'we' sacrifice in the name of this pandemic where obesity is the primary co-morbid condition -- for those who die or develop a form that is severe enough to enter the ICU -- and most often only those in ICU are counted and the numbers used to lock us all inside instead of looking at a random sample of the population as a whole. Yet, obesity in children and adults is partly caused by staying inside, not moving enough and by eating too much -- often because one has nothing else to do. One is allowed to briefly walk animal companions -- around the house and it feels that children have fewer rights than pets throughout the world. When locked inside for months we might end-up mistrusting all forms of authority and especially the police, and perhaps even pull out the floor boards or jump from the tenth floor or fight and abuse and be abused in turn by the adults around us -- physically and verbally-- because there is no other way to be inside that long and be good and quiet unless we are glued to a screen. Screens are a way to make children seen but not heard.

The media keeps writing that quarantines, restrictions and the tracking of people through their phones should last until a vaccine is found and that this will take years. Will we ever be free? Or will we turn into a form of zombies because of these measures and because of addiction to technology? how could parents limit screen time when children are not allowed to go out? And later will we then fight each other in a real war with guns, too? But I forget, some of the children of Spain will be allowed outside carefully if they are under 12 and this should console them. Perhaps the world is turning into a big Zoo with people inside. Or will it be one huge China? or a digital gulag pioneered by Russia? until our leaders who could never take right decisions before find a way out?

I've read about the plague. It said it was transmitted by fleas, and that the world dealt with the issue by killing all the dogs and cats they could find -- tens and tens of thousands in London alone. They were people hired to do this and then the rats multiplied and went on to spread and spread the plague. Will the measures taken today that divide the world, eventually, be just as effective at destroying people as the killing of the dogs and cats was back then? When we have a problem, mom tells me and David to work together. Why can't adults do this? they already say nobody should go to college next year because there are bigger problems. Will there be universities for me and David to attend? and what will happen next as a result of these measures? hunger? war? where and how extended? 

How deadly is the coronavirus? 0.2% upper bound: supported by preliminary results

Preliminary results from antibody tests are in. They confirm my 0.2% upper bound for the Coronavirus mortality rate, that I have predicted in early March and first published on March 15.

A new study from Stanford, based on antibody tests, puts the death rate between 0.12% and 0.2%. 

They are consistent with results from Heinsberg, Germany where they found 15% of 254000 were infected and 54 died, which means the death rate was 0.14%.

In Italy, Lombardy gives a death rate of about 0.11% at almost 11000 deaths from 10 million people. This is also consistent with the above, and the new cases in Italy appear to happen mostly in other areas.

 

While more tests need to be performed before a peer-review article is published, these numbers give us hope of not having to live in a new 'normal' as WHO and the rest of the media suggest -- a form of quarantine that goes and comes and lasts for years, i.e., until a vaccine appears. Such a regime would increase poverty, panic and hunger to an unprecedented level world-wide and lead to a form of digital gulag where democracy and personal freedom are in-existent. 

A 0.1-0.2% death rate means that a lot more of the population is infected than the number of cases reported (almost 100 times more). This gives the world a shot at herd immunity and would mean that quarantine will not become a way of life as suggested by the media. It also implies that invasive methods like the tracing of contacts are ineffective and unnecessary at this stage in the pandemic because the virus has already spread. Herd immunity is then already achieved in Lombardy and in NY, and Spain, France and the UK are well on their way towards herd immunity as well.

Could it be that COVID-19 burned through all of China at 0.1-0.2% mortality and was 'missed' as they were looking for a 5% mortality bug? They have not had a second wave of COVID-19. Antibody tests could tell us the answer....

Guns: one step closer?

Fox news reports that multiple sources found that "patient zero" worked in a Wuhan lab on a natural occurring strain of the coronavirus that came from bats to humans and spread in the general population. The information is still uncertain. However, official blaming of China for the virus and the tragedy that followed will bring the US and the rest of the world closer to a war with China. 

The danger is that both US and China are very powerful, and both are now under military dictatorships. Such accusations if proven could cause a war with guns and nuclear weapons as well -- it would cheaper for China than paying the world for the damage caused by the COVID-19 infection.   However it started, the infection happened, and it is now a burden that must be shouldered by the whole world working together...a world that needs to understand this bug and find ways to move on.

The germ has gotten brilliant?

I will not say much because the video says it all.  I would, however, like to remind readers that antibiotics have never worked against viruses. They do work against infections -- which can be caused by viruses.  The moral might be to let younger people lead and to not have presidents who should be retired and suffer from dementia and other pre-existent conditions.

Deportation of people positive to COVID-19: a different kind of bomb?

ABC news reports that 75% of migrants deported to Guatemala tested positive to COVID-19. Overall, Guatemala currently has only 200 cases and some 7 deaths. The US deportations can easily be responsible for such numbers. 

Now, how would the US feel if their citizens were jailed in foreign lands, infected on purpose with a novel disease and then sent home to cause a pandemic? It is not fair to force countries to accept infected individuals while forbidding free people from flying.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Italy also freed Romanians from Italian jails and sent them home — sick with COVID-19.

Again, if a country puts someone in jail, they become their problem. This means the country that jails them has the duty to pay for the jail — and for food, medical care, ventilators, if needed. The insemination of the citizens of another country with a virus and sending them home to spread it, is criminal.  To put this in perspective, since there is a 15 year jail sentence for private citizens who spread COVID-19 in Romania, equivalent penalties should apply to countries who deport people that spread the virus.

In general, if a country places somebody in jail during a pandemic, they should keep them. It does not matter where they were born. It is not fair to only keep the PhD students.

First nuclear tests of World War III?

China may have conducted low level nuclear test blasts.

If the nuke is real, what is the military dictatorship in China getting ready for? And how will the military dictatorship of the US respond?

If it is not real, what would be the purpose of such rumors? Can someone respond with something real to a fake rumor?

Everyone is so optimistic that the Third World War is going to be just against the virus. Peace, no guns, just death by virus and respirators. But will it be so?

An opinion from near the grave

I have been a military doctor all my life. I’ve looked death in the eye before — both on my own and together with my patients. The military hospital in Timisoara was at the centre of the Romanian revolution in 1989. Before the revolution, Romania was run by special police/security officers who were led by the KGB and in many ways, the same group of people remained in power after 1989. 

At the time, I whole heartedly believed in the Revolution. I was almost two years younger than my son is today. I had perfect eyesight, steady aim, and always came best in target shooting competitions, which increased my popularity with the young soldiers. It made sense to me that the communism regime, which relied on special forces that openly used arrest, murder and torture to convince the population to do their bidding, had to end like it was ending in nearby countries. 

In December 1989, seemingly overnight, these very powerful officers were branded as terrorists. Many were loyal to the old regime and were trying to stop the revolution. There were active agents and also plenty of hidden agents (or “cans” - agenti conserva) who become active at times of need. When the revolution started, both the military and the special forcers received the order to shoot in the un-armed crowd in Timisoara and later in Bucharest. General Milea, who was minister of defence, sent military troops to Timisoara without ammunition when ordered to erase Timisoara from the face of the Earth and when ordered to shoot to ‘flatten’ the crowd in Bucharest, he refused. He said that the duty of the army was to protect the citizens of the country it served and not to murder them. He was tortured and killed for this defiance, and while his death was, officially, reported as suicide, plenty of the details from the torture leaked to make others afraid of disobeying orders.

While the army refused to shoot, the special forces dressed as civilians executed the order — shooting, first, they said at foot level. The protests that had been peaceful before turned dangerous. People believed in making change happen, and were out with their children. The ‘mercy’ shoots turned small children into victims of the revolution. 

Later, reports came that some of the special forces were shooting into the crowd from the attic of the military hospital — my place of work. The director of the hospital was like many of those in charge: in dual service - part director and part in the secret service, but not openly.  He was afraid of losing power, and did not like me because I was new, I was popular with those below me and I was not involved with the ‘old’ order like most of the others. I was also intelligent having been first nation-wide when admitted to military school. It would have been impossible for him to be in charge of the military hospital without having a good relationship with both the KGB and communist party. So, with the hope of getting rid of me, they ordered me to go check the attic alone. I had a pistol, but that would have been relatively little firepower compared to the terrorists. I needed more. There were a lot of armed soldiers in the yard. I told a dozen of them to follow me. I walked first and ordered the soldiers to have their guns ready and walk behind me. I told them that, if a terrorist opens fire, they should fire back, and if they hit me, by mistake, to not be scared and fight on. We found about a dozen terrorists. Due to our superior firepower (criminals are, generally, cowards), the terrorists did not attempt to resist. They surrendered all their guns, peacefully. We searched them, took them prisoners and put them in the jail of the hospital.  The next day, my boss gave them their guns back and set them free. He also asked me to hand in my gun. I told him that I would shoot him first and that I slept with the pistol under my pillow every night. 

There was one man who was shot in front of the hospital. He had bullet in the pectoral muscle, outside the ribcage, in the armpit region. My boss ordered him to be transferred to the central civilian hospital. There were rumours that the special security forces were executing patients there. Other hospitals refused to send their patients and would even place them in anaesthesia to claim they were not transportable. At the time, we did not know for sure, but, later, the rumours proved true. Patients would come in the central hospital with a bullet in the arm or leg, and receive a gunshot to the head. Their bodies were then sent to be burned in Bucharest. I had to weigh the risk to this patient’s life posed by hospital admission against the benefit of anaesthesia and a surgery performed by a qualified surgeon. It wasn’t an easy decision, and I had 10 seconds to make it. Also, either way, I could be wrong — and I could be judged as wrong, even if I was right. The wound didn’t look too bad. He was bleeding, but an acceptable amount. The bullet was inside. It should have been removed. Thus, I asked a few soldiers to hold the man down. I used some sterile long-nose pliers to remove the bullet. It was painful, but quick and clean. The wound was small and the bleeding wasn’t critical. I left it open to drain, should an infection occur, gave the man some antibiotics and sent him home. A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived. They ended up taking another patient who had been on the surgical table at the time. If I had not acted, they would have taken both men. 

As a doctor, in a time of war, one has to make such decisions. I never saw the man again, but a reporter came to talk to me soon after it became clear than the same people would remain in power, and asked me to denounce those who were guilty. I felt I was buying my life through silence and that with the same people in power I could not save his. I told him I honour his work and his sacrifice, but that I had two young children, and wanted to live to see them grow. He made no recording and left. Many of those in his recordings who denounced the guilty were hunted and killed by the special forces who were holding onto power. One of the men walked into my office and told me he would be killed if he stayed in the hospital. I signed his papers, and escorted him to the front door. We heard he died a few days later. The reporter disappeared, too. His bones were found in a nearby forest. Since virtually the same community remained in power, the changes were small at first, but, eventually, the borders opened and my children became citizens of the world. 

In the military, always, the main objective is to have as many people as possible that are healthy and fit for service. The goal is to have as many soldiers as possible ready for work or fight tomorrow. Today, there is a form of war turned backwards. Suddenly, all freedom is gone. Now I am old and frail. I travel between my wheelchair and the bed, and for me, death would be a form of release. Yet, I am not free to go outside in my wheelchair -- unless it's between 11 and 1 -- how every old person going out in the same time helps is beyond my imagination. I could receive a fine that starts at 2000 lei (about 400 Euros) for exiting the house. Given the current state of my health, I could easily die of COVID-19. I have had a stroke, and six years prior to it, I had open heart surgery. I lie in bed most of the day. My death is not a tragedy. Death for me would be a release from pain and struggle. Do not cry for me and do not take me to the hospital should I fall into a coma. I cannot even swallow water — and could not swallow liquids well since Christmas -- but my wife gives me lots of fruit instead. My chance of survival is higher at home — at the hospital one often goes in with one virus, and comes out with several.

Since it was clearly shown that the COVID-19 virus has spread in all countries around the world and that at least 50% of people are asymptomatic, there is no longer a reason to keep borders closed,  track people through their phone for more efficient lock-in or to lock people in at all. People should be trained to deal as best as they can with this problem. Sure, use common sense, ban large gatherings, don't spit or cough on each other, wash hands, maintain distance, educate people, etc, AND train people to help.

World-leadership has been problematic for many years. Politicians (and I don't mean just in Romania -- but worldwide) are old (plenty are 70+ or late 60s) and are like kings and queens used to be before. They are no longer there because they are talented and can do the job. Sure, some are talented -- especially if they are women because it's harder for women to make it to the top -- but those who are talented are few. Unfortunately, this is true in most other sectors as well -- medicine, science, industry. Everywhere there are some pockets of people who do well, but, overall, leadership is faulty. In times of peace and 'democracy', people hide all these faults behind huge veils of bureaucracy. It's natural for vaccines to take very long to develop. It's natural for missions to take tens of years because 'we' constantly fire our best people or send them back home after training them (i.e., in the US -- in Europe, 'we' often fail to train them in the first place). So, it's not surprising that there are no numbers one can rely on and that the response to this pandemic has been faulty. But locking people in like they did in the middle ages cannot be the answer to improving the response to the pandemic once it's known that the virus has spread -- and we do know that. Such measures will increase the depression the world has plunged in, give power to extremes, and very soon cause more violence and destruction than the virus itself. We are already seeing violent responses in India, in Africa, and violence will extend to the 'civilised' world if there is not a step-by-step return to life and normalcy.

OK, so how about people who have pre-existent conditions? The old, the ill and the frail like me? (Note that there are plenty of people who are young and suffer from obesity, high blood pressure, etc who are high risk cases as well) I fought for freedom all my life, and I would never want my death to be used as an excuse to imprison others. For me, there is nothing left to gain. Life in bed and between bed and wheelchair does not have sufficient value to be worth protecting. In situations like this, the doctors should focus their resources on patients worth saving. There some young people who have an extraordinary reaction to COVID-19 or have pre-existent conditions that would not be fatal otherwise. If they survive the infection, they might return and make a difference in the world.

Historically, war is always claiming to save lives -- to save the world from some great evil. It never works this way. World War I (also known as the war to end all wars) claimed to be saving the world from the huns. Instead, it plunged the world into such a depression that it caused World War II, which had the same purpose -- to save us from the huns -- since it worked so well once, why not try again? Throughout this period, leaders perfected concentration camps. So, when WWII ended, they turned half of Europe into a form of prison that lasted for some 50 years. Now -- in this war with the virus -- people everywhere are locked-into their own homes and Russia wants to perfect digital lock-down, which should be easy to do given all the technology. Locking people into their own homes has been shown to work so well that it has been/has to be used by those who want power -- they'd be stupid not to just like with the concentration camps. Will quarantine become a way of life while claiming they save people like me? They say a vaccine can take two years -- if one is optimistic -- and that various forms of oppression should last this long. Ultimately, having key workers function without the rest of the economy is an empty dream because the rest of the economy fuels the key workers. The economy is already collapsing worldwide under current measures. They cannot last.

I have seen my children grow up. I’ve seen them go to America and succeed in life. I’ve seen them play a part -- not the smallest — in research that led to a Nobel prize in 2017. I’ve seen my grandchildren skip years in school and write books. I’ve been around the world. I’ve lived my life. Before I die, I would like to see my grandchildren and my children free to leave the house again. I want to know them safe. I want to know the borders are open. I want to listen to children’s stories on the radio that have their happy ending, and see extended family and friends. I don't want other people to make choices for me to keep me safe. I want to see people help each other and make life happen elsewhere.  My life is sad. Start new happy lives instead.  I don’t want the world plunged into war through economic tragedies induced by claiming they are trying to keep people like me alive or keep us safe. I don't care if I am safe or not and I don't believe the claim is true, anyhow; it's a thirst for power that is overwhelming the world yet again and it is hiding behind this virus while gripping the world harder and harder until there is no return, but I like happy endings and I want to believe leaders are trying their best in responding to this pandemic.

Truth from Belarus

In this strange world, the President of Belarus, dictator Alexander Lukashenko is the only head of state -- other than Angela Merkel -- telling his people the truth about COVID-19. He told his people

"Not a single person had died from the coronavirus in our country. Not a single one! They died from a bouquet of chronic diseases, which they had. Coronavirus is not even a push, it is the atmosphere in which their chronic diseases develop."

Mr Lukashenko, I publicly agree with you! I never thought the day would come when I agreed with a dictator.

As of April 14, Belarus has 3281 cases of COVID-19 and 33 deaths associated with the virus. Like everywhere else, the people who died were either old or otherwise close to their natural end of life, due to age and pre-existent conditions.

There seems to be surprisingly little under-counting. I would expect 100 000 - 200 000 cases today. They have a reasonable testing volume — twice that of Ukraine. They report 4% of tests are positive in Belarus compared to 15% in Italy and 10% in Germany and 20% in the US. 

I hope they will hold-on to this mindset and not follow Russia in their proposed cyber-gulag.

 

Truth from Iceland

Iceland has been testing heavily. They tested 10% of their population - this is more than every country in the world, except Faeroe Islands. Tests are freely available to everyone.  

Iceland now has about 1700 people infected and 8 deaths.

But what should the numbers be for the whole country?

Well... if we assume the tested and untested individuals have the same infection rate, we get 17 000 people infected today. If I use my estimate, 0.2% of that would be 34 dead -- we might see Iceland reaching that number in the next week or so. 

So far the numbers are consistent with my 0.2% upper bound on deaths. Sure, a good portion of the untested people are infected as well.

Italy — a lower bound

Lombardy has reported 10911 COVID-19 deaths out of 10 million people. Thus, 0.11% of the population. It’s half-way to my 0.2% upper bound and the spread does seem to stop. Comparisons between deaths from this year with previous years shows up to a factor of two at the peak of the epidemic. This is still within my 0.2% estimate. If my estimate is correct, Lombardy should have reached herd immunity and not experience a second wave of COVID-19.

The data also has anomalies, which have to be studied and understood. In some areas, the total number of deaths during the pandemic was 1%. Overall, I believe this must be an isolated case, perhaps based on a aging population or some sort of medical accident where people who shouldn’t die, died— maybe they sent too many people with mild symptoms to hospital infecting and/or overwhelming medical staff instead of allowing people to recover at home, etc. Maybe. Maybe not. All these are suppositions at this point.

A 1% death rate would be consistent to the data from the Diamond Princess and South Korea. That’s scary. In Italy, it’s still just a few villages. It would also mean China doesn’t have herd immunity. I hold that as unlikely. One should test the hypothesis. A 1% death rate would mean, Wuhan should have either had 100 000 deaths (hard to hide even in China) or expect a 2nd wave of infection —it does not seem to be happening as of yet. If this is true, it also probably means we will all be stuck in quarantine forever -- maybe with a brief break in summer. I still would not support quarantine as a way of life.

After a month in lockdown ...

There is a raging madman behind me! I write while holding a broom under my elbow for protection. It's David! We've been in lockdown for a month. Since school is closed, David and I fight more. Also, it's been raining all day today. 

I had a brief escape from lockdown. I went to the market with mom this morning. I go with her to help her carry things. David does not like the market. He prefers fancy stores. The last time we went was about a month ago -- just before the lockdown, and after the mayor of Lugoj entered the market in person and asked people to raise their hand if they wanted it to stay open. Since almost everyone raised their hand, he let it stay open while markets in nearby cities and villages closed. People were afraid then. They spoke in whispers and told us about the visit of the mayor. They did not know what will happen next -- if the visit of the mayor only delayed the closing and the market will be closed after all and if the city will be severely affected by COVID-19 or not. Both now and then almost all people selling had masks on, gloves and the produce was covered with a plastic foil for protection -- it is still pick your own, but one has to stick their hand under the foil for that. The foil offers some protection by stopping spit particles from falling on the produce. Not all customers have gloves or masks because they are difficult to find. This is also why, when they do find them, they reuse them -- usually/hopefully after some form of cleaning.

Today people were angry. You could feel the anger vibrating from them and hear the lockdown referred to as the "corona-madness". They did not agree with being kept prisoners for yet another month. They wanted to be free and it felt they would soon be ready to protest if their freedom was taken from them for much longer with no plan for when it will all end or how beyond a "we don't know". If I said that in school, I'd get a bad grade. They'd say I did not know because I did not try hard enough to find out. I have very high grades -- 9.8 GPA out of 10 -- because I read a lot, and can find answers on the spot to all sorts of questions better than my teachers. They also never give me a whole month to prepare. However, leaders can make all sorts of mistakes and then say "I don't know" or "I didn't know".  It is not fair and other people seem to agree with me.

On the way home, we were stopped by police twice. They asked us for our written declaration, which included the name, date of birth, and the path one takes -- it has to either be shopping at nearby facilities (theoretically, once a week), taking an animal companion out (near the house) or an emergency. The police officer who stopped us on the way to the market read mom's name from the declaration. Mom explained where we were going, and he let us go. On the way back, they just touched the declaration and let us go. They seemed a bit afraid as well. They must have felt the anger rising, too. 

When we got home mom read the news. She does that a lot and then worries. She told us that Putin declared he'll close Moscow -- i.e., turn it into a cyber gulag or a big prison enforced by the phone with a screw tightening to take away the little freedom people have at the discretion of their leader. Will they try this in Moscow? and then turn the rest of the world into a digital prison, too? after all, China exported its quarantine methods to the rest of the world. How long will the prison be there? Will it be forever? I learned in history the whole of Eastern Europe was a prison for 50 years or so and nobody did anything to stop the madness. Anyone could denounce anybody else as being "the enemy of the people" and they could be tortured and killed. When children denounced their parents, they were declared "heroes" by the party. We walk by a street that used to be closed -- its end turned into a place for torture -- every day. In the past, there was a high wall at the end of it. One could hear people scream in pain from behind the wall as one went by. People who are more imaginative like David wonder if their souls come back there at night and scream again to remind us that nobody helped or tried to save them without meeting the same fate.

Are there raging madmen on the prowl? are they the leaders of the world? Putin, Xi, Trump, Netanyahu? Are seeking refuge from corruption behind the curtain of this virus that will later turn into a heavier curtain of oppression, war and destruction? Are they doing this because they are afraid for their own lives and afraid of losing their hold on power? Could such people really want the well-being of others? Could we choose to be free again like people did in our small city when they kept the market open? when? how?

Lower numbers in Eastern Europe because of the mandatory BCG vaccine?

Research suggests that the BCG against tuberculosis, which is mandatory in countries like Romania and most of Eastern Europe, trains the immune system to respond to a variety of infections. Over the years, it was observed to sharply reduce the incidence of respiratory infections and cut the neonathal mortality by 40% for low weight babies.  Similar results were seen for the elderly. Ten days ago a clinical trial began in the Netherlands that is testing the BCG vaccine on healthcare workers to see if it reduces the time they are unwell due to the coronavirus. MIT wants to start its own clinical trials in Boston. Unfortunately, results won't be available for a few months. 

This vaccine could be a reason why Eastern Europe might never see the death rate observed in Western Europe or the US -- if this vaccine significantly reduces the chance of upper respiratory tract infection for the coronavirus as well. 

In Northern Italy, almost 70% of the 60 volunteers for blood donation test positive to COVID-19 antigens

In Northern Italy, 60 volunteers reported to donate blood -- all feeling/appearing healthy. Reddit reports 40 of them had positive antigen tests to COVID-19. This means that they had been infected by COVID-19, and were in the process of healing without knowing because they were asymptomatic. This gives hope that the number of asymptomatic patients is much larger than previously believed, and that the drop in the death-rate in Northern Italy could be because herd immunity has been reached. This might also mean that the mortality is much lower than the 1% scientists seem to be oscillating around and definitely lower than WHO's 3%. Perhaps Mihai's 0.2% is an upper bound after all.

Of course, 60 is a small number, but if blood tests are performed on a larger segment of the population like Germany proposes -- to choose 100 000 random people from a big city -- then they could determine whether quarantine should continue or not. There is also the question of how long it takes to develop antibodies vs. antigen to the virus even when the infection is asymptomatic. Given the increase in the power of the mafia in Southern Italy, and the fact that the numbers are dropping, Italy needs to plan a way out of this, while relying on antigen/antibody data from some relatively large random selection of people and NOT on apparent statistics done on patients who enter ICU, whose average age is in the early 60s. Beyond Easter, it seems reasonable to continue to quarantine elderly people and those with heath conditions, but leave the rest to slowly restart their lives while maintaining social distancing as much as possible.

I thank my long term collaborator -- Jayashree Balakrishna -- for pointing this article out. 

Discussions with neighbours and friends -- part 3

We went to Chizatau (a village near Lugoj where I own a house) because neighbours called to say our door was wide open. Apparently, some of the non-working younger people had a form of feast, which is not allowed in this period, but some people think they have nothing to lose. They got drunk and decided to break into people's homes. The lock and the door of the neighbour on the other side was broken. Nothing was taken from our place, but the door had been left wide open, and our next door neighbour tided it with a piece of string. I put an extra lock on the door. If they really want to they can jump over the gate or break the lock, but it's harder to do when drunk and I wanted to show I care. With this opportunity (one can travel but only for emergency situations), I spoke with some of the neighbours.

Next door neighbour; former hair-dresser, now in his early eighties: It is spring now. Each spring new life appears -- including new diseases. I put a shawl behind my back when I work in the garden even when it's warm because it can be windy. Then when I go inside for a break, I drink hot tea and hot soup too, if I am sick. And, if worse comes to worse, at my age, I keep a candle nearby.  My life has not changed much -- other that my family cannot come visit me now; they used to help a bit -- I spend most of my time at home since I work in the garden and it takes time to make plants grow. But for people who live in apartments -- to lock them inside like birds in cages -- it's awful and unheard off, and to do this everywhere in the world....

Neighbour around the corner -- she is a retired school secretary in her late sixties. She lives with her mother who is in her late eighties. [She is a practical lady whose father was the builder in the village; he had built many of the nicer houses and many of the stone structures that cover the graves in the graveyard, too; he passed away two or three years ago.] People from abroad have returned and have no jobs, and no right to any money from the government. So, they are starting to steal and it should only get worse. Take care of yourselves and of all those animals you have. Five chickens were stolen from the neighbour across the street. He lives alone. I now read the local news online. They said that across the police station from Lugoj somebody tried breaking into the bank to steal the ATM. They first broke into the next-door store and tried to cut through the wall -- and failed, this time. We've started making bread at home to limit our trips to the store. Do you know how to make bread without much yeast? None can be found in stores. Then a discussion with my mom on how to leave a bit of bread mixture from one bread to another followed. We also order food by phone to help some restaurants survive this crisis. They bring it to the door.

Grandma answers questions

Since we won't be able to visit the US this year, the children wrote a number of questions for their US grandma and grandpa. Below are the questions and answers. 

Grandma: Wow! There are good questions here. I will take them one by one. The questions are in Italics and the answers in regular font. Hope this is helpful.

1. What effect did COVID-19 have on your family?  e.g., can you visit Great-Grandma? how is she? can you meet with Owen and Josh? [Owen and Josh are their cousins in the US. Great-Grandma is in her early nineties and lives in a facility with other elderly people.] We heard about the virus in late January/early February. There was a video on the internet of people in Australia buying up a lot of toilet paper and we wondered if that was going to happen here. I made sure to pick up some extra groceries (including toilet paper) and on March 10th we went to the grocery store for a big shopping trip to restock our pantry. At that point, there was still some toilet paper on the shelves but cleaning supplies (especially disinfectant wipes) were scarce. After that, I went to one more exercise class on a Thursday and then to the library to volunteer on Friday. Starting March 13, things changed and we have only been out to get fresh groceries. We cannot visit Great Grandma but the place that she lives has set up a way to video chat. She has a phone in her room and still gets mail. We have been to New Hampshire twice but have not seen Josh and Owen in person. I chat with Owen online and we have video chatted but until the weather gets nicer and we can meet outdoors, we/they will not visit in person.

 2. What effect did COVID-19 have on your neighbourhood? did businesses disappear? One nice effect of the virus is that we see our neighbours when we take our daily walks. Everyone maintains social distancing. Many of the adults are working from home but there are a few people who do have to go to work. One is a pharmacist. We appreciate everyone who is still providing essential services. Schools closed here March 16th and within a few days an online schedule was in place for school work. Families without a computer were given a device and the cable company installed services for free. The school continues to provide daily lunch for those families that need them. Most of the local restaurants are offering take out food. I think that there will be restaurants that will close because of this but for the time being they are adjusting to take out only and fewer hours.

Did the library close? are people scared of each other? and of you? are you afraid of people now? [Note: Grandma is part of the leadership of the local library] We made the decision to close the library until further notice on March 14. We were going to try to stay open a little longer but did not want to expose our staff or patrons to the chance of catching the virus. Most of the libraries in our area closed at the same time. A few have staff reporting but that is because of union rules. As long as people respect social distancing, nobody seems afraid. That said, we live in the country and have a lot of personal space. Now that masks are being recommended for everyone (asymptomatic people can shed the virus and spread it), I think that keeps the fear down.

3.  Do you know of anyone who died or was seriously ill with COVID-19 or thought they had COVID-19? I am only aware of one person, the daughter of a friend, who has the disease. She is young, lives in NYC, and developed symptoms after she had been home for 11 days. There are less than 70 cases in our county. We are fortunate to not be close to NYC.

4. Do you think industry should have closed world-wide? do people still buy tractors in NH? I think that anything that is non essential should be closed. If our government had taken this seriously after the first warning, the spread would have been so much less. While it is important to build the herd immunity, it seems there could have been much less disruption if masks, social distancing, etc. had been implemented much earlier. Matt is still going to work, this is a busy time of year for farmers. I am not sure if people are buying new tractors but farm equipment needs maintenance and repair. There are service trucks that will do onsite repair and work can be done at Townline. 

5. Do you think that roughly the same measures should be applied world-wide? Africa, India, Europe, the US? Louisiana vs NY? also even within NYC? Strict social distancing, shelter in place, and stay at home orders should be done as much as possible. Places here in the US that did not do it early will now see their numbers increase. 

Should the rich and poor neighbourhoods be treated the same way? can the poor not work and still eat? even in the US. If the effort to stop spreading this is to work, it must apply to everyone. Food banks and other programs are working hard to help out people that have lost their jobs. Some restaurants are providing free food. It is still going to be harder on the people with fewer resources. 

6. Do you think schools should have closed everywhere because of COVID-19? for the rich and for the poor? Yes, maybe the young are at less risk of serious illness but they could spread it to their older or immunocompromised or otherwise unwell family members. Since a person can share this virus during the incubation period or if they are infected but COVID positive, it is much more difficult.

Can schools be a way to escape abuse and have a meal? Unfortunately, for some children this is true. Schools continue to supply meals and offer support services. Hopefully, families that need this help will take it. 

Is the place where Aunt Emily volunteers closed? [Aunt Emily works at an agency that helps abused women] The agency that Aunt Emily works for has victim advocates that are working remotely. Their shelter is open. Everyone is aware that the stress of home confinement can escalate tense situations and support networks are doing their best to help their clients and families. 

7. How did you shopping habits change since COVID-19? Did your local stores run out of products? do stores keep people at the door? do they limit what you can buy? Grandpa goes to the grocery store about once a week. The paper and cleaning products shelves are still pretty bare but are resupplied regularly. Fresh fruits and vegetables are in good supply. One local grocery chain has installed plexiglass shields for the clerks. Everyone maintains the 6 foot distance. I think toilet paper might be limited but so far everything else is readily available.

8. How many of the people you know still work? how many are unemployed because of COVID-19? which professions? Pretty much the only people that we know that are still working are in the medical profession- doctors, pharmacist. One neighbour works for a local food bank.

9. Should families not be allowed to meet during pandemics? At this point, with medical resources so strained, no reliable treatment, and the unpredictability of the virulence (some people get the sniffles, others overwhelming pneumonia) in healthy people, it is safer to remain apart. Like I said before, once the weather is nicer it may be possible to meet outdoors. Of course, still maintaining social distancing.

10.  Do you agree with the measures taken? Yes, but I wish our government had acted on the information more quickly. In Washington State and California, where the measures taken were more drastic, the numbers are much less. You might find this article interesting. Not to be too political, but the US has totally incompetent leadership at this time. This is being treated in an unethical manner, more as a money making enterprise for Trump and his family/cronies. It didn't have to be this way. 

COVID-19 world: discussions with neighbours and friends - unsafe at home - part 2

I spent the morning taking to my favourite neighbour across the street. Tanti Lena is a gypsy in her eighties. She is very proud of her heritage. Today she did house cleaning -- all the windows, all the floors, and the furniture were shinny, and the air was fresh. My house looks awful by comparison because instead of doing housecleaning I write -- and also, they have newer things in theirs and no children in the house for most of the year. She gave me food she had cooked earlier today which was left because she expected her great-grandchildren (three girls in their early teens; they live with her and her daughter in another house) to come, and they did not show up. I gave her fresh eggs from our chickens in exchange.  She told me that she was worried a war with guns might be brewing, that things are no longer all right with the world. She remembered her childhood -- how the Russians came and took everything -- people's houses, people's pigs, and raped women in front of their children and told me this is the first time she's worried about the future again. Theoretically, she is not allowed out of the house beyond 1 p.m. or before 11.a.m., but she likes waking up early and wants to sneak out to the graveyard tomorrow. The roads are empty since the fine is 2000 lei (400 euros) for being outside, the graveyard is empty of live-people, and her trips in the sunlight are likely good for her. But they are illegal. She goes to her grandson's grave -- who was the father of the girls she and her daughter are raising. He had died of a brain tumour a few years ago. We kept our distance during conversation. So, it was quasi-legal -- although, neither she nor I were supposed to cross the road without filling out forms.

I also spoke to the neighbour next door. Before the lock-down she used to teach physical education, and now she continues to teach it online.  She sees that it is crucial to educate people to not spit in each other's faces, and to enforce social distancing as much as possible, but believes that closing industry and agriculture worldwide can only lead to disaster. For herself, she is quite happy to be home, and teach via the internet. She can now spend time with her child and do crafts, her house is in perfect order now, etc, but she worries that the future is uncertain and she is afraid. She takes the virus seriously. She no longer takes her son to spend time with her father, who lives alone in a village closer to the mountains, because the child might be an asymptomatic carrier. She encourages her husband to not come home during the weekends. He still works because he is coordinating road repairs, but un-necessary travel is not encouraged. She has a friend who is due to give birth in May and the hospital in Lugoj is closed. The maternity in Timisoara is also closed. However, there is a private hospital that offers questionable care where pregnant women may still go to give birth. 

In Romania, many hospitals have closed because nurses and doctors tested positive to COVID-19 -- including the only hospital in the city I live it where 5 nurses tested positive. I worry, too. It's the first time I feel unsafe since I returned. The streets are empty. The police mostly fines people if they get out of their homes. The fines are large and profitable and so they no longer have reason to worry about enforcing other forms of order -- so if people steal or are violent, we might be on our own.  There is no hospital care available. My children like climbing trees in the back yard. If they fall, there is nobody to set broken bones or do an X-ray. 

Potential revolution in the South of Italy?

The quarantine measures are forcing the South Italy to descend into chaos. The hospitals are blocked due to the COVID-19 patients and cannot afford to care for patients with other afflictions. Many people were temporary workers, often without a formal contract, who relied on tourism as a source of income. Now with the borders closed and every non-essential business closed, people don't have money to pay rent or buy food. Instigators are calling for mass protests. Their mafia is taking advantage to gather new members -- they offer people what they need in exchange of them paying it back with interest, which it is unlikely they will be able to afford. There are some groups and companies that are helping, but it is not enough. They highjacked a food truck and are asking for help from the government. However, any help they receive (and they should receive help to survive), will only provide temporary relief. Countries need a survival plan.

Unless some general consensus is reached, where they only quarantine the patients at risk (e.g., people over 60 and people with health-conditions like high blood pressure, obesity, kidney failure, etc) and let the rest move on while educating and enforcing social distancing, there will mass protests and revolutions everywhere. Italy might be first, Spain and France will follow, etc. I am hoping Germany will be successful with its anti-body tests, and show everyone a way. They have also proposed getting 40, 000 temporary workers from Romania,  Poland and Bulgaria. I am crossing my fingers that it happens soon, and without causing set-backs.

The Philippines enforces lockdown by giving permission to shoot those who disobey

Is this the beginning of a war with guns?

Several news sites reported that Philippine's president gave permission to the army and police to enforce lockdown by shooting those who disobey (e.g., CBC news, Channel Asia, Forbes). 

'Shoot them dead' -- the permission to shoot -- is the president's reaction to protests due to lack of food in the slums. The news say protests are occurring. People took to the streets because they did not receive any food for two weeks, i.e., since lockdown.  

Lock-down is not be enforceable in the developing world without violence since many live on day-to-day wages that go away when everything closes. They then have no reserves and no food, and go hungry -- the first to suffer from malnourishment are children because they are smaller with the youngest dying first.  People who have been hungry before are aware of this and try to protest before it harms their family. Harm caused by malnourishment is never fully reversible and induces vulnerability to all disease including COVID-19. This will be true in many parts of the world -- India, Pakistan, South Africa, etc. If developing countries want to enforce the lockdown, they are likely to take the same approach since hungry people cannot be stopped otherwise. Of course, the alternative is to stop the measures that induce hunger or to make sure food is available.

What is the biggest threat? COVID-19? or hunger? or the police? will there be another war with guns that extends and cannot be stopped? 

COVID-19 world: discussions with neighbours and friends - part 1

I will write a few posts that summarize discussions with people around me.

Doctor -- director of a local hospital: With the bird flu they destroyed our poultry industry. With the swine flu they destroyed our pig farms. The meat industry is gone and I thought that there was little left to take --  only agriculture  -- and that they'll leave us alone this time.

Neighbour in the back yard [age -- early 80s]: This is the first year I could not sell my flowers. I used to go to Profi [a store] to sell them because I can not walk to the market. I made a few bouquets and tried sitting on my chair in the gang-way, but now nobody's passing and my grandchildren made me get back inside. They said it might be dangerous. My sister has a bit of money in the bank from when she worked in Spain. She wanted to keep it for her old age. Now she asked my grandson to take it out. What do you think neighbor? Should she take it out? Will the bank fail? What could she buy with them -- locked up in the house? 

I've only went to school for four years in the village [I lived in], but I studied hard in those four years. Afterwards, my parents had no money to send me away for more schooling. I was the oldest and had younger siblings at home. However, I sent my grandchild to college. In the first year of engineering school, he failed an exam, and the school called home to ask if I knew. I said, of course, I do. Then I wrote a letter to the dean and explained that he was twice an orphan because both his parents died when he was eight and I've raised him since. I had a local school teacher check my letter. She only found one or two errors. I write well because I studied when I went to school. I re-wrote that letter, corrected the errors and sent it. The dean called me immediately and asked what they can do to help. I said I needed nothing, but that they should speak with my grandson and encourage him, and ask how he is doing from time to time. My grandson is very proud. He still does not know I wrote to the dean.  He studied, worked hard, and graduated from the engineering school with 9.6 (on a 1-10 scale) -- one of the highest grades in his year -- but the encouragement helped a bit. He's been working as a programmer until recently. His wife is a nurse in a dentists office, but they are both at home now under "technical unemployment" --- their income is like a pension. They said they are lucky to have me in the house because my pension has not changed. Now, I don't know how help. So, I work in the garden, while they are repairing a shed in the front yard.

Another doctor -- Quarantine is a method from the 18th century that does not work.  It has no place in the 21st century. Today we should rely on medications, vaccines, anti-body tests, and properly done statistics. The reported numbers for COVID-19 simply don't justify the steps taken. These steps lead to irreparable destruction and death all over the world. Eventually, people will figure out their lives and livelihoods are being stolen and fight back. If there won't soon be a war [with guns], there will be Nuremberg-type trials for the ones who put these rules in place worldwide and for those who enforced them. If there will be a war, there will still be trials afterwards like after World-War II. These measures will remain in history as the biggest mistake of the 21st century.