“Considering the serious threat of COVID-19 to human health, it is wise to be careful and take protective measures in advance.” – Wuhan virologist Ke Lan.
Let me preface my remarks by saying I do not think we can know much about what is going on inside China. However China is transparent with its covid death counts. It counts only people who died “of” covid – of lung infection. Australia’s death count is those who died “with” covid – anybody who tested positive within a month of dying of any cause. If Australia only counted people who died of covid the count would be minimal like China’s.
Covid 19 – the China syndrome
This because of the general hysterical mood about China in the West fed particularly by United States and Australian governments.
Bear in mind China has nearly 60 times more people than Australia. As at New Years Day 2023 (Australian not Chinese New Year), China, with 1.426 billion people, has had only 17,062 Covid19 deaths whereas Australia, with 25 million people, has had 17,052 – only 10 people fewer have died in Australia during the pandemic! [See current Covid19 data from John Hopkins Medical Centre].
On Covid19 morbidity alone, whatever China is doing, their Covid19 results are pretty good. China has a long way to go before it catches up with the high standard of living that Australia has, but it’s medical record is as impressive as that of Cuba.
Of course nearly everyone in the West claims that the ‘totalitarian’ Chinese government has more control over its population and therefore Covid19. This feeds into the propaganda about what a repressive state China is. But this is not borne out by recent facts about Covid19. When the population objected to the harsh lockdown regime in China, the government responded and relaxed restrictions. As a result, China now has a fairly big outbreak of Covid. Of course the same thing is happening in Australia since the state governments relaxed their Covid19 restrictions.
But this does not answer questions about recent concerns about mRNA vaccine. People are talking about how the Covid mRNA vaccines are harmful and it’s feeding into the anti-vax sentiments.
Look though the data in this study (Serious adverse events of special interest following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in randomized trials in adults) below about the coronary and coagulation side effects of Covid19, the former of which doctors were already aware of and probably the vaccine should not be given to young people. You could also get coagulation effects from Astrazeneca which is why it was withdrawn.
Doctors say cardio myopathy puts patients at high risk with Covid 19. Very little science is known about the relationship between COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease, however there are warnings on the walls of every medical centre in Australia that people with heart problems won’t fare well under COVID-19. This feeds into the general anxiety in the elderly. As a 72-year-old I find this approach non-productive, especially from doctors who claim that they are following evidence based medicine.
As an aside
Regarding Dr Phelps and her partner’s Covid vaccine injuries revealed in the Senate inquiry on Long Covid, which was looking into the lingering effects of the virus that some have claimed are debilitating. Rather than jump to conclusions we know nothing about Keryn Phelps and her partners co-morbidities. Do they have cardiomyopathy? I assume they live a rich western lifestyle which making them susceptable to the usual co-morbidities: overweight, coronary problems, diabetes and that old gem, high blood pressure.
I don’t know about her partner but I suspect that Dr Phelps has led quite a stressful life in parliament in recent years given the attacks made on her by her old party, the LNP. Curiously Dr Phelps claims that the recent Parliamentary Inquiry into people suffering the side-effects of vaccines was very helpful. Sadly refugees do not get the same attention as MPs and staff when they are suffering from Covid19 acquired during detention.
Ian Curr
1 January 2023