Brief COVID News Roundup
Fauci's last advice on COVID repeats the same ineffective talking points and how China is being used to drive more fear.
I hope the last minute shopping and events/plans are not stressing you all out! It’s getting closer to the day and the madness continues onward! If stress is getting to you, take a glance at my article on coping with stress and see what other things may help you from the Christmas mania.
As a side story, something several parents may be dealing with is this strange fascination with LOL dolls.
I have no idea how this caught on aside from it acting as a gacha-style1 of collecting toys—like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get, except in this case you have to dish out hundreds of dollars for many boxes of chocolates in order to get that one caramel-filled piece.
It’s a bit crazy how loot box-like toys have become so popular.
Anyways, I needed to grab gifts for family friends and of course you grab the popular thing. But being popular, many store shelves were empty, and I even talked with a few parents/grandparents saying they were trying to find some for their kids.
I guess this provides some perspective for when I was young and demanded the popular item, much to the chagrin of my parents.
But this is just an aside. If anyone has any Christmas/holiday rants they want to get off their chest feel free!
Now we’ll cover a few stories I have come across, most notably Fauci’s lack of withdrawing from the limelight and touting of The Science, as well as more on China’s COVID fumble.
How to keep “safe” this holiday, according to Fauci
Like a bad cold sore Fauci doesn’t seem to want to stay out of the limelight, still popping up to do interviews even after he has left his role as an adviser to the White House.
Unfortunately, he still continues to dish out “words of wisdom” and advice like a life-coach guru, providing the public some advice on how to stay safe from COVID, and it’s something that we may not like.
What advice, exactly?
It’s the same old comments on masking, vaccines, and social distancing, and almost serves to show that this narrative wants to make another resurgence.
But remember, many of these arguments have been based on The Science, and Fauci even makes remarks on criticisms against his policies in the interview highlighted in the article:
However, Fauci said that the criticism hurled his way in recent years hasn't been able to affect his thinking or advice. And while it may not please everyone, he still firmly supports the use of testing, vaccines, and face masks to help people stay safe from COVID-19.
"The people who would hate me for telling someone they should get vaccinated or telling someone to wear a mask: It doesn't bother me at all because that is based on things that are completely contrary to science," he said. "I don't have much trouble with that, and I'm not running a popularity contest."
Funny, given that real-world evidence actually refutes many of these claims, and there has never been any conclusive evidence that masking has been helpful for curbing COVID.
And this issue is being reiterated by many, who continue to insist that the way to combat infections is to follow these same procedures that have likely caused more harm than good (last quote my emphasis):
Even though his position in public service is ending, other top officials are also promoting Fauci's message of COVID-19 safety. During an appearance on ABC News's This Week on Dec. 18, White House coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha, MD, said that vaccines were still crucial to protect against the virus in the face of rising cases as the holidays approach.
"The good news here is that we can prevent those infections from turning into serious illness if people go out and get that updated bivalent vaccine," he said. "The updated vaccine is essential for keeping people out of the hospital. So we're making the case that we're at a point where it's safe to gather, but you still have things to do. If we don't do those things, obviously things can get much worse."
Other officials have also recently echoed Fauci's advice. During a Dec. 5 press briefing, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky, MD, said that the current surge of multiple viruses made safety precautions even more important.
"One need not wait on CDC action in order to put a mask on," she told reporters. "We would encourage all of those safe, preventive measures—hand-washing, staying home when you're sick, masking, increased ventilation—during respiratory virus season, but especially in areas of high COVID-19 community levels."
I highlight this point because the advice and recommendations that continue to come out are entirely superficial, encouraging (i.e. enforcing) people to engage in practices that offer a farce of protection, but can be done easily and quickly.
It’s one of the problems of modernity, which enforces this notion of having instant gratification rather than examining things in the long run.
Why is it that the messaging surrounding COVID and respiratory infections never comment on good eating, supplementation, sleeping, or exercise—all of the things that we should be engaging in for good health and longevity?
I’ve had conversations with people when discussing the role of obesity and COVID severity, and a few comments I’ve received have been along the lines of, “well, losing weight and maintaining it is really difficult and takes a long time.” The general inference is that the vaccines and masking offer immediate protection, while losing weight may take too long, even if losing weight is far more likely to aid in overall wellbeing.
I’ve likely become very redundant in this messaging, but so too have health officials who still seem to not encourage lifestyle changes that will lead to a healthier society, and instead depend upon the things that modernity has provided, even if these things may not do us well in the long run.
Also, something else concerning with this news article was this comment on infections and what I would argue is continuous fear porn:
Fauci went on to discuss how the public's experience with COVID-19 had somewhat shifted how people perceive infectious diseases and the health threat they pose. However, he still admitted that the belief hadn't been universally adopted.
"I think people are very aware now that infections are important, and they can kill you," he told FOX 5. "They've seen it in a very, very dramatic sense with COVID, which has already killed one million Americans—more than one million Americans."
He pointed out that many will now likely approach outbreaks or surges in viruses like the seasonal flu or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) differently going forward. "I think people are more aware of the fact that serious infectious diseases can have an impact on society, and hopefully that will allow them to do what needs to be done to mitigate against that—like get vaccinated," he said.
I find this point to be more concerning, as it almost serves as an admission that the fear being instilled into everyone has worked and should be encouraged.
Now, it’s very true that many people are likely to suffer from severe illness from respiratory infections, and that’s something that may sometimes be downplayed.
However, to suggest that people should look at all outbreaks with this looming sense of death lest they get vaccinated and listen to officials and The Settled Science is just another sign that these pronouncements from public health officials aren’t done with an intent of helping people, but to incite fear and create a sense of dependency.
People should have been made more aware of respiratory infections because of COVID, but people should not have become more fearful as a result.
Fear drives impulsivity, and it drives divisiveness and fealty. Be more educated, become more aware, but don’t become more fearful.
Understand that knowledge is power, and ignorance can lead to fear.
Lastly, I encourage people to read the last paragraph from the article. However, while doing so think about the comments made about Fauci representing science, and bear witness to such blatant hypocrisy.
China’s COVID outbreak and the ignorance of western media
Speaking of fear porn, as China continues to deal with the fallout of their Zero COVID policies the mainstream press in the west is continuing to push out fear porn of its own, because apparently what happens in China doesn’t stay in China.
In this case, the outbreak in China is apparently cause for worry for those of us in the West.
Or at least that’s what some in the media are trying to push.
But many of us know full well that such pronouncements are completely invalid, as many of us have lived under the tyranny that was adopted because of China’s lockdown policies which have been proven to be wholly ineffective.
As I have stated before, the rest of the world had to reproduce China’s hypothesis on lockdowns being effective, and the results were horrific.
So it’s not as if we haven’t been down this road before, only now China is serving as a reflection of what went down in other countries already as many countries have lifted most lockdowns and masking mandates months prior.
It’s because of this fact that these comments in the media are ridiculous, because it’s not as if surges in China indicate what will happen everywhere else. It’s in fact China’s own attempt to suppress COVID that have put them in the predicament they are facing now.
The fact that many are turning to China to serve as some barometer for what will happen elsewhere continues to show a general lack of ignorance, especially in regards to the media which try to find associations wherever they look.
The increase in COVID cases may just be a reflection of seasonality independent of what’s going on in China. The fact that the two are occurring together doesn’t immediately tell us that China can provide us with answers of a coming outbreak. And in reality, the fact that China appears to have falsified much of their COVID data should tell us that we should be more hesitant to look at China for any indication of what will happen in the west.
With that being said, The New York Times released an interesting article discussing the downfall of the sudden COVID narrative pivot.
As noted in the article, many Chinese citizens are cognizant of the fact that the government did a complete roundabout on COVID, and the attempts by the Chinese government to put out a different message doesn’t appear to be working:
In the weeks since “zero Covid” ended, China’s all-encompassing propaganda and censorship machine has fallen into its old routine of deleting negative press and spreading “positive energy” posts that praise the struggles of individuals and the government. But experts said the three-year trauma caused by the stringent pandemic measures and the last-minute U-turn will prove hard for people to quickly move past.
“It will be impossible for everyone to forget completely. Many will remember ‘zero Covid’ deeply and clearly” said Fang Kecheng, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studies China’s propaganda. However, that may not lead to widespread loss of confidence in the government, he added, noting that “people still have ways to convince themselves that things don’t seem so bad now.”
Rather than emphasize the abrupt change in policy, China’s government appears to be putting out a message of social stability, akin to #ChinaStrong or some other ridiculous Twitter hashtags that have made the rounds here during COVID’s onslaught.
But again, it’s not easy for one to forget the 3-year long policies and draconian measures that Chinese citizens have lived under. As a message of stability is touted out, many citizens are being made aware of the deaths of family members and saturated hospitals, which tell a different story of medical instability and lack of transparency on the part of China’s government.
As of now, China’s censorious attempts to shape the narrative haven’t come to fruition just yet. It’s assumed that one cohesive narrative will come out, with a crackdown on voices speaking out against the hypocrisy coming some point in the future as well.
As of now, many citizens continue to voice their concerns online, pointing out the propaganda being pushed out by the Chinese government.
A small but vocal chorus online has called out the abrupt and disjointed policy changes. Asong Yu, a 30-year-old finance worker in northeastern China, has questioned in sardonic and indirect ways the sudden changes and the lack of explanation.
In one post, Mr. Yu shared a response from viral A.I. powered chatbot, ChatGPT, to the prompt, “are there pigs that can do a 180?” He had particular vitriol for those he called “epidemic prevention enthusiasts,” nationalists who had previously parroted the government’s position on “zero Covid,” only to be jilted by Beijing’s about-face. Online he called them: “abandoned dogs being beaten by their owners.”
“The previous propaganda is completely opposite to the current one. I think, however stupid some people might be, they will have to wake up,” Mr. Yu said in an interview.
Altogether, these two cases highlight the fact that the west continues to look to China as if China can provide some wisdom into dealing with COVID, even as the propaganda of China’s policies have been known for a long time.
China is not a reflection of the rest of the world, an the west should not continue to try to look to China for guidance on something that they should have figured out on their own.
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Gacha, also spelled gasha, is a shorthand form of the word gachapon, which are a collection of toy dispensers popularized by Japan. The toy dispenser would be filled with sets of small toys or figurines from popular shows and brands, as can be seen below.
Children (and adults) would pay money for the hopes of getting specific toys or whole collective sets. The term gacha has been popularized to refer to things in which someone pays for something of unknown content in order to get something rare or expensive. Many gaming apps rely on gacha in order to entice people to keep spending in-game currency or real life currency to get something rare, and many videogames rely on gacha for their microtransactions as well.