DEVELOPMENTS IN 2020 WILL HELP TO MAKE 2021 BETTER

 The last day of 2020, and it's getting worse.  From Worldometer (new deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732        1185        246        82

July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120      572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242       835       130

Sept     9     1208     6222        1136      1168        82

Oct     21     1225     6849          571       703        85

Nov    11     1479     10178        564       550        60

           25     2304    12025         620       518      118

Dec       1     2611    11891         697       500      109

           29     3398    13791       1075       285      497

           30     3880    14748       1224       299      465

Summary:  Worst day ever for the USA, not only a record-breaking 3880 new deaths, but with an additional 234,550 new cases.  Next week should be even worse.

All the information download for 2020 has been terrible.  However, as the year ends, there are high hopes for a much better 2021.

For one, there are at least five vaccines now being used worldwide.  Several more are close to approval.  While some might not be as effective, they might be more transportable, maybe storable at room temperatures and for a cheaper price.  It's easy to predict that the pandemic will be over by the end of 2021.

Maybe the best news of all is that Donald Trump will become a footnote of failure into the future.  Joe Biden will base his decisions on science and good judgement, unlike our soon former president.

What are some other positive highlights of 2020 that will help to make 2021 better?

• 
  You got to give Dr. Anthony Fauci huge credit for being able to survive the Trump Administration while maintaining credibility.
• He was born a few weeks after me, graduated #1 in his Cornell Medical College with an MD in 1966, joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968 and turned down several requests to head the agency. 
• Awarded more than 30 honorary doctorates from universities worldwide.
• Crucial to finding a medical solution to AIDS.
• His institute helped to develop the Moderna vaccine.
• Will become the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden.

• 
  My two most recent trips, late last year to Taiwan and early this year to Thailand, stopped by two countries that almost totally stopped the spread of COVID-19.  Is there something the rest of the world can learn from them?  What did they do?
•  Taiwan is #1 in curtailing this pandemic and #180 in total number of cases.  
• They have experienced 0.3 deaths per million, compared to the World at 232 and USA at 1,057.  We are among the worst, but Belgium is #1 with 1,667 deaths/million.
• China only shows 3 deaths/million, really low, but ten times worse than Taiwan.
• China has prevented Taiwan from joining the United Nations.  They thus need to be self-reliant.  Most surely, they learned from the 2003 SARS epidemic.  
• Taiwan essentially established a procedure for the next outbreak and had regular national drills, maintaining a good supply of face masks and a populace that listens and follows through on government orders.
• Will the USA be able to do the same for the next incident?  Nope.  While somewhat watchful, we have too much independence and free-will to take the steps Taiwan did to prevent the spread.

• 
  When my visit to Thailand began, it was already #2 to China in the most number of coronavirus cases.  Today, #139.  What did they do?
• I've been to Thailand more than 25 times.  Most countries of the Orient are regularly tormented by terrible air pollution.  Thus mask-wearing is common here.
• This quick response was surprising in that the government is a mash of King, military and local elections.  There is a whole lot of animosity.  The trust level between government and public is nearly at the bottom.
• So what did this oddball coalition do to prevent COVID-19?
• Like Taiwan, the public health care professionals and doctors remembered the 2003 SARS crisis.  Plus, sexual diseases are not uncommon, and the populace is attuned to medical advice.  Thus their health security system was well-tested and effective.

• 
  According to the Bangkok Post:
• Suddenly more than a million health volunteers worked closely with 75,000 villages to check on local health.
• Universal precautions (masks and personal hygiene) were quickly implemented.
• The government banned drinking in public and was early to invoke curfews.
• Like Donald Trump passing on the pandemic burden to states, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha allowed provincial and local authorities to take charge.  There was no central leadership, but he did establish the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), which provided information.  But this turned out to be the optimal solution, for the public mistrusted the top.  The CCSA provided science-based advice, which was followed by all lower levels of government, and the people.
• What might have been the clinching factor is something called Thai exceptionalism, which is a superstitious belief that bad people often die of contagious diseases.  This fear of facing such a taboo completely affected the lifestyle of every citizen.
• 
  In many ways, the Thai federal government did the same thing as Trump, that is, nothing much.  However, the big difference was that any information coming out of this administration was science-based.  That and combining a natural prevalence for mask-wearing and the fear of going to your grave as a bad person worked.

There are elements and clues Taiwan and Thailand will provide.  Probably won't work in the USA, but it doesn't matter, for the U.S. has the resources and will to survive into the long-term future as calamities, natural and man-made, happen.  It is impossible to adequately prepare for everything forever anyway.  For now, 2021, the vaccines will overcome this pandemic.  The World should be fine in a year or so, until the next Big One occurs, whatever it might be.

2020 gave us a few new terms, like covidiot:  a pejorative term for someone who ignores heath and safety guidelines intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  The prime covidiot, of course, is President Donald Trump.

Then there is the quarantini, and one list of ingredients is to combine with ice in whatever way you want:

• Vodka or Gin or both or anything else alcoholic
• Lemon
• Honey
• Water 
• Vitamin C powder (applied to rim of glass like salt for a margarita)

It is already 2021 in much of the world.  While the fireworks will be subdued this year in the U.S., the world continues to loudly and colorfully ring in the new year.

• First Taipei:

• Then Bangkok:

• From Auckland, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taipei.  

• Sydney, Australia.

• Beijing, China.  And Shanghai.

• Dubai.

A good way to end the year.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197 points to an all-time record high of 30,606.

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