Today I take a localized Australian perspective on what is happening with Covid-19 in the state of Victoria. I then expand my horizon to focus on China’s relations with the rest of the world. The most urgent point in this respect is just what will happen in the South China Sea region. China as secured Hong Kong as its own and may well know set its sights on Taiwan. Trump could decide to try to start a “managed war” with China in the region in order to bolster his chances of getting re-elected. The danger would, of course, be that the war would get out of control. All in all, I would say that Covid-19 remains nothing more than a distraction with much more serious events playing out around the world.

Today I take a look at Covid-19 misinformation narratives and the fact checking websites that can help you determine false claims from true. I also take a quick look at panic buying in New Zealand which has happened because a stage 3 lockdown was imposed on Auckland for a period of 3 days. Yes, people really are that stupid.

The reaction to Covid-19 has been so disproportionate that any reasonable person would surely question what is really going on. And that is exactly what I do in this post without heading into the realm of conspiracy theory. I manage this by arguing that we should look at the facts and then generate some testable hypotheses about “who wins” and “who loses” from the Covid-19 strategies that are being played out by the various countries around the world.

Victoria, Australia has declared a state of disaster and, of course, the first thing that stupid Australians did was to rush to the supermarket to panic buy just about anything was not restricted by sales limits. Thus when I went shopping today there was no fresh meat in my supermarket. Nor was there any fresh produce. Like I care. I can survive for a year without every shopping for groceries. China is continuing with its aggressive global posturing and is in conflict with India over border territory between the two countries. This is just one way that China is taking on the world amidst a resurgent Chinese nationalism at home. Fine. Let them rejoice. Whether through soft power tactics, hard power tactics or a military confrontation, China will ultimately lose.

oday I expand upon the fact that Victoria Australia is now operating under a state of emergency and a state of disaster. All this for around 11,000 Covid-19 cases in Victoria along with and around 120 deaths. I know the counter argument. What if the virus were to run rampant? Well, the answer is, according to world data, that around 1% of those infected would end up in a serious or critical condition and only a fraction of those people would die. Furthermore, if you look at the world data you will see that the death rate has been consistently falling. So, we’re under police lockdown in Victoria for absolutely no good reason.

There are various stories today including the continued over-reaction of Australia to the Covid-19 virus and the silliness of Australians who are protesting having to wear face masks. Honestly, you’d think they would have slightly more serious concerns about their personal freedoms being eroded. Mass CCTV surveillance in Australia’s major cities would be just one example. As for Covid-19 deaths in aged care facilities in the state of Victoria which has recorded the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, as far as I can see the figure of 47 deaths in these facilities means that 0.077% of all aged care residents have succumbed to the virus.

an open mind about the Covid-19 statistics, only 1% of currently active cases are serious or critical. Yes, just 1% of cases and yet countries around the world, including Australia, are still in lockdown. Why? Only a fraction of the 1% of serious or critical cases will end in a fatality. Sure, the fatality rate has been higher in the past but watch the statistics. The rate has been dropping month by month and I bet that the death rate will ultimately be less than 1% worldwide.