Religions can be a comfort to some people ....
.... Especially when death and illness stalk the land.
However, the crumb of comfort that praying to your god can give you surely must pale if it was that very worship that brought the panic in to your land.
The coronavirus outbreak has created some very strange reactions worldwide, considering the fact that currently the mortality rate is estimated at about 2 per cent with around 3,117 deaths, which is not much greater than the seasonal flu that we experience each year.
As of the 27th February 2020 in the USA, there have been 15 million cases of seasonal flu, with 140,000 hospitalizations, and 8,200 deaths this influenza season. The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza in the US is between to 6.9% and 7.1% and the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, which infected 500 million people and killed between 40 million to 50 million (and possibly as high as 100 million), had such an enormous impact due to its widespread transmission.
But even so, you would expect that countries that are experiencing coronavirus outbreaks would take reasonable precautions such as quarantines and closing public areas where there is high risk of contagion ... So for instance, China banned mass transmit of its peoples after the moon festival, locked down 16 cities with 50 million people impacted, and has built more than 20 mass quarantine centres for non-critical coronavirus patients in Wuhan alone.
South Korea has taken similar measures although not quarantining cities, but Churches and Buddhist temples have closed .... Even Saudi Arabia has suspended entry for pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.
But then they aren't hidebound by religious dogma ...which brings us to Iran. It has reported 593 confirmed cases and 43 deaths (unofficially 210), and the country has also been named as the source of dozens of cases in neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Pakistan as Shia Muslims return from pilgrimages to the Shia holy city of Qom in Iran.
So what have the mullahs of Iran done to contain this outbreak .... well not too much early on. For instance, the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh in Qom, which is visited by hundreds or thousands of pilgrims every day remains open, as do all the other shrines in the city. The pilgrims often kiss the walls, doors, floors of the shrines in the hope of getting a blessing, and this has spread the virus to all who follow them.
The virus was probably brought to Qom by Chinese workers and students in January, but instead of warning of the developing situation, the authorities appear to have delayed the announcement until the end of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Revolution. So it was only on February the 28th that the authorities finally agreed to restrict visitors to the shrines, and cancelled Friday prayers in Iran’s major cities.
But crucially the shrines (described as "houses for cure") aren't actually closed completely, and Iran has only asked that people not visit. Ayatollah Mohammed Saeedi said "House for cure means people would come here to get cured from mental and physical diseases. Therefore, it should be open, and people should be encouraged to come here." The mullahs even believe that the virus was inflicted on them by Western intelligence. Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Mohammad Saeedi, the Friday Prayer Imam and Custodian of the Shrine of Masoumeh blamed President Trump for targeting the city with the virus to "instil fear in people’s hearts and make Qom look like an unsafe city".
However he has conceded that "hygienic procedures" will be followed by pilgrims ... they are spraying the shrines with disinfectants. President Rouhani said "We have no plan to quarantine any district or any city. We only quarantine individuals. If an individual has early symptoms, that person must be quarantined." .... this was revised this week to them limiting travel between their major cities .. err, quarantining them?
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, famously declared that "quarantines belong to the Stone Age" ... just one day before admitting that he had tested positive for the disease and his being quarantined. In all a number of officials have reportedly tested positive for the virus, including a vice-president, a deputy minister, and at least two MPs.
Strangely while shrines remained open, Iran has shut schools until April, with the Health Minister Saeed Namaki saying people reduce the use of paper banknotes, and the prisons are now partially closed, as the Iranians have released 54,000 convicted prisoners with sentences under five years 'on bail' to stop the spread of the virus.
Whilst on social media the conspiracy theories are circulating wildly. Ali Akbar Raefipour, a conspiracy theorist and public speaker, with a big following among young Islamist hardliners, has claimed that the virus was part of a "hybrid warfare" programme waged by the US on China and Iran (but presumably not on Italy and the rest of the world where its been spread by returning visitors to China and Iran) ....
With this kind of medieval mindset to infections its no wonder that Iran has few regional friends.
Corona Facts: As of Tuesday when I wrote this post and for context there are an estimated 7.7 billion people on the planet.
There were a total of 42,941 confirmed current corona virus cases worldwide, with a further 47,995 old cases having already recovered (total 90,936 when post written .... latest 92,000 as of 06/03). The biggest numbers of those current, and recovered, or died cases are still by far in mainland China (80,151), followed by South Korea (4,812), Italy (2,036) and Iran (1,501). The total death toll worldwide stands at 3,117 with 2,936 of those coming from China. The countries with the next highest numbers are Iran (66), Italy (52) and South Korea (29).
There are 116 UK cases with 1 fatality (a woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions). 18 have recovered, and around 45 have been self-isolating at home as symptoms so mild.
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| Religions Can Be A Comfort Even When Death And Illness Stalk The Land. |
.... Especially when death and illness stalk the land.
However, the crumb of comfort that praying to your god can give you surely must pale if it was that very worship that brought the panic in to your land.
The coronavirus outbreak has created some very strange reactions worldwide, considering the fact that currently the mortality rate is estimated at about 2 per cent with around 3,117 deaths, which is not much greater than the seasonal flu that we experience each year.
As of the 27th February 2020 in the USA, there have been 15 million cases of seasonal flu, with 140,000 hospitalizations, and 8,200 deaths this influenza season. The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza in the US is between to 6.9% and 7.1% and the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, which infected 500 million people and killed between 40 million to 50 million (and possibly as high as 100 million), had such an enormous impact due to its widespread transmission.
 |
| Coronavirus Outbreak |
But even so, you would expect that countries that are experiencing coronavirus outbreaks would take reasonable precautions such as quarantines and closing public areas where there is high risk of contagion ... So for instance, China banned mass transmit of its peoples after the moon festival, locked down 16 cities with 50 million people impacted, and has built more than 20 mass quarantine centres for non-critical coronavirus patients in Wuhan alone.
South Korea has taken similar measures although not quarantining cities, but Churches and Buddhist temples have closed .... Even Saudi Arabia has suspended entry for pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.
But then they aren't hidebound by religious dogma ...which brings us to Iran. It has reported 593 confirmed cases and 43 deaths (unofficially 210), and the country has also been named as the source of dozens of cases in neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Pakistan as Shia Muslims return from pilgrimages to the Shia holy city of Qom in Iran.
So what have the mullahs of Iran done to contain this outbreak .... well not too much early on. For instance, the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh in Qom, which is visited by hundreds or thousands of pilgrims every day remains open, as do all the other shrines in the city. The pilgrims often kiss the walls, doors, floors of the shrines in the hope of getting a blessing, and this has spread the virus to all who follow them.
The virus was probably brought to Qom by Chinese workers and students in January, but instead of warning of the developing situation, the authorities appear to have delayed the announcement until the end of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Revolution. So it was only on February the 28th that the authorities finally agreed to restrict visitors to the shrines, and cancelled Friday prayers in Iran’s major cities.
 |
| Disinfecting While Pilgrims Kiss Walls |
But crucially the shrines (described as "houses for cure") aren't actually closed completely, and Iran has only asked that people not visit. Ayatollah Mohammed Saeedi said "House for cure means people would come here to get cured from mental and physical diseases. Therefore, it should be open, and people should be encouraged to come here." The mullahs even believe that the virus was inflicted on them by Western intelligence. Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Mohammad Saeedi, the Friday Prayer Imam and Custodian of the Shrine of Masoumeh blamed President Trump for targeting the city with the virus to "instil fear in people’s hearts and make Qom look like an unsafe city".
However he has conceded that "hygienic procedures" will be followed by pilgrims ... they are spraying the shrines with disinfectants. President Rouhani said "We have no plan to quarantine any district or any city. We only quarantine individuals. If an individual has early symptoms, that person must be quarantined." .... this was revised this week to them limiting travel between their major cities .. err, quarantining them?
 |
| Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi Publicly Taken Ill |
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, famously declared that "quarantines belong to the Stone Age" ... just one day before admitting that he had tested positive for the disease and his being quarantined. In all a number of officials have reportedly tested positive for the virus, including a vice-president, a deputy minister, and at least two MPs.
Strangely while shrines remained open, Iran has shut schools until April, with the Health Minister Saeed Namaki saying people reduce the use of paper banknotes, and the prisons are now partially closed, as the Iranians have released 54,000 convicted prisoners with sentences under five years 'on bail' to stop the spread of the virus.
Whilst on social media the conspiracy theories are circulating wildly. Ali Akbar Raefipour, a conspiracy theorist and public speaker, with a big following among young Islamist hardliners, has claimed that the virus was part of a "hybrid warfare" programme waged by the US on China and Iran (but presumably not on Italy and the rest of the world where its been spread by returning visitors to China and Iran) ....
With this kind of medieval mindset to infections its no wonder that Iran has few regional friends.
Corona Facts: As of Tuesday when I wrote this post and for context there are an estimated 7.7 billion people on the planet.
There were a total of 42,941 confirmed current corona virus cases worldwide, with a further 47,995 old cases having already recovered (total 90,936 when post written .... latest 92,000 as of 06/03). The biggest numbers of those current, and recovered, or died cases are still by far in mainland China (80,151), followed by South Korea (4,812), Italy (2,036) and Iran (1,501). The total death toll worldwide stands at 3,117 with 2,936 of those coming from China. The countries with the next highest numbers are Iran (66), Italy (52) and South Korea (29).
There are 116 UK cases with 1 fatality (a woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions). 18 have recovered, and around 45 have been self-isolating at home as symptoms so mild.
It appears that common sense is not going to prevail, and we prefer to do a chickin licken, and wreck the world economy over a 97 per cent non lethal flu like virus. We live in a dangerously stupid period of world history.
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