Love in the Time of COVID-19
February 17, 2020·Politics
Official case counts remain a theater of denial, with some countries claiming no cases despite minimal testing while international health authorities repeat claims that don't match published research. Yet major institutions are quietly making decisions that ignore these narratives entirely. The Tokyo Marathon's cancellation of 38,000 entries signals something larger shifting beneath the surface of public statements.
• The confirmed cases game is breaking. Governments continue playing with numbers that have no relation to reality. Indonesia claims near-zero cases despite testing 64 people. Africa allegedly has fewer cases than a single cruise ship. The numbers don't hold up against any scrutiny, yet institutions are still operating as if they do.
• Real-world decisions are already outpacing official narratives. Event organizers are canceling. Sports venues are preparing for empty stadiums. These aren't reactive responses to official guidance. They're preemptive moves based on what organizations actually believe about the threat.
• The gap between propaganda and business reality is widening. Companies must protect their operations and bottom lines. That forces them to assess risk independently of what governments and health agencies are saying publicly. That assessment is driving action the official world isn't acknowledging yet.
• Sports franchises will become the pivot point. If professional leagues shut down stadiums and shift to TV-only models, that moment crystallizes something the public can't deny anymore. One major sports decision cascades through the rest of institutional life.
• When institutions stop performing and start protecting, what collapses first? The narrative has held because official voices repeated it and normal people followed. What happens when protecting your enterprise means abandoning the script?
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Comments
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is already there. (FYI: More money is bet on the two horse tracks in HK than in all the tracks in North America.) I believe they have shut down there telephone centers that will take your bet. I believe they have shut down about 100 off-track betting centers in HK. Attendance at their tracks is limited to 300-400. You can still watch them on TV, bet online or on your phone… and if you’re in the United States you can watch the live stream and bet on TVG or xpressbet.
https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3050975/jockey-club-continues-defy-coronavirus-its-not-all-plain-sailing
It’s a side note, but it makes me wonder about the acceleration effect this will have on virtual reality technology.
When are central bankers going to do something to stop COVID-19?
The Chinese F1 race scheduled for April 17-19 in Shanghi has been postponed.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.chinese-grand-prix-postponed-due-to-coronavirus-outbreak.3g2y5Ngyrk1MbNxQB9hj4s.html
Ben, to your points…went to DC on business, came down with something (thank you airplane/airport) sooo, bad that hit me sooo hard, I couldn’t help but wonder if it were/is corona (all same listed symptoms). I had to make my meetings telephone calls, bc I didn’t want to spread it. One call was with a pulmonologist client. The meeting focused less on investment and more on Corona. He told me that he has absolutely no faith in the quality of the testing…that it misses too many cases. Ok, not sure about that, but here’s the killer thought, Ben. He said that we know the mortality rates in China, but people to people, region to region, people have DIFFERENT IMMUNE SYSTEMS/RESPONSES. We can have no idea if the virus will be more or less deadly in other parts of the world. This was a jaw-dropper for me.
Hi Ben, please can you check that link to the Lancet article. Its going to your local link bit their website. Thanks and lets hope these new virus hotspots get contained. This 14 day comfort seems to have some long tails. M
Ben, I thought of this note as soon as I saw the news tonight about the NBA decision to suspend the season. I heard it here first!
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