[Samurai]

Father of BHPian carfreak passed away in Oman last evening after losing the battle with COVID-19. He was on ventilator since two weeks. Due to the rules around COVID-19, none of the family members will be able to get a last look before the cremation. :-(

My condolences to the family.

Rajendran Nair, the common man’s doctor, dies in Oman

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Father of BHPian carfreak passed away in Oman last evening after losing the battle with COVID-19. He was on ventilator since two weeks. Due to the rules around COVID-19, none of the family members will be able to get a last look before the cremation. :-(

My condolences to the family.

Ooh :-(

Deepest condolences. May the family have strength in this hour of grief.

[V.Narayan]

Oh God. RIP. This more than anything else brings home the reality for us. Condolences to the family.

[Chetan_Rao]

Two of our worst fears, dying alone and not getting to say goodbye.

Sympathies to the family.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Samurai

My condolences to the family.

Rajendran Nair, the common man’s doctor, dies in Oman

My sincere condolences to the family. My in-laws used to go to his clinic long ago, even my wife had gone there, when she was a kid. FIL said that he was a kind hearted guy and many of his patients were the poor migrant labourers. May the kind soul rest in peace.

[Miyata]

Here comes a rather polarizingly put forth article - "Anthony Fauci, the "Learned Ignoramus"

...as our highly organized society slides into chaos it is important to understand the way in which an unbalanced intellectual specialization has contributed to bringing about the current crisis.

“Previously,” he writes, “men could be divided simply into the learned and the ignorant, those more or less the one, and those more or less the other.” Now, however, a new kind of person has emerged, “an extraordinarily strange kind of man,” who cannot be called “learned for he is formally ignorant of all that does not enter into his specialty,” yet at the same time cannot be considered “ignorant because he is ‘a scientist’ who ‘knows’ very well his own tiny portion of the universe.” Thus, Ortega y Gasset says that the only fitting name for such a person is a “learned ignoramus.”

only learned ignoramuses could suggest such an obviously catastrophic course of action. Those plebeians who dare to question “experts” such as Fauci and Emanuel are lectured to listen to their betters, who use “science” to understand the situation and are far more knowledgeable.

learned ignoramuses are “ignorant, not in the fashion of the ignorant man, but with all the petulance of one who is learned in his own special line.”

calls for a balanced intellectual specialization, in contrast to the unbalanced status quo that he fears threatens the advancement of scientific discovery itself. Two such balanced intellectuals are without a doubt Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek; although economists, they could be more accurately called social thinkers whose work encompassed far more than that of the typical economist today.

Mises argued that “He who wants to achieve anything in praxeology must be conversant with mathematics, physics, biology, history, and jurisprudence." Hayek similarly warned that “Unless you really know your economics or whatever your special field is, you will be simply a fraud. But if you know only economics and nothing else, you will be a bane to mankind, good, perhaps, for writing articles for other economists to read, but for nothing else.”

the entire situation would look entirely different from the chaotic disruptive mess it is now if our public health officials and social scientists were trained in the mold of Mises and Hayek.

[venkyhere]

Data snapshot from COVID-19 Tracker - India - KL is the only S. Korea like state, which has flattened the curve.
KA has numbers similar to KL but there is a recent spurt in the caseload, plus it has been steady rise, no flattening.
KL has more recovered than active cases - don't know whats going on with TS numbers for total tested. I can't believe that not publishing is considered prudent by the govt.
Is there something to hide? WB numbers are non-digestible. States like BR/OE/CH/JK/AS have tested more, despite being much less populous.
Plus, states like MH, DL, TN, KA, TS, etc. have WB has one huge metro city, like Kolkata and a porous border with Bangladesh.

Can't believe that only ~4k people have been tested. Something going on.


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[Dhiwakar92]

With politicans in Punjab visiting supporters without PPE, religious processions in Kalburagi allowed to take place, one has to wonder what the benefit of this lockdown is ?

Isn't there anything India can get right besides being inept ?
It is frustrating to be forced to do the right thing and watch others have fun.

Even dog walks or morning walks are now considered unessential.
Since when is being healthy considered bad or unessential ?

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by Dhiwakar92

With politicans in Punjab visiting supporters without PPE, religious processions in Kalburagi allowed to take place, one has to wonder what the benefit of this lockdown is ?

Isn't there anything India can get right besides being inept ?
It is frustrating to be forced to do the right thing and watch others have fun.

Even dog walks or morning walks are now considered unessential.
Since when is being healthy considered bad or unessential ?

The most frustrating thing about this lockdown :
Knowing that myself, spouse, kids, elders are all locked-in, suffering the mental "jail-time" and struggling to keep sane, wondering about the family's health condition in the future, as grim news pours in everyday, about how human life is going to take a long time to recover and get 'back to rails' in every aspect, whilst praying that we don't hear news about relatives/friends dying. In the meantime, some irreverent selfish morons go on as if nothing is happening - cannot adopt a "none of my business" attitude, because, mine and my family's risk of contracting the virus IS dependent upon the behavioral restraint of such morons - and I can do nothing.

[_chikku]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

- data snapshot from covid19india.org
- KL is the only S.Korea like state, which has flattened the curve
- KA has numbers similar to KL, but there is a recent spurt in the caseload, plus it has been steady rise, no flattening
- KL has more recovered than active cases
- dont know whats going on with TS numbers for total tested, can't believe that not publishing it considered prudent by the govt. Is there something to hide ?
- WB numbers are non-digestible. States like BR/OE/CH/JK/AS have tested more, despite being much less populous. Plus, like MH,DL,TN,KA,TS etc have, WB has one huge metro city like Kolkata, and a porous border with bangladesh. Can't believe that only ~4k people have been tested. Something going on.

Testing is definitely lagging behind now. Karnataka got some kits from China last week I suppose, numbers doesn't show up anywhere. Andhra got 1lakh rapid test kits from South Korea, number yet to reflect in the table.
Are tests only done at the hotspots now?

Originally Posted by Dhiwakar92

With politicans in Punjab visiting supporters without PPE, religious processions in Kalburagi allowed to take place, one has to wonder what the benefit of this lockdown is ?

Isn't there anything India can get right besides being inept ?
It is frustrating to be forced to do the right thing and watch others have fun.

Even dog walks or morning walks are now considered unessential.
Since when is being healthy considered bad or unessential ?

Morning Walks and dog walks never stopped near my house in Bangalore. In fact let alone inner roads, I see people going for jog in empty - closed - fly overs of Old Madras road.
Check what happens on Monday. Govt has allowed people to travel within city on 2 wheeler for work. Police couldn't stop them during lockdown, what can they do now?

Edit: Govt has went back on the order about two wheelers

[mohansrides]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Here comes a rather polarizingly put forth article - "Anthony Fauci, the "Learned Ignoramus"

This is what a bunch of us have been saying. Example here.

Originally Posted by mohansrides

WHO is the world's doctor. They have only one objective - Public health. As a specialist organization, they have been intentionally unburdened so that they can make sure that the a part of world community's focus remains on one function. In terms of singularity of purpose, WHO is similar to the IMF or the World Bank or Interpol. Each organization is tasked with providing recommendations in line with their specialties.

But, a national administration has to take recommendations from such specialist organizations and then take decisions on how best to apply those recommendations while weighing other factors that the recommending organization did not have to bother to think about.
....

[yd_gli]

Originally Posted by Dhiwakar92

Isn't there anything India can get right besides being inept ?
It is frustrating to be forced to do the right thing and watch others have fun.

Even dog walks or morning walks are now considered unessential.
Since when is being healthy considered bad or unessential ?

Pfffftttt!! Who needs exercise in India dude? We have built in immunity and we eat so much turmeric, ginger blah blah blah..Exercise is for those unhealthy westerners.

Jokes aside, during WWI, WW II days quite a few soldiers had their injured limbs amputated since advanced surgery/medicine hadn't been developed as yet to save them. Hence, the extreme step since there was no plan B.
In some sense the complete lockdown is a result of a sense of panic within the government. Over the last 50 years or so India hasn't really bothered to develop its health infrastructure and medical R&D. So when it came time to stop the spread we had only one option which was a complete lockdown. There was no and there is no plan B even today. Which is why you have these crazy rules. And oh by the way, every locality in every city follows a different set of rules. All dictated by the self appointed curfew enforcers (housing society committees). If you're fortunate enough to have a liberal committee you can take a walk.
And all this while a bunch of local goons and villagers go about their normal life by flashing a farmer card at every stop and making a quick buck from every poor soul who is trying to stop the spread by sitting in their homes.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Here comes a rather polarizingly put forth article...

Name-calling aside, there's nothing polarizing about the actual underlying point of view.

The whole point of 'expertise' and 'specialization' is to have extensive knowledge of very specific areas. Governance, whether of a small village or a large country means bringing together specialization from multiple areas to form overall policy.

We need medical, economic and administrative expertise to work together forming policies to safeguard the country's health; medical, economic or infrastructural.

It's all well and good calling a leading infectious diseases specialist names, probably makes the author feel better by using complicated insults, but it makes zero sense to expect the doctor to understand or lay down fiscal and administrative policy. Neither his specialization, nor his job.

The US administration hiding behind Dr. Fauci for failing on non-medical aspects of their pandemic response cannot be laid at the doctor's door. I mean, sure it can and they probably will at some point, but it won't change ground realities.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Here comes a rather polarizingly put forth article

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Name-calling aside, there's nothing polarizing about the actual underlying point of view

Just in case you have missed it, here's a Washington Post article that I had come across a few day's back.

Originally Posted by dailydriver

...an article from Washington Post that narrates how the US erred repeatedly in ignoring the threat of Corona.

[Dhiwakar92]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

Who needs exercise in India dude? We have built in immunity and we eat so much turmeric, ginger blah blah blah..Exercise is for those unhealthy westerners.

What is frustrating is that going forward, I doubt this will lead to a fundamental change in how we live our lives in India. A few months from now, we all will go back to square one and that is the best case scenario.

The worst case scenario is the implementation of asinine rules and regulations based on fear and popular opinion, not science and rational thought. This is even more frustrating.

On the other hand, seeing this situation in India has only motivated me even harder to leave the country and settle elsewhere, fingers crossed I do that before my time on this planet is up :(

Originally Posted by _chikku

Testing is definitely lagging behind now. Karnataka got some kits from China last week I suppose, numbers doesn't show up anywhere.

The rules near your house in the city can vary greatly from the rules implemented elsewhere in the city and by other housing societies, we don't have a common sense approach to these things in this country.