by Daisy Luther
In a document obtained by Newsweek, Department of Defense officials
said that Covid-19 will “likely” become a global pandemic within the
next 30 days.
This comes after a 23-year-old soldier stationed in South Korea became the first member of the US armed forces to contract the illness.
“The DoD is concerned not only the impact COVID-19 has on
mission readiness, but the risk to inadvertently spread the virus to
the U.S. by returning members who may have been exposed,” a senior
Pentagon official told Newsweek…
…When asked for comment, Jessica R. Maxwell, a DOD spokesperson, said
the DoD has “contingency plans in place and are taking steps to educate
and safeguard our military and civilian personnel, family members and
base communities in preventing widespread outbreak.” But ultimately,
“Commanders of individually affected geographic commands will be and are
issuing specific guidance to their forces as their situations may
require.”
…The use of the term “pandemic” in the briefing documents described a
global outbreak, whereas an “epidemic” would be confined to a country,”
a senior Pentagon official told Newsweek. During a pandemic, a large number of people in several countries or continents are affected, according to the CDC. (source)
Arguably, it’s already a pandemic since it has reached every continent except Antarctica. Many people in the United States are paying attention and ratcheting up their preparedness for possible quarantines and other measures.
The National Center for Medical Intelligence (the NCMI) raised the
Risk of Pandemic warning from WATCHCON 2 to WATCHCON 1, according to the
document obtained by Newsweek. WATCHCON 2 is used in the event of a
“probable crisis” and WATCHCON 1 means the crisis is imminent.
This goes hand-in-hand with reports that the military began executing plans to prepare for a potential pandemic two weeks ago. As well, this could be the reason behind President Trump’s deal with the Taliban – it could be an effort to get soldiers out of an area where transmission could be widespread.
The CDC also feels that the risk of a pandemic is high.
The Centers for Disease Control also notes that the likelihood of a global pandemic is high.
At this time, however, most people in the United States
will have little immediate risk of exposure to this virus. This virus is
NOT currently spreading widely in the United States. However, it is important to note that current global circumstances suggest it is likely that this virus will cause a pandemic. This is a rapidly evolving situation and the risk assessment will be updated as needed.
Current risk assessment:
- For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to
this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is
considered low.
- People in communities where ongoing community spread with the virus
that causes COVID-19 has been reported are at elevated though still
relatively low risk of exposure.
- Healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19 are at elevated risk of exposure.
- Close contacts of persons with COVID-19 also are at elevated risk of exposure.
- Travelers returning from affected international locations where community spread is occurring also are at elevated risk of exposure. (source)
The CDC has been harshly criticized regarding its response to the
virus. Tests that they sent out to health departments were faulty,
losing weeks of possible containment in the United States. (More on the lack of containment in this article.)
The WHO refuses to call it a pandemic.
Perhaps in an effort to ratchet down the level of fear and panic
across the globe, the World Health Organization has not deemed Covid-19 a
pandemic.
“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it
has. Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet,” Director-General
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in Geneva.
He explained that the decision to use the word ‘pandemic’ is based on
an ongoing assessment of the geographical spread of the virus, the
severity of disease it causes, and the impact on society.
“For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread
of this virus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or
death,” he said, adding that what is occurring is coronavirus epidemics
in different parts of the world, which are affecting countries
differently. (source)
One must wonder, why is there so much ado about a word? Why is the
World Health Organization so reluctant to call this what it is, a
pandemic outbreak when it is one, even by their own definition? (That
definition, found here, is “A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease.”)
The preparedness and alternative media worlds are not alone in asking this question.
Lauren Sauer, director of operations for the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness, told a reporter for the Washington Post,
“Personally, I think we’re doing everyone a disservice by continuing
this debate…It is creating more panic than just declaring it and moving
on.”
The World Bank has an insurance policy against pandemics.
In a possibly unrelated aside, the World Bank has an insurance policy against pandemics
but unless certain conditions occur, it won’t pay out, which greatly
benefits investors. I use the word “unrelated” because apparently the
bonds aren’t dependent on the WHO’s classification of an outbreak.
According to the World Bank, which created the fund three years ago,
it was designed to “swiftly funnel funds from the deep-pocketed
financial sector to health authorities in poorer countries before
international assistance could be mobilized.”
They sold $320 million of these securities, which will mature in July
of this year. If it matures, investors could receive double-digit
yields. If a pandemic does occur, however, they could lose every penny
they put into the fund.
The Class B bond covers conditions that are non-influenza related,
like Ebola. But interestingly, the bond never paid out despite the
ongoing crisis in the Congo based on the conditions laid out by the
bond.
What are those conditions?
The primary one is that there must be more than 250 deaths attributed
to the pandemic illness. But for the bond to be payable, there must be
more than 20 deaths in a second country, which hasn’t yet occurred with
either the coronavirus or Ebola. You can read more about the pandemic bond in these documents.
Whatever you want to call it, Covid-19 is widespread.
People in the United States are definitely concerned if the weekend’s shopping frenzy means anything. To learn more about preparing specifically for this outbreak, go here. To learn more about getting prepped for a quarantine, go here.
Yesterday’s WHO Sitrep report divulged the following information.
- Armenia, Czechia, Dominican Republic, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Indonesia all now have confirmed cases of Covid-19.
- A WHO team has arrived in Tehran to help with the Iranian response to their outbreak.
- Covid-19 has been confirmed in 65 countries across the globe.
You can find the full report here.
It never hurts to get prepared with some extra food, toilet paper,
and other supplies. If the Department of Defense is warning that we’re
facing a pandemic within 30 days, we can safely say the pandemic has
already arrived.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, voluntaryism, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, The Organic Prepper. She is widely republished across alternative media and she curates all the most important news links on her aggregate site, PreppersDailyNews.com. Daisy is the best-selling author of 4 books and runs a small digital publishing company. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
