Okay, I am almost getting what Sweden's approach would like to achieve in the end.

Never mind if someone gets infected when it implements a soft approach towards social distancing coupled with an aversion to the so-called LOCKDOWN. What matters is its own citizens' EXCEPTIONALISM and natural 'extreme individualism' will serve them right to get protected from most likely getting infected and bedridden by the virus. They already had such set-up in place prior to the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing changes. It is like treating the newly mutated virus as a virus for a common flu (with milder symptoms).

Only the elderly and the immunocompromised get to be protected and needed an urgent care and have to be isolated from the rest of the herd. The more active and healthy ones needed to move on with their normal daily routines in public or in and out of their homes.

THAT'S THE APPROACH I am trying to understand. On the other hand, would it not be better to isolate the newly mutated virus and stop this from further spreading? Lockdown, of course, is not enough to do this. The asymptomatic carriers who had close contacts with the infected ones and had experienced serious symptoms (some of whom already died) needed to be tracked down.

The anti-thesis to this suggestion is of course allowing, especially, the younger age group and more abled adults to move on as long as they are not having serious medical issues; no need to be wearing masks in public; it is simply social distancing that has to be implemented (take note on a soft stance unlike that of its neighboring Scandinavian countries). It is okay for the healthy ones to get infected via asymptomatic transmission because they have a stronger immunity. They will hurdle it in the most successful way as compared to those who have several issues regarding their health. Once they hurdled it, they get the antibodies and are naturally immuned from the disease.

THAT'S THE APPROACH RIGHT?

But there is a caveat to this approach; the less fit needed to get sacrificed and the transmission will end up with them on their death. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

What I am saying here is that I AM NOT YET SOLD TO THE SO-CALLED "HERD IMMUNITY". While I don't put my 100% trust to a vaccine to help prevent viral transmission/infection I still believe that putting an end to this newly mutated virus, via its ISOLATION, is more worth a pound of prevention than relying on herd immunity, per se, as an ounce of cure or should it be the other way around?

Take note that viruses can't continue to thrive when they could not find a host or hosts for their replication activities. Scientists had long been baffled by their semi-living characteristics but were finally decided to be considered a non living thing.

https://covid19.who.int/explorer

FIGURES ARE NOT STATIC

Here's what happens regarding COVID-19 Statistics in the Southeast Asian Region

Watch the interactive video at the bottom of this article.

We all know that figures change on a daily basis. But what do the anti-Duterte folks and those Duterte supporters who are getting swayed to the narrative of the yellows and all opposition groups because all of them are getting frustrated about the numbers they see?

They especially NETPICK on the figure that is favorable for their narratives. They would always paint that the Philippines is on top of the worst pandemic situation in the Southeast Asian region dismissing all other factors except to highlight that the Duterte administration is NOT doing anything good or great in addressing the pandemic.

BUT, the playing field has been labeled plain and fair for everybody to see the reality behind figures. Thanks to COVID-19 because it does not discriminate. The virus is INHUMAN, the virus is neither exactly living nor dead. It finds itself in the gray area of both the living and the dead and it constantly seeks the perfect host in order to wage its own war against humans in its very own special way.

A STORY NEVER BEEN REVEALED After 1986 and Before the COMEBACK OF THE MARCOS FAMILY

QUESTIONS:

1. Why was the Marcos family continually persecuted even if justice had been served fair and square for all the cases that their family had faced both in the national and international courts?

2. Is it fair enough for them to be blamed for everything that happened during the martial law?

3. Coming from Mrs. Imelda Marcos herself: WHAT ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?

4. If you could answer questions 1, 2, and 3 with all the nasty recall of what really happened during the reign of the Marcoses, should you open your mind to understand what really happened why Imelda Marcos was able to obtain justice in the end?

Proofs of these are:

a) That the Marcoses are NOT really back into power but rather, they were welcomed to serve and prove to their countrymen that they were not what the yellow media and the Aquino lovers had been painting them to be for all the years.

b) But the most damning evidence is the very testimony of Mrs. Imelda Marcos that was documented years ago after their return from exile. You can read her story that's much more revealing than the decades of yellow story that had been passed on year after year since the catapulting to power of the late former president Mrs. Corazon Aquino in 1986.

There's a movie documentary about the rise and fall of Marcos dictatorship entitled: THE KINGMAKER but this is not what the story of Imelda Marcos is all about. In fact, the interview of Imelda Marcos in this documentary was exploited instead of simply telling both sides of the story about what happened during and after the Marcos reign. In other words, the said documentary is meant for sensationalism at its core devoid of telling the facts as they are. It is a typical example of a propaganda being released just in time that the fate of Robredo from the SC-PET officials is about to be released and could be well meant for the 2022 election in favor of the liberal party once again.

But here is the other side of the coin you may want to consider reading on in case you want to balance the truth that you, so far, know about the Aquinos and the Marcoses. Read on if you want to get to the very facts coming from the Marcos side in order to know why things happened the way they happened.

COVID-19 DEATH TOLL AS OF APRIL 23, 2020

The world has not gotten yet to the very tip of the COVID pandemic as of this writing and here's what we can ascertain in as far as the global deaths for COVID-19 is concerned.

The United States shares 25% of the COVID-19 deaths in the global pie. With a total of 183,424 COVID-19 deaths around the world, the country claims 46,769 of those deaths. 

So how do the other countries fare in terms of the death toll for this pandemic?

Based on COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins' data reveal the following mortality figures:

TOP FIVE COUNTRIES WITH VERY HIGH CONFIRMED CASES SHARE THE FOLLOWING

United States: 46,688 deaths  = 25.4%
Italy: 25,085 deaths = 13.6%
Spain: 21,717 = 11.8%
France:  21,340 = 11.6%
United Kingdom:18,100 = 9.9%

Overall, these five countries entered into the chart 72% of COVID-19 deaths as of April 23, 2020

The rest of the countries with top cases of Corona infection share the following death percentages based on the total deaths of 183,424.

Germany = 5,315 = 2,8%
Turkey = 2,376 = 1.2%
Iran = 5,391 = 2.9%
China = 4,636 = 2.5%
Russia = 513 = 0.3%
Brazil = 2,924 = 1.5%
Belgium = 6,262 = 3.4%

Canada = 2,080 = 1.1%
Netherlands = 4,068 = 2.2%
Switzerland = 1,509 = 0.8%

Portugal = 785 = 0.4%
India = 681 = 0.3%
Peru = 530 = 0.2%
Ireland = 769 = 0.4%
Sweden = 1,937 = 1.1%

These countries showing top cases of corona infection share the additional 21% of the death toll. Summing up from those of the top 5 countries will bring the death toll data to 93%. The 7% is being shared by all the other countries experiencing number of deaths with lower than 12K confirmed cases. Source:
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

WHAT THE PANDEMIC CRISIS HAD SO FAR DONE TO US

Well, here in the U.S. protesters are seeking for the protection of their right of choice to die from the COVID-19 infection. All that some of these protesters wanted is to get back to work and they don't care who will gonna live nor die. The far right and left activists are clamoring NOT for the death of democracy.

What they care about is make democracy alive and leave the choices of death or life to them. That's the herd mentality when no one sees the enemy. ASYMPTOMATIC cases of COVID-19 infection is far more tricky than cases of those who are already symptomatic from the disease. While we are not supposed to subject ourselves from panic and fear, there needed to be a certain amount of caution, respect to authority and YES expression of our free speech.

We are no longer an island in the world of pandemic. We should act as an island but still interconnected with the global world to fight, once and for all, against the enemy that is unseen. The microscopic organism exerting its power due to the absence of vaccine yet or fully approved viral drugs is just one of those. But there could be a bigger picture coming out from this global phenomenon.
The fittest organisms (that include certain human beings) will survive the pandemic while the immunocompromised simply vanish from our sight. Who knows, you could be the most fit or it could be the other way around?

Kaya mga tigulang ng mga kasama ko, nakapirmi lang sila sa balay.
So keep your immune system strong, folks! 

Someone says "it is just a virus." It is something that had been walking pass through our lives ever since the world began. We only notice viruses when they wreck havoc on plants, animals, and humans.

Least we forget, viruses are enigmas to the scientific world. 

They are in the gray areas between the LIVING and the DEAD.

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/cells/viruses/a/are-viruses-dead-or-alive

Yen's Swedish Model Against Switzerland, Norway and the Philippines RE: Approach to COVID-19

In an article written by Manila Times columnist, Yen Makabenta on April 9, 2020, he was finally convinced that Sweden had found the right solution to the corona virus. It is called "Herd Immunity"

To quote: "As of today, (April 9) there are 401 reported Covid-19 deaths in Sweden. The really good news is that in Sweden’s ICU (intensive care unit) census, which is updated every 30 minutes nationwide, admissions to every ICU in the country are flat or declining, and they have been for a week. As of this writing (based on currently available data), most of Sweden’s ICU cases today are elderly, and 77 percent have underlying conditions such as heart disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease and diabetes. Moreover, there hasn’t been a single pediatric ICU case or death in Sweden — so much for the benefits of shutting down schools everywhere else. There are only 25 Covid-19 ICU admissions among all Swedes under the age of 30. Sweden is developing herd immunity by refusing to panic. By not requiring social isolation, Sweden’s young people spread the virus, mostly asymptomatically, as is supposed to happen in a normal flu season. They will generate protective antibodies that make it harder and harder for the Wuhan virus to reach and infect the frail and elderly who have serious underlying conditions. Compare that with the situation in Switzerland, a similar small European country, which has 8.5 million people. Switzerland is practicing strict social isolation. Yet Switzerland reports 715 cumulative Wuhan-virus deaths as of today, for a death rate nearly double the number in Sweden. What about Norway, another Nordic country that shares a 1,000-mile open border with Sweden, with a language and culture very similar to Sweden’s? Norway (population 5.4 million) has fewer reported Covid-19 deaths (71) than Sweden but a substantially higher rate of coronavirus ICU admissions. Nature’s got this one, folks. We’ve been coping with new viruses for untold generations. The best way is to allow the young and healthy — those for whom the virus is rarely fatal — to develop antibodies and herd immunity to protect the frail and sick. As time passes, it will become clearer that social-isolation measures like those in Switzerland and Norway accomplish very little in terms of reducing fatalities or disease, though they crater local and national economies — increasing misery, pain, death and disease from other causes as people’s lives are upended and futures are destroyed.”  

 Makabenta had himself convinced that herd immunity is the key. He then urged that the Philippines should follow Sweden's example. This was his message for Easter.

Celebrate Easter instead In the Philippines, our most sensible course now is to quietly reverse course on the ECQ. It makes no sense to prolong the people’s isolation and the country’s economic pain. We need strategic foresight in our battle plan versus the pandemic. We will do better by adopting Sweden’s nuanced approach and gradually return our lives to normalcy. In one to two months, we could flatten the curve in virus infections and fatalities. Covid-19 might even go away, or the vaccine will finally arrive. - End of Quote     
           Let us see now if Yen can still sell his skewed analysis by swallowing as a whole the analysis of National Review Magazine in its April 6, 2020 article entitled “Has Sweden found the right solution to the coronavirus?” It was written by John Fund, columnist of the magazine, and Joel Hay, a professor of pharmaceutical economics and policy. According to Makabenta, "Their analysis is powerful, persuasive and incontrovertible." He further wrote in Manila Times in his column April 9, "I reprint the article complete below, because it is precious indeed."     

But what's wrong with Yen Makabenta's Data?  

Below are April 9 and April 19 data as our basis of comparison. 

Q1: Is the analysis of Prof. Joel Hay and John Fund in Sweden's model really that powerful, persuasive and indeed, inconvertible?

Q2: If it does, how long will it hold water for Sweden's case?

Just looking at the two data below makes me think Makabenta is deadly wrong in assuming that Sweden's model will perfectly work for the Philippines more than a month after a lockdown was implemented in the country. Sweden, based on the data, should not be very confident that it is flattening the curve. While herd immunity is a novel idea, that paradigm should be coupled with strict quarantine measures especially so that pandemic cases are still rising. 

The dream of flattening the pandemic curve is not far from over yet. Perhaps, Makabenta needed to seek for another model that does not look so deceptive. How about taking the case of Thailand or Vietnam? Wanna bet? Let us take the case of Vietnam for instance.

According to Michael Sullivan who wrote on April 16 the article, "

In Vietnam, There Have Been Fewer Than 300 COVID-19 Cases And No Deaths. Here's Why,"

"Vietnam shares a border with China, yet it has reported no deaths from COVID-19 and just 268 confirmed cases, when other Southeast Asian nations are reporting thousands. Experts say experience dealing with prior pandemics, early implementation of aggressive social distancing policies, strong action from political leaders and the muscle of a one-party authoritarian state have helped Vietnam" 

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/16/835748673/in-vietnam-there-have-been-fewer-than-300-covid-19-cases-and-no-deaths-heres-why 

April 9 COVID-19 DATA

SWEDEN: 687 COVID deaths; 8.4K confirmed cases

SWITZERLAND: 715 COVID deaths; 22.7 K confirmed cases

NORWAY: 166 COVID deaths; 6.1K confirmed cases

PHILIPPINES: 203 COVID deaths; 4.1K confirmed cases

So a little over a week after, what happened Mr. Makabenta? Your persuasion that the Duterte administration should adopt Sweden's approach is not simply going to work because for one thing, there is no such thing as extreme culture of individualism that naturally will socially distance one Filipino fellow from the other. Adding to the worst scenario of the case is that some people especially in Metropolitan Manila wantonly violate the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) protocols. So what are you talking about when you say that it makes no sense to prolong the people’s isolation and the country’s economic pain? While there is really a need for a strategic foresight in the government's battle plan versus the pandemic, adopting Sweden’s nuanced approach to gradually return the Filipino lives to normalcy can't be the option at this point in time. Philippines' case might resemble that of Brazil if it does follow Sweden's. But wait! Look at the April 19 data, the Philippines is no match to Sweden when it comes to the number of cases and number of deaths. Much more if we talk about number of deaths per million. Is Sweden really flattening the curve as claimed by Yen Makabenta of the Manila Times?

https://brazilian.report/coronavirus-brazil-live-blog/

I fully disagree that lifting social distancing and Enhanced Community Quarantine measures will give the Filipino people the glory of curving virus infections and fatalities at this point in time.

Tell that one or two months from now and you might be correct. For a moment, we haven't reached the very peak of this pandemic in the Philippines yet. Not this month of April nor the next month still. How about giving the month of June a fresh start?

Low scale lockdown for the Philippines, as suggested by Makabenta, may bring back the country to its economic shape yet I don't see any flattening of the curve but a competitive rise of fatalities and number of new cases among those four countries he was trying to compare with the exception of Norway that seems to see much brighter future of flattening the curve.

For now, let us just brace ourselves which of these three countries (Switzerland, Philippines and Sweden) is racing faster to the top of the chart in terms of death and more new cases of the Corona virus infections. Sweden comes first when it comes to the number of deaths while Switzerland beams with insult for its almost doubled confirmed cases as compared to that of Sweden. The Philippines maybe tailing behind Sweden and Switzerland but who knows? I can't trust the herd mentality of urban Filipino of Metro Manila much more if you loosen the rein of the quarantine measures this early.

The Lenism of Yen Makabenta

ETONG SI YEN MAKABENTA NAGLELENISM NGAYON UKOL SA COVID-19

May sinulat ang mamamahayag ng Manila Times na si Yen Makabenta. Gusto yata niyang ibenta and Swedish Model as an approach towards COVID-19 dito sa Pinas. Parang ala Leni's approach sa war on drugs na ang binibenta naman ay ang Portugal model.

As of present time, second highest sa death rate na sa COVID-19 ang Pinas sa Southeast Asian region. Pumapangalawa lang naman siya sa Indonesia. Sa bilang naman ng confirmed cases eh top pa rin ang Indonesia sa Southeast Asia. Tapos gusto netong Yen na ibenta sa goberno ni Digong ang Swedish model daw bilang approach para labanan ang COVID-19. Ay abaw, eh di ibenta mo na lang kay Leni total may sariling goberno naman si Leni di ba? President na yata siya ng Non Government Organization and Leni is being supported by private companies such as Ligo Sardines (Philippines) and of course the still part of the Digong government na Commission on Human Rights (CHR). https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Lenism

Ngayong April 19, ayon sa John Hopkins COVID-19 tracker, narito ang bilang ng COVID-19 cases sa Sweden:

Confirmed cases = 14,285
Confirmed deaths = 1,540
Sweden's Population = About 10.2 M
Low Scale Lockdown (1st LEVEL)

Kumpara natin sa Pilipinas

Confirmed cases = 6,259
Confirmed deaths = 409
Philippines Population = About 109.3 M
Enhanced Community Quarantine (2nd LEVEL)

Lenism approach here in the Philippines by buying in into the Swedish model would even worsen the Philippines' situation. Baka abutan pa neto ang bilang ng COVID cases sa Sweden pati na din ang bilang ng mga namatay na.

Ayon sa artikulong “Has Sweden found the right solution to the coronavirus?” na sinulat nina John Fund, columnist ng National Review Magazine at saka si Jooel Hay, propesor pharmaceutical economics and policy kumbinsidong kumbinsido si Makabenta na iyong analysis daw ng sumulat sa artikulong eto ay " powerful, persuasive and incontrovertible" . Bigla ko tuloy naalala mga pinagsasabi nina Trillanes, Hontiveros, Drilon, at iyong VERA FILES fuckCHECKER na si Ellen Tordesillas na CONVINCING na CONVINCING si Bikoy noong hindi pa siya nag-iiba ng tono sa mga exposes niya.

Pero, pisti ka, Yen. Ibenta mo na lang iyang Swedish Model na iyan sa iba.

Narito kasi ang nangyari dahil sa low scale lockdown sa Sweden ngayon ayon kay HANS BERGSTROM na isang propesor ng Political Science at dating editor-in-chief ng isang leading daily newspaper sa Sweden na Dagens Nyheter.

Sinulat niya etong article na: "The Grim Truth About the “Swedish Model”. Kunin na lang natin mga mahahalagang nasabi tungkol sa artikulong eto:

A. LOW SCALE LOCKDOWN

** Sweden maintains an open society by doing an unorthodox response to the pandemic

In Stockholm, bars and restaurants are filled with people enjoying the spring sun after a long, dark winter. Schools and gyms are open. Swedish officials have offered public-health advice but have imposed few sanctions. No official guidelines recommend that people wear masks.

B. COMBINATION OF TRUST IN PUBLIC INSTITUIONS and EXTREME INDIVIDUALISM

** Prime Minister Stefan Löfven made a point of appealing to Swedes’ self-discipline, expecting them to act responsibly without requiring orders from authorities.

HOWEVER, there is an issue about such combined paradigm:

The government did not consciously design a Swedish model for confronting the pandemic based on trust in the population’s ingrained sense of civic responsibility. Rather, actions were shaped by bureaucrats and then defended after the fact as a testament to Swedish virtue. In practice, the core task of managing the outbreak fell to a single man: state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell at the National Institute of Public Health.

THE MISTAKE: Thousands of Swedish families returning from late-February skiing in the Italian Alps were strongly advised to return to work and school if not visibly sick, even if family members were infected. Tegnell argued that there were no signs of community transmission in Sweden, and therefore no need for more general mitigation measures. Despite Italy’s experience, Swedish ski resorts remained open for vacationing and partying Stockholmers.

AYAW NI Tegnell ng LOCKDOWN talaga dahil isang draconian policiy eto at dahil katulad ng America enjoy na enjoy ng Sweden ang demokrasya, ayon LOW SCALE LOCKDOWN na nga ang pantapat nila sa pandemic na eto.

C. *** SWEDEN GOVERNMENT REMAINS PASSIVE IN GENERAL

Naniniwala ang gobyerno ng Sweden sa herd immunity at maging sustainable daw iyong low scale lockdown na ginawa bilang SWEDISH MODEL na dapat tularan sa buong mundo. Parang approach din eto ni President Bolzonaro sa Brazil hanggang napilitan na din ang Brazil na magLOCKDOWN talaga.

But folks, tinuligsa eto ng mga independent experts sa kanikanilang fields sa Sweden:

"Some 22 of the country’s most prominent professors in infectious diseases and epidemiology published a commentary in Dagens Nyheter calling on Tegnell to resign and appealing to the government to take a different course of action.

By mid-March, and with wide community spread, Löfven was forced to take a more active role. Since then, the government has been playing catch-up. From March 29, it prohibited public gatherings of more than 50 people, down from 500, and added sanctions for noncompliance. Then, from April 1, it barred visits to nursing homes, after it had become clear that the virus had hit around half of Stockholm’s facilities for the elderly."

https://www.facebook.com/mentorforyoungonce/posts/10216382690939947

TATLO ANG RASON KUNG BAKIT ETONG BINEBENTA NI YEN NA MAMAHAYAG DITO SA PINAS AY MISGUIDED

1) There will always be free riders in any society, and when it comes to a highly contagious disease, it doesn’t take many to cause major harm.

2) There is a possibility of asymptomatic transmission and that infected individuals are most contagious before they start showing symptoms.

3) Third, the composition of the Swedish population has changed. Sweden is already a melting pot of races due to high rate of IMMIGRATION.

"Now that COVID-19 is running rampant through nursing homes and other communities, the Swedish government has had to backpedal. Others who may be tempted by the “Swedish model” should understand that a defining feature of it is a higher death toll." - HANS BERGSTROM

https://www.manilatimes.net/…/sweden-has-found-the-…/711559/

https://www.project-syndicate.org/…/swedish-coronavirus-no-…