In many Christian Churches this first
Sunday in Lent, communion was offered quite differently. In some churches, it
was served as a buffet. Communion bread was placed on a table with disposable
forks and wine was purred into small individual cups for communicants to take a
cup and drink. The wine and bread were blessed amass. All these were measures
to calm the fears in the congregation. Some people are forecasting a slow and
steady decline of worshippers in an already declining Christian Churches.
The impact on churches is nothing
compared to the panic at Wall Street and global businesses. Wall Street lost
14% of its portfolio an amount that is equal to trillions of dollars as
investors pulled back from investing following downturns in the airline, hotel,
tourism, etc. Supply chains have been disrupted to the extent that even
industries not directly affected are no longer able to produce because of the lack of supplies.
Corona Virus hysteria has also reached
sporting events. In Italy, many stadia are off-limits to sports fans.
Footballers play in empty stadiums and fans watch from their TVs at home.
Consider the impact on beer and snack sales. It is no just football but also
hockey, track, and fields, basketball, movies, etc. China and several countries
have closed down schools, including some schools in California and Washington
states in the US. The guess is that there will be more lockdowns that might include
grocery shopping and malls.
And there is no end in sight.
President Trump in his national
broadcast said the Corona Virus risk is very low. Could he be right for the
first time in his presidency?
Facts seem to support his position.
Here are some facts:
Disease No
of Cases Deaths
Corona
Virus
90,000
3,000
2018/2019
Flu 43
million
61,200
Ebola
28,600
11,325
Of course, Corona Virus has not run its
course so we do not know how many cases there will be nor how many deaths. But
given the available data, President Trump may be right.
That Mr. Trump could be right should
not be interpreted to mean that no preparation is needed. Far from it. It is
better to be over-prepared than to be unprepared. Countries that have a weak
health care system like Nigeria should be on the ready so that they can move to
go if the virus spreads as it is being forecasted. One cannot be too careful.
There are many Solutions being peddled.
This may well be a more dangerous problem. One that came across my desk was
that some foods like onions, garlic, etc. can cure the virus. In addition to
getting prepared efforts must be made to minimize the impact of peddlers of
false cures.
Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba
Boston, Massachusetts
March 1, 2020
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