Market Watch reported, “Trump believes coronavirus will vanish with April temps — experts are skeptical warm weather alone is enough.” The evidence from the Southern Hemisphere says Trump is wrong as he often is with the conspiracy theories he hears from Rush Limbaugh or Fox’s Hannity.
If you listen to Trump, what do you have to lose?
The answer is your life, but if you are a gambler that always thinks the odds are in your favor, no matter how many times you have lost, go ahead.
Please, do it!
The meteorological seasons in the Southern Hemisphere are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere: Spring starts September 1 and ends November 30; Summer starts December 1 and ends February 28 (February 29 in a Leap Year); Fall (autumn) starts March 1 and ends May 31. The Southern Hemisphere’s Summer happens when the Earth is closest to the Sun, and their winter when the Earth is furthest. This makes their seasons even more severe.
Brazil’s 1st case of COVID-10 was on February 25 (in the Summer) and the first death on March 18 (in the Fall). By May 27, 25,598 Brazilians had died of the virus (and it was still Fall or Autumn). In February, the average temperature in Brazil is 95 degrees Fahrenheit with heavy humidity. In March, the average is 85 degrees with heavy humidity.
As May and Autumn come to an end and winter begins, in South America, deaths from COVID-19 totaled more than 35,000, and, I repeat, this was during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer.
Brazil’s president reacted like President Donald Trump and decided to ignore the virus and treat it like it was a hoax, that it would go away like magic. The BBC reported in April, “Coronavirus advice ignored by Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has come under criticism for his response to coronavirus, most recently for attending an anti-lockdown rally where he was seen coughing without covering his mouth.”
The Wall Street Journal recently reported in May, “U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 100,000 as South American Cases Surge.” Is that surge because Fall is giving way to Winter?
Australia and New Zealand are also in the Southern Hemisphere and Australia’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on January 25. To date, Australia has reported 103 deaths. Australia, unlike Brazil and the United States, closed its borders on March 20 and also started to close all “non-essential” services like pubs and clubs. The Conversation.com reported, “The effect of Australia’s strict border control measures, implemented relatively early in the pandemic, can clearly be seen in the graph below (click the link in this paragraph to see graph). Federal and state governments introduced strict social distancing rules; schools, pubs, churches, community centers, entertainment venues, and even some beaches were closed.”
New Zealand confirmed its first case on February 28. All borders and entry ports of New Zealand were closed to all non-residents at 11:59 pm on 19 March 2020, with returning citizens and residents being required to self-isolate. Since April 10, all New Zealanders returning from overseas must go into two weeks of supervised quarantine. Politico reported, “How New Zealand beat the coronavirus by isolating itself from the world.” Only twenty-two deaths from the virus have been confirmed in New Zealand.
Who do you trust, Donald Trump or the scientific experts and the facts from the Southern Hemisphere?
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Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam combat veteran with a BA in journalism and an MFA in writing, who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).
Running with the Enemy is also available through Kindle Unlimited
