Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: 14.4.20

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain*

The C Word

• This is my table of a comparison of death rate and deaths per million of population. Crude observations:-

- Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, the UK and the Netherlands are doing very badly.
- Sweden - the only example of the 'herd immunity' strategy - is somewhere in the middle.
- Germany is doing relatively well and must offer some good lessons for healthcare generally as well as for pandemic handling.
- South Korea, New Zealand and Australia are doing very well. [Richard North: The  merits of 'test and trace' have been well-rehearsed and good evidence of its value comes from Taiwan, South Korea and New Zealand]
- The USA is doing better than several European countries but is rising in the rankings.
- Our neighbour, Portugal is doing a lot better than Spain.
- Russia is also doing very well, if the numbers are accurate.
- Ditto China.

By case numbers	By death rate %	By deaths per million of pop.
USA 4.1 Spain 10.4 Italy 12.8 France 11.0 Germany 2.5 UK 12.8 China 4.0 Iran 6.3 Turkey 2.1 Belgium 12.8 Netherlands 10.5 Switzerland 4.3 Canada 3.0 Brazil 5.9 Russia 0.8 Portugal 3.2 Austria 2.6 Israel 1.0  Sweden 8.3 Ireland 3.4 South Korea 2.1 Australia 1.0 New Zealand 0.7 Luxembourg 2.0	Italy UK Belgium France Netherlands Spain Sweden Iran Brazil Switzerland USA China Ireland Portugal Canada Austria Germany Luxembourg S Korea Turkey Australia Israel Russia New Zealand	Spain Italy  Belgium France Netherlands UK Switzerland Luxembourg  Sweden USA Ireland Iran Portugal Austria Germany Canada Turkey Israel China Brazil S Korea Australia New Zealand Russia

Spain: Has allowed some factories to reopen as well as some construction work to restart. However, the message from government officials is that the country remains in lockdown mode. Schools, bars, restaurants and other services continue to be closed to the public and Spaniards are meant to stay at home. Said the PM: 'We are not entering a phase of de-escalation. The state of emergency is still in force and so is the lockdown. The only thing that has come to an end is the two-week extreme economic hibernation period.' 

China:  Reports a spike in virus cases as citizens return home from overseas. The country's lockdown is easing, but there are now fears about a second wave of infections. 

The USA: Every US state is now deemed a disaster zone in need of aid. As the states attempt to slow the virus’ spread and minimise deaths they are competing with each other, and the federal government, in a cut-throat global market for medical supplies. State governors are cutting unorthodox deals directly with companies in an attempt to beat their competitors — and compatriots — to precious hauls of masks and other protective equipment. States are paying ballooning prices for scarce resources, and abandoning rules about how to spend taxpayers’ money, for example by offering full funds up front to sweeten the deal.

Life in the Time of Something Like Cholera

• Did Spain really want more really want more very bad news?
• I doubt anyone would accurately guess the number of Spaniards fined for breaking the lockdown rules - 650, 000, so far.
• María's Day 30.
• Which reminds me . . . I was pleased to get this endorsement from Maria as regards my neighbours' individualismo:- Yes, I think your new neighbor is practicing individualismo. They're doing what they want on their side of the property, whether you like it or not. They feel they don't need to inform or ask you if you like it. As long as they're on their side, it's their property, and you have no say. This anti-social/inconsiderate attitude is one of the few aspects of Spanish culture I really dislike. Odd in a very friendly people. But, then, nations - like people - are hives of inconsistency.
• BTW . . . My new neighbours bought the house in December and there've been obras (works) taking place ever since. Virtually every day. I wonder how this classifies as 'essential work', unlike the plumber who came to attend to my leaks.

The EU

• Yanis Varoufakis  has written a hard-hitting article which starts: Europe suffered a historic defeat on Thursday night. After weeks of impasse, the Eurogroup gathering of finance ministers, whose countries share the euro, reached a decision on their collective response to the coronavirus pandemic’s economic impact. Besides constituting an epic dereliction of duty, the Eurogroup’s decision dealt a decisive blow to the foundations of the European Union – much to the delight of Europe’s critics and enemies. And ends: Thursday’s Eurogroup verdict, besides being macro-economically insignificant, was politically irresponsible and a fantastic boon for Eurosceptics in Europe, the UK and indeed in the White House. 

The USA   

• Great understatements in history: Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow — ‘Just a little stroll gone bad’. Pompeii — ‘A bit of a dust storm’. Hiroshima — ‘A bad summer heat wave’; Donald Trump: Wuhan — ‘Just a bad flu season.”  and “The virus is very well under control. There will be a very good ending for it”. 
• It had to happen: The last time Bishop  Glenn delivered a sermon, he proudly proclaimed how full the church was despite the threat of COVID-19. He didn’t give a damn that gatherings were supposed to be limited to 10 people. “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus.” he said, repeating it a second time to claps, adding that “people are healed” in his church.  On Sunday, the church announced that Glenn had died of COVID-19. So I guess God has His limits.

The Way of the World 

• The Guardian: For governments looking to monitor their citizens even more closely, and companies looking to get rich by doing the same, it would be hard to imagine a more perfect crisis than a global pandemic.
• On the other hand, older folk have been saying that the Woke generation - or even the entirety of youth - needed to have something terrible to happen to it, so that it could achieve a degree of perspective on the real issues of the moment.

Spanish

• Word of the Day:- Desonsiderado/Poco considerado: Inconsiderate.

Finally . . .

• Not new but still funny, to us Northerners, at least:-

• It reminded me that, many years ago, when a train between Stansted and London stopped suddenly between stations, I made some funny crack. Total silence. My daughter, aged 5, asked out loud: "Daddy, Why are the people not laughing at your joke". "Because, sweetheart, we're in the South", I replied.