COVID-19 Craziness

In Cambodia, we're dealing with the largest COVID-19 outbreak to date. As of the writing of this, there have been 2,377 total cases and 11 deaths.  Prior to what's been dubbed the "February 20th Event" of this year, there were only a few hundred cases.  Now, there are people on both sides of the fence regarding how to deal with COVID.  It's lockdown versus herd immunity.  Without getting into the scientific arguments of both of those, I want to present another fact that immediately impacts our situation in Cambodia: Tuberculosis.  Annually, about 13,000 people die of the disease, often referred to as TB.  So, since COVID-19 made news just over a year ago, about 13,000 people have died of TB, versus 11 dying of COVID.  Looking at those numbers, it would seem to make a lot more sense to focus efforts on diseases (TB, Malaria, dengue fever, avian influenza) that are killing Cambodians at a much higher rate.  Cambodians are completely aware of the risk of these diseases, yet have struggled to practice proper sanitation and take effective measures against the spread of them.  The fear regarding COVID-19 does not make sense when one takes into account the risks of all these other diseases.

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