I got an anxious call from a person who asked: Will there be a cure?

Much research is being done to discover how we can best control corona virus, with a chemical concoction that is being prepared. How long this will take, I said, I do not know and doubt whether anybody knows.

Apparently a cure could be found in the body of people who have been able to successfully overcome the corona attack. We’re told that over the centuries, many epidemics were experienced which today have little to no effect on people because our bodies became accustomed to neutralise them. When however people travel to areas where other people have led their lives in isolation, these were exterminated by diseases for which their bodies had not gotten protection and for which the travellers served as carriers.

In future, new pandemics will spread because in the same way that man’s body has evolved, so will viri and bacteria have undergone similar developments. A mystery that defines all forms of life is that as they continue to exist, they are also experiencing perpetual change.

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AGREEMENT...

Just before Good Friday, the finance ministers of the eurozone agreed on the third measure of financial support to back the economies and finances of member countries now and in the near future. They also indicated they will be discussing and finalising another financial package for the time when, the corona virus epidemic having been overcome, the objective will become that of securing the recovery of European economies from the hits they have been taking.

The proposal for a joint European bond which all would guarantee was not approved. Instead a credit of 240 billion euros will be released from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the fund which was accumulated over past years with contributions from eurozone members to provide financial support to governments in troubled times. Such funds though can only be used for projects that buttress public health protection against corona virus.

Frankly I doubt whether the decisions just taken will meet the need of many countries to be given strong support as they face huge difficulties. We shall see.

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GLOBALIZED

Debates triggered in Europe during these last weeks relate to a “strategic” problem that has made itself clearly felt. In the past whenever it was mentioned, there were always voices to ridicule it and nothing was done.

But, does it make sense for the European continent to become dependent on the production of another continent by way of the supply of essential articles needed to safeguard public health?

To be sure, the same question has been raised in European countries regarding the same kind of relationship vis à vis supplies they needed to access from other European countries.

 It so happens that when a huge emergency arises and a country has to source these items from another one which is facing the same emergency, that other country will naturally give priority to its own needs... and will keep outsiders waiting.

What should the limits of globalization be? Or would it be a mistake to set these limits according to the imperatives that arise during such an extraordinary emergency?