"Today's fiction becomes tomorrow's reality"
I coined this phrase decades ago when it donned on me that many of the events that happen in our world were preconceived by people decades or centuries before us.
For example, in 1865 in a Novel "Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne he envisioned man landing on the moon.
At the time nobody thought it was possible. Less than 104 years later it happened.
As the famous author, Napoleon Hill stated: "what man can conceive and believe man can achieve".
Unfortunately, what is happening this last month and especially last week is a real-life version of many movie plots over the last decade with the theme of a disease spreading around the world rapidly which usually ends up with zombies.
I don't think we will have zombies generated from the current deadly coronavirus but I do believe we are going to have a lot of people die from it. I pray I'm wrong.
Skeptical about Chinese Nationals:
Yesterday after having a lovely Chinese new year at my friends West Coast villa we ventured to Tuban, Bali.
Our designation was Discovery Mall.
On the way over to the mall, which is a long drive these days, I updated myself on the latest news on the Coronavirus.
By the time we arrived at the mall I became very concerned about my family's health knowing that this mall is popular, especially with Chinese tourists.
To avoid contact or being infected by the disease I found myself briefing them on the way in to stay close to me and don't wander off and "if I tell you to move, quickly move".
I explained to them that all you need is one Chinese tourist sneezing on you and it could be the end of your life, with a 10% mortality rate.
As we walked around the mall we became more and more paranoid since over the majority of the shoppers were Chinese tourists and most of them had masks either over their faces or hanging around their chins.
I felt I was living in a modern-day version of a Hollywood movie based on a virus epidemic.
Obviously, they had just arrived from China for the Chinese new year which took place yesterday. Which means that they were on airplanes that may have had infected Chinese citizens.
I found myself trying to differentiate between mainland Chinese and Chinese Indonesians, of which many are my friends.
So we listened clearly to their conversations and felt very comfortable with Indonesian Chinese as they are not from the area where this virus is spreading fast.
In the end, I felt bad for them because I was not alone in avoiding them. It was obvious on their faces that they were concerned and not comfortable with this fear of contact with them.
In the washrooms, I made sure that after we washed our hands we didn't touch anything on the way out.
Later we moved over to the relatively new TSM mall to watch a movie.
On the way, I asked my driver to stop and purchase some masks just to make sure that we had adequate supplies in case the virus finally arrived in Bali. Which it has not.
My fears of a consumer-run on masks were confirmed when my driver came out and advised us that they were sold out of the N95 mask that I wanted.
We watched one Chinese tourist walk out with five boxes of masks and we were told that they were sold out of the N95. So we purchased one box of surgical masks.
I found out later after doing some research on masks that the surgical mask is actually better than the N95 for disease prevention.
Later he dropped us off at the mall and we took a few of the masks with us
In the mall, we were relieved to discover that there were few mainland Chinese and felt comfortable walking around without masks.
Finally when in the movie theatre I advised my family to put the masks on.
Understand one thing there's a reason that the president of China closed all theatres in China because theatres are where people come into close contact at all it takes is one sneeze.
I found myself scrutinizing the audience as I entered trying to determine if any of them were mainland Chinese, who often have a nasty habit of sneezing on people.
Later we had a Chinese dinner in the same mall without masks and felt comfortable.
On the way home once again we tried to buy some masks and found all pharmacies were sold out. So obviously I'm not alone in my concerns.
The bottom line is this. If I was traveling I would wear a mask from the moment I arrived at the airport departure gate until I arrived through customs into a taxi at my destination.
As I learned as a Yacht captain who avoided several major disasters "It is always better to be safe than sorry".
We will be keeping a close watch on the situation in the coming days and weeks. I will not hesitate to pull our boys completely out of school to stay in our villa with no interaction with tourists except for the ones at our hotel.
In addition, I will have a meeting with our hotel staff tomorrow and brief them on precautions they should take and any advice that they should offer hotel guests who may be concerned.
In the meantime, you can watch the spread of this virus throughout the world on the website mentioned below.
Again this reminds me of movies in the past where they watched the disease spread and talked about how fast it can spread and how many people can be affected in such a short time.
One last thought I had yesterday in regards to the Chinese disease is that yes Bali and Indonesia will lose them for some arrivals to this deadly disease.
I then thought what would I do if I was a Chinese family visiting Bali now escaped the chaos going on in China. The answer came quickly would not return my family to China until it was over. This means in the meantime I would be seeking long-term recently price accommodations.
So in the short term, there may be A surge in demand for Chinese families seek to stay in Bali and escape the catastrophe back home until it's over.
Much the same as Chinese escape from Hong Kong to Australia and bought real estate with the recent Hong Kong protests threatening their families.
One last piece of advice. It would not hurt to load up on emergency supplies such as non-perishable food, first aid kit, batteries, candles etc.
Let's pray that they come up with a cure quickly and get this thing under control.
This is the most likely scenario based on experience with SARS 2012.
In the meantime remember "It's always better to be safe than sorry".
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How to Track the Virus Daily:
Corinne Reichert
January 25, 2020 7:31 AM PST
You can track the spread of coronavirus with an online dashboard.Screenshot by Corinne Reichert/CNET
With the deadly coronavirus spreading across the globe, an online dashboard can help you keep up with the news. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering has built a tool pulling in data from the World Health Organisation, as well as the centers for disease control in the US, China and Europe. It shows all coronavirus confirmed, suspected and recovered patients, and deaths.
Coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has so far killed 41 people and infected almost 1,000. Cases have been confirmed in the US and Europe, with the illness exhibiting pneumonia-like symptoms. It was first reported to the World Health Organization on Dec. 31, with Chinese scientists linking the disease to a family of viruses known as coronaviruses that include the deadly SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS
Second US case and first European cases confirmed: Everything we know
As of publication time, the dashboard showed 916 confirmed cases in mainland China, five in Thailand, three each in Singapore and Taiwan, and two in Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, South Korea, the US, Vietnam and France.
Australia's first case of coronavirus has since also been confirmed, with the patient being held in isolation in a Melbourne hospital. Australia's ABC News reported that five other people are being tested for the virus in New South Wales.
Originally posted earlier this week.
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