I am in confinement in France. There has been so much written about the Covid-19 crisis there hardly seems anything new to write about. Certainly most of what is presented in the mainstream I disagree with compared to the excellent reporting found on LRC. I also learn a lot from others such as James Corbett, Robert Wenzel and the Bionic Mosquito. But here I report on my observations from France that might be of interest to the international LRC audience.

First a positive story. The word for a crow (the black bird) in French is corbeau. But in familiar French a corbeau is a person who makes an anonymous denunciation to the authorities. In the context of the Covid-19 crisis this practice consists of calls to the police to report on people violating social distancing rules. In the US just look at Mayor de Blasio of New York. However, in France there is a vastly different approach. As this article from the newspaper Le Monde reports, due to the lasting memories of the denouncements of Jews and the resistance during the German occupation there is social pressure not to denounce people. But officially, even the police have stated they do not want to receive these calls; noting that it is often neighbors who already have had problematic relations who denounce each other. Some hard lessons are learned.

Living just outside Paris I have a lot of experience with extremely dark winters. Paris is very far north, at latitude 48.8566N similar to Montreal. In January I often arrive at work in the night and leave when night has returned. Furthermore, the sun hardley shines in the winter due to the maritime climate in Paris during this season. I had been convinced many years ago by the LRC writers Sardi, Brownstein, etc. that improving immunity by taking vitamin D is the key to preventing the flu. In France vitamins are not readily available over the counter. I need a prescription from a doctor to get my vitamin D. My current doctor prescribes for me one dose of 80,000 IU every three months. It is in liquid form and comes in an ampoule (glass bulb). The Identity of France... Fernand Braudel Best Price: $3.25 Buy New $21.72 (as of 11:27 UTC - Details)

My practice, in spite of the doctor’s prescription, is to take an ampoule the fist of December, January, and February for protection during the winter. Since I started this practice about five-years-ago I have hardly had a sniffle. This year I continued in March to daily take 2000 IU tablets I had purchased in the US. That is until the weather turned to glorious spring sunshine. So now I sit on the balcony in the sun in lieu of the tablets. About four weeks ago my wife started to have symptoms of Covid-19 (or the flu, see below) consisting of a slight fever and diarrhea. I gave her my extra ampoule of vitamin D, and the tablets daily. Her symptoms were gone after the first day. We did not quarantine her in our apartment as it was not feasible in any event. My daughter has a slight rash that could be symptomatic of the virus. I have been symptom free.

I have watched several hours of coverage of Covid-19 on French television, including speeches by President Macron and Prime Minister Philipe, and interviews with many, many doctors and scientists. I have not seen a single mention of natural immunity; not a single mention of diet, supplements, nor sunshine. Perhaps of all the literal crimes committed by the authorities, this crime of omission by them, the healthcare community and by the media could be the worst. It  would be so simple to help so many people by following the advice of a physician like Dr. Brownstein without changing any other practice and with only a tiny pittance of cost. Heck, just to advise, sitting on the balcony in the sunshine could do so much more for healthcare workers than clapping at 8 PM.

A particular problem in the US is the incredible divisiveness over Trump. An illustration of this from the French perspective is the media scrutiny of the chloroquine treatment. In this US article reporting negative results the lead is that chloroquine is “Trump touted.” Trump has nothing to do with this particular study or whether or not chloroquine is a good idea. As Trump is the worst possible leader to the resistance, Emmanuel Macron might be the best example of a modern, technocratic leader to the same people who hate Trump. Yet this article shows that Macron is perhaps much more enthusiastic about chloroquine than Trump. I think this kind of comparison could be helpful to treat otherwise intelligent and well intentioned people of Trump derangement syndrome.

handling MR. HYDE: que... Katz, Ira Best Price: $17.20 Buy New $12.98 (as of 04:58 UTC - Details) By profession I am a research scientist/engineer. Thus, I am very comfortable researching scientific literature. When the Covid-19 crisis became imminent I did a brief overview and came across this apropos article in PLOSone from 2012: Characterization of Human Coronavirus Etiology in Chinese Adults with Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infection by Real-Time RT-PCR Assays. The key line in the paper is “Undifferentiated human rhinoviruses and influenza (Flu) A were the most common viruses detected (more than 35%) in HCoV co-infections.”  And more, “Our study also suggested that all non-SARS-associated HCoVs contribute significantly to URTI in adult patients in China.” My takeaway was that coronavirus is understood to be part of the normal cold and flu season, coexisting with other viruses. In fact, to differentiate the symptoms of Covid, that is, what virus is causing what symptom, is very difficult to do. This paper led me to believe that most likely this was perhaps a bad year, but otherwise typical of the flu season that includes the various flu strains including corona viruses. While the ultimate data might change my opinion, up until now this view has been reinforced in the passing weeks.

I have mentioned in a previous LRC piece the French principe de precaution, which in effect has been the response of the world’s governments. What I have not heard is the classical, but seemingly forgotten, bioethics dictum, first do no harm. So we wait here, like people are waiting around the world, for the following waves of harm caused by government actions. President Macron has given us the target of May 11th for the end of the confinement period, but it will be a progressive restart. So we are still unsure what we will be able to do when, as far as work and school are concerned. And perhaps most important for the French people, what vacations will be possible!

Finally, my hope for the LRC community is to Stay Free while trying to Stay Safe.

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