There may be a fairly simple explanation as to Bali’s apparently low rate of covid-19 mortality. My guess, for what little it is worth, is that Bali will ultimately record around 1,500 deaths attributed to covid-19, many of which would have occurred anyway due to factors such as age and pre-existing illness (cancer, heart disease, etc.). The reason Bali’s fatality numbers are so low is simply that Bali has a small population: around 4 million people. If we look at Switzerland, which has 8 million people, reported covid-19 deaths so far are around 1,500 and these too include many that would have occurred anyway for other reasons. Let’s assume, even though the mortality rate has plummeted in recent weeks, that Switzerland ultimately records 3,000 deaths for covid-19. That will be 0.0375% of the total population.
Most people believe covid-19 is an existential threat simply because the mass media eagerly publicizes deaths but provides zero context. Let’s look at the UK, where the headlines scream “30,000 deaths!!!” But with a population of around 67 million, this equates to 0.04% of the population — not far from the Bali number I estimate will be the final toll. In the USA where headlines scream “75,000 deaths!!!” the population is around 330 million, which means the covid-19 toll so far is… 0.023%.
We have been stampeded into global hysteria by a totally irresponsible mass media that relies entirely on creating sensation in order to generate revenues. We’ve shut down the world and created a worse economic mess than the Great Depression and have thrown 1.5 billion people into financial distress. Simply so that the likes of Rupert Murdoch can keep on making profits.
The real lesson of Bali is that covid-19 was never the existential threat most people believed. Most people were gulled by sensationalist reportage and stampeded into mindless panic, forcing politicians to react with absurd self-harming policies designed primarily to cover up the fact many countries’ health care systems have been woefully under-funded for years.
The real lesson of Bali is very simple: the media blew covid-19 up into the greatest story of the year in order to generate revenue, and the rest of the world fell for it harder than anyone would have imagined possible.
