Corona Daily 292: Event 201

On 18 October, a pandemic discussion took place for three and a half hours at Hotel Pierre in New York. It was called “Event 201”. Three parties jointly hosted it. The Johns Hopkins Center for Health security, the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates was not present himself. However, he was represented by one of the foundation’s presidents.

The invite-only event included medical professionals, policy experts, business analysts, people from public health and civil society. Directors of CDC, USA as well as CDC, China (Centers for disease control and prevention) were present. The varied group included directors of Marriott hotels, Lufthansa, Johnson & Johnson, ANZ bank group, and media experts. A select invited audience of 130 people attended. A livestream of the event was available to everyone.  

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The group discussed how important it was for governments to join hands with private companies. What should be done with supply chains for rapid and equitable distribution of medical measures. The importance of all countries working together with transport companies to maintain travel and trade. Ways of combating mis- and dis-information. The CDC, China person raised the issue of countering possible rumours that the coronavirus was man-made. All participants agreed consistent health messaging was important. The final recommendation urged international cooperation both in preparing and handling a severe global pandemic.  

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Nobody in the hall was wearing a mask. Everyone shook hands. People who knew each other well, hugged. The distance between two panelists was just one foot or so.

Confused? Event 201, the pandemic conference, happened on 18 October 2019, not 2020. The event was held just six weeks before the start of the current pandemic.

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Event 201 was a simulation exercise that discussed the dilemmas and a possible response to a hypothetical severe, worldwide pandemic. It talked of a coronavirus that would start in a single country, and then spread across the whole world. The panel feared the pandemic would bring profound economic consequences. Travel bookings would go down by 45%. GDP would be down by 11%, and stock markets between 20% and 40%. Faith in governments would be shattered, and distrust towards social media would grow.

The model projected 26000 deaths after a month, 660,000 deaths after three months. The fictional scenario ends after 18 months, with 65 million deaths.

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It is worthwhile to browse the Event 201 website. So close to the actual pandemic, it provided ammunition to conspiracy theorists. After the actual pandemic started, the Event 201 organisers had to issue a statement clarifying its model was not talking of the covid-19 virus, and that 65 million deaths should not be construed as a prediction.

Since 2015, Bill Gates has been talking about Global Pandemics being the biggest threat. Johns Hopkins had organized similar simulation exercises that portrayed fictional scenarios of a smallpox attack (remember Russia and the USA both still hold live samples of the smallpox virus). In May 2018, an event called ‘the Clade X exercise’ had discussed preventing a pandemic.

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The point is that the Covid-19 pandemic was not as unpredictable or improbable as it is made out to be. In the last few years, the number of viruses causing epidemics has grown dramatically, and averages about 200 a year. Fortunately, none of them had so far caused a severe global pandemic. What if the next virus did? That was why the exercise was called Event 201.

The threat of a pandemic has been at our doorstep for many years. This week, I will write more on the specific warnings and pandemic-prevention-projects that existed.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 293: All of a Sudden

I can name at least five acquaintances who, in the last six months, died of a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). All of them were between 50 and 60. Since I am in my fifties, I consider that too young to die.

Last month, Dean Jones, 59, a well-known Australian cricketer and commentator was staying at a south Bombay hotel. In fact, I had bumped into him a couple of times on Marine Drive during my morning run. He returned from his run, had breakfast, went to his room, and… gone.

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When the global lockdown began at the end of March, hospitals were overwhelmed. Non-essential surgeries were postponed. Private clinics were shut. People stayed at home with untreated ailments.

Cardiologists in Italy, France, New York and other places were stunned at the fall in the number of patients. The Spanish society of Cardiology published a paper showing a drop of 40%. That was only the calm before the storm.

Hospital avoidance by terrified patients had driven the numbers down. Many patients waited for months, and died without going to the hospital. Those with chest pain were tested for Covid-19 rather than an ECG examination.

Italian research showed 58% rise in the out-of-the-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) in February-March. Later months showed a 52% increase. In Paris, the numbers doubled as compared to the average of the last eight years. New York OHCAs were three times higher than usual.

Athletes were not spared either. (In Bombay, one ultra-runner died in his sleep). A July research studied 100 athletes with Covid-19, and found some signs of myocarditis in 60 of them, meaning they had inflammation in the heart muscle, which can in rare cases lead to a sudden cardiac arrest. Some sports organizations now require the players who test positive to undergo comprehensive cardiac testing.

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God forbid, if you see someone collapsing, there is a four-point procedure called the chain of survival. (a) Call the ambulance (b) CPR (c) AED (d) professional care.

911 in North America, 112 in Europe, 999 in the UK and 102 in Bombay are expected to send the ambulance as fast as possible.

CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is relatively simple. Many YouTube videos show how. By placing both hands on the patient’s chest, you push hard and fast, 100-120 chest compressions a minute. It requires energy. If more than one person is available, they should take turns. (Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is reserved for children, not adults.)

The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) supplies a dose of electric current to the heart to revive it. This device is designed for lay people who can give first aid. Priced at around $1500, It is now available at airports, hotels, and corporations.

Without CPR, the survival rate in sudden cardiac arrest is 1%. With chest compression started quickly, the survival chance improves to 10-20%. If AED is available and used, chances go up to 30-50%.

The fourth step is to hand over the patient to the professionals in the ambulance.

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For a few years in Moscow, I had a Volvo, promoted as the safest car by its makers. Once I saw a red light on my dashboard, but I didn’t know what it meant. The car was running smoothly. For ten days, the light wouldn’t go off, but the car was fine. On the eleventh day, in the middle of a broad Moscow highway, it stopped and went dead.

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Sudden cardiac arrests are rarely sudden. European society of Cardiology found that in normal times, more than 50% had visited a doctor or a hospital in the two weeks before the arrest.

In a pandemic, you may postpone a visit to a dentist, but don’t think of postponing heart matters. That can be more deadly than the coronavirus.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 294: No Bar on Receiving Money

In United States of America, every individual has a right to launch a case against the government. Colin Scholl and Lisa Strawn launched a class-action suit against Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). This class action was on behalf of some 1.5 million Americans.

Colin Scholl currently resides at Salinas Valley State Prison. Lisa Strawn at the time of launching the case was incarcerated at San Quentin State prison in California. Understandably, they represented the 1.5 million Americans who are in prisons.

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As you know, in March, the USA passed the CARES act (Coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security Act). America’s tax office, the IRS, started sending $1200 to individuals. You may remember my earlier article about 1.1 million dead people receiving stimulus checks.

IRS also stated on its website that Americans in prisons were not eligible to receive the $1200 help. However, by mistake, 85000 prisoners were sent the checks. This was nearly $100 million. Realising the mistake, IRS asked the prisoners to give the money back. (Imagine asking someone in prison to return the money. And if they don’t return it, what are you going to do, lock them up?)

The 85000 inmates who had received the checks were upset. The remaining 1.4 million were upset because they had not received any money. Colin Scholl and Lisa Strawn employed the law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein to file a class action complaint in court.

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The IRS website once again confirmed dead people and prisoners were not eligible to get aid. It asked prisons to intercept the payments going to prisoners.

IRS knew the government didn’t want to give monetary help to prisoners. (Most prisoners have no voting rights, why help them?) America can’t be distributing money to murderers, felons, gangsters, robbers, and illegals.

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This week, the judge rightly pointed out the CARES act did not exclude prisoners. In 2009, Congress had explicitly excluded prisoners from receiving payments. Therefore, the judge said, it clearly knew how to exclude them. It has actively decided not to do so this time. (For all we know, it may simply be a careless act in Trump’s America).

The judge declared the 85000 can keep the money. And the remaining 1.4 million can apply for the $1200 (the total bill $1.5 billion). Most US prisons don’t allow the prisoners internet access or personal email accounts. Prisoners are now allowed to file a paper application until 4 November. Many law firms will offer free service to prisoners to facilitate the payment.

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Loss of freedom is already a severe punishment. Free people and the State usually think prisoners can be punished endlessly. The majority of US prisoners spend on average seven months behind bars. When they come out, they still must face the pandemic. Inside the overcrowded prisons, for no fault of theirs, they are exposed to a high risk of catching the virus. Disproportionately large number of prisoners are black, Hispanics, poorer and more vulnerable than the average.

Though the Trump administration intends to appeal against the decision, it may cease to exist before a verdict is delivered.

Ravi

  

Corona Daily 295: Curfew at Night, Metro by Day

France is the only democratic nation where this can happen.

At the crack of dawn, on Thurs. 15 October, the French police conducted raids on the houses of Edouard Phillippe, the French Prime Minister until July this year; Agnes Buzyn, the health minister at the beginning of the year; Olivier Veran, the current health minister, Jerome Salomon (aka Monsieur Covid),  the Head of France’s health authority; and Sibeth Ndiaye, the French government spokeswoman until July. All of them co-operated with the police. Saloman called the national BFM-TV network and abruptly cancelled his breakfast interview appointment for “personal reasons”. Later in the day, some of them had their offices raided.

Emmanuel Macron didn’t get a knock on the door at dawn, because under French law a sitting president has immunity from prosecution in court investigations launched to uncover ministerial criminal offences.

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 In 1993, France created a special court CJR (Court of the Justice of the Republic) to try ministers for administrative and criminal offences committed while holding an office.

After the French lockdown in April and May, complaints started pouring in. Individuals, doctors’ associations, police officers, prison personnel, and relatives of Covid victims accused the ministers of misleading the country. In March, ministers had said “masks were not useful”.  This was to cover up the mask shortage. French people expect high standards of moral behaviour from their ministers. They should have been candid about the mask shortage, people said. Officials and ministers are also accused of inconsistent messages and lack of application of the WHO recommendations.

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The second wave of covid has started in France in earnest. From today, Macron has announced a strict curfew from 9 pm to 6 am in Paris and eight other regions, likely to continue till 1 December. Anyone found breaking the curfew will be fined 135 Euro on the spot. Restaurants are frustrated because people must leave as soon as they arrive to reach home before the curfew starts.

At the same time, Jean Lemoyne, the tourism minister, urged people to go on vacation during the upcoming school break to boost the tourism industry.

Contact tracing has been a disaster. In a TV interview, Jean Castex, the current Prime Minister, admitted he had not downloaded the contact tracing app. When asked the name of the app, he misnamed it.

On social media, people have wondered if the virus operates only in at night. “Curfew at night, crowded metro by day”, they laughingly say.

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The French court of justice will try all these ministers for “abstaining from combating a disaster” (article 223-7: France’s penal code). The charge requires evidence that the accused intentionally decided not to act in the face of the growing Covid-19 emergency. The charge applies when people are put in danger, or if there is failure to save lives. Investigators must show the actions of ministers were willfully absent, rather than negligence or mistakes.

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When reading this news, I simply wondered what would have happened if similar courts and laws had existed in the USA. And if the President of the USA was not immune. What would be the right punishment for deliberate and destructive pandemic management? It is noteworthy that unlike France, USA still retains the capital punishment.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 296: Morning Coffee without Newspapers: Part II

The pandemic began with Beijing censoring Chinese media on the subject. If the press were free in China, it is possible the world would have realized the seriousness of the virus sooner, and saved lives.

Governments, including democratic ones, are using the pandemic as a pretext to withhold information. The ostentatious purpose is not to create panic. The Turkish interior ministry arrested some social media users for spreading fear. In two weeks, its government had to acknowledge the wide spread of the virus. Jordan arrested Roya TV channel’s owner and news director for reporting on loss of jobs. Romanian president signed an emergency decree closing websites of fake news (as defined by the president). Myanmar banned 221 news websites, including its major news outlets. Caixin is a rare investigative group of journalists in China. The Chinese government removed many articles from its website.

One can understand repression of expression under dictatorships. But Hungary is part of the European Union. Its prime minister, Victor Orban, has used the pandemic to rule by decree. Under a new coronavirus law, he is a de facto dictator, right in the centre of free Europe. Hungary’s emergency law now stipulates five-year prison sentences for Hungarians found to be spreading “false  “information.

Tracker 19 launched by Reporters without borders (RSF) offers live updates on the pandemic’s impact on journalism in each country. It is useful to check to what extent our government is attacking the freedom of press this year.

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A print journalist has always managed to achieve depths that TV journalists can’t. The newspaper reporter can enter parliaments, courts, police stations, mafia dens with just a pocket diary and a pen. Reporters develop relationships over time, and manage to get off-the-record comments. They can spend months investigating suspected activity. The pandemic has in major ways affected this. Many reporters have lost their jobs. Those retained are asked to change their specialization. Sports journalists have little to do. If you ask a leading sports journalist to report on crime, it is like asking a heart surgeon to become a neurosurgeon.

Reporters can’t conduct confidential conversations remotely. Modern technology instills fear in people wanting to give information online. This has caused further deterioration in the already falling standards of journalism.

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Reading is an effort, much greater than listening or watching. That is why visual media is more powerful than text. Podcasts are now popular, along with audio novels. Attention spans are declining exponentially. One can assume the newspaper industry as we know it will disappear in 20-30 years from now.

Newspapers will be exclusively available online. Articles will be much shorter in length, texts combined with videos. I recommend the Axios news website. Started four years ago, it offers brief, short articles. Its founder wanted it to be a combination of the economist and twitter. Axios is a good example of the shape of things to come.

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Newspapers can get rid of their offices, printing equipment, save lots of trees, and make reporters work from home. Like travelling salesmen, they can move to collect their stories. In that sense, it is possible for good journalism to survive. People who enjoy reading newspapers can pay subscriptions. (For the last fifteen years, I have not read a newspaper or a magazine in a paper format. I am a digital subscriber of eight newspapers. By the way, as a measure of compassion, all expensive newspapers in the world have made coronavirus news free-of-cost).

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The longer the pandemic continues, the speedier will be the process of digitization of the print media. Those of us who care for democracy and freedom of expression must try to make sure the digital print media remains independent and vibrant.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 297: Morning Coffee without Newspapers: Part I

The Covid-19 pandemic is perhaps the biggest earth-shattering story in our life. Ironically, there may not be any good storytellers left by the end of it.

I am talking of the print medium - newspapers and magazines. They were already in bad shape. In the USA alone, since 2004, at least 1800 newspapers were shut. In 2008, an estimated 114,000 reporters, editors, photographers and videographers worked for newspapers. By 2019, the number declined to 88,000. The picture is similar or worse in other parts of the world. Earlier, newspapers competed with television, now they face an onslaught from real time viral social media. I don’t think our grandchildren will read newspapers with their morning cup of coffee.

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Newspapers survive on ad revenue. Spend on advertising is discretionary, in a pandemic recession you can’t expect companies to take up full-page ads. The national newspapers we receive in the mornings have become much thinner. But the bigger danger is to the local and regional press.

Local newspapers are critical for the community and for democracy. Extensive academic research shows that when a local newspaper dies, civic engagement declines, elected local officials lose their sense of accountability, corruption becomes pervasive, voters lose interest in voting. We now know more about the American presidential election or Brexit, but the potholes on our roads or when our child’s school will reopen is more relevant for us. Only the local newspapers and beat journalists investigating local affairs can offer this information. They are rapidly disappearing.

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Judiciary and the press are part of the checks and balances. Judges, as public servants, receive their salaries from the government. Journalists, for the survival of democracy, are as important as judiciary. Unfortunately, the business of news is left to the whims of market forces. Subscriptions can retain the independence of newspapers. But no newspaper can now survive on just subscriptions. Every other revenue source usually results in a loss of independence. The Washington post is a financially healthy newspaper, because it is owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. But can it ever write against Amazon?

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Small lifelines have now been offered by Facebook and Google. In the past decade, ad revenue has shifted from press to FB and Google. Google news is simply an aggregator. If newspapers disappear, Google news will be a blank sheet. Google has pledged $300 million to news outlets, FB $ 100 million. This offers some hope for small independent press. But so far, I see reports about closures alone.

The print version of Playboy, now a 66-year-old Playboy, was killed by the Pandemic in March. Rupert Murdoch’s News corporation is in the process of discontinuing dozens of newspapers and the print version of more than 100 community publications in Australia. All thanks to the pandemic. Metro, the free newspaper in England distributed 1.5 million copies every day. It has come down to 400,000. A tsunami of layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs, closures has affected newsrooms across the world.

The printed word, whether in books or newspapers, commands more trust than a WhatsApp message. The decline of the newspaper industry is one reason why the world is becoming fuller of conspiracy theories and fake news.

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The mode of delivery and quality of content are two different issues. It is inevitable newspapers in print will eventually move online. That is not the worrying part. The quality of journalism is. More on this subject tomorrow.

Ravi    

Corona Daily 298: The Man and the Mountain

Jesse Katayama from Osaka was 25 years old when he decided to travel the world. He was passionate about two things, boxing and teaching boxing. His dream was to open a boxing gym in Japan. A committed young man, Jesse decided he must spend a year visiting different countries and continents, to learn different boxing techniques. The year would also allow him to visit some of the great places in the world.

Jesse’s plan was simple. Travel a country renting small apartments. Attend boxing schools and tournaments. Where possible, earn some money by teaching boxing to local students. Using that formula, he spent two months each in Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya. Peru was his last stop. His planning was meticulous. Months before, he had booked an expensive ticket to visit Machu Picchu, Peru’s most visited site. He rented an apartment in the quiet town of Aguas Calientes, only a few miles from Machu Picchu. His ticket was for 16 March. He would end his grand world tour after that and return to Osaka.

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Machu Picchu, loosely translated as an old mountain, is a fifteenth century citadel. It is the site of an ancient Inca city, high in the Andes of Peru. Fortunately, the Spaniards who plundered the country didn’t know of its existence. Made of polished stone walls, Machu Picchu is considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world by some. If you have not seen the Taj Mahal or Machu Picchu, you have not lived. More than 1.5 million visit it every year. Tickets are exorbitant and must be booked months in advance. Despite capping the numbers of visitors, the place is always crowded. Tourists can stay only for a few hours.

On 15 March, a day before Jesse Katayama was due to visit it, Peru went into a lockdown. Machu Picchu was closed for all visitors.

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Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Jesse found ways of occupying himself. He took yoga classes. He enrolled for fitness and sports nutrition exams. Once the lockdown became relatively relaxed, he started to teach local children how to box.

Occasionally, he gazed at his entrance ticket wistfully. He had been so close. When he went on his morning run, he could see the mountain. With so much time at hand, he visited the surroundings, the Aguas Calientes waterfalls, the Putucusi mountain, Yanamayo and other places. But Machu Picchu remained elusive.

Peru has suffered badly in the pandemic. It has lost more than 33000 citizens. Peru has the highest deaths per million in the world, one out of every 1000 residents has died. And yet, Jesse waited week after week, in the hope of using his ticket.

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By now, everyone in the town he lived in knew of the Japanese who was waiting for seven months to visit Machu Picchu. Newspapers interviewed him. Hundreds of his well-wishers wanted to petition the government on his behalf.

On Mon. 5 October, in a virtual news conference, Alejandro Nevra, Peru’s minister of culture, made an announcement. In recognition of Mr Katayama’s patience, he would be granted special access to the tourist site.

On Sun. 11 October, Jesse Katayama spent a whole day at Machu Picchu. Some staff and guides were allocated to him, but he was the only tourist in the citadel. “The first person on Earth who went to Machu Picchu since the lockdown is meeeeeee.” He posted on his Instagram account.

Day after tomorrow, he will leave for Japan. The townspeople are giving him a tearful farewell. Local children have drawn Katayama pictures, and as a memento made a Peruvian doll for him out of toilet paper rolls.

Ravi   

Corona Daily 299: Life After Life

Mr R, a neighbour, ran two businesses, raised a family of five children and swam every morning, even at 91. I think he was 94, when he decided he had had enough. He went to Sion hospital, one of Bombay’s leading municipal hospitals and booked a room for himself. He told the doctor he planned to fast unto death. Once he dies, the hospital should take over his body. He wished to donate it.

The horrified doctor said this was illegal. Mr R should fill the necessary forms, go home and die, and arrange (in advance) to send his body. Mr R., a meticulous man, signed the forms, made his family sign them, and started fasting. On the seventh day, he died. The son took him to the same place he had visited a week before.

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India has more than 10 million blind people. In casual conversations, I have heard many Indians say they would like to donate their eyes after death. In reality, when death occurs, the relatives are not in any frame of mind to arrange organ donations. Obviously, the donor can’t act, either.

If conditions are right, eight vital organs can be donated: heart, two kidneys, pancreas, two lungs, liver and intestines. Add to that cornea, skin, blood vessels. Cornea donation by a single person can gift vision to two or three blind people. If all organs and tissues are functional, transplantable and donated timely, one donor can enhance the quality of life of up to 75 people.

Generally, this requires dying in a hospital and being on artificial support before death. Once a person is brain dead, the organs can be kept alive for some time on a mechanical ventilator. Organ donation is time sensitive. Now computers can quickly match local residents in need of a transplant.

Body donation, the type Mr R did, is comparatively simple. The relatives should bring the body within six hours. If the person is registered for eye donation as well, eyes (cornea) are donated first, and then the body. The body is essential for medical students. It is used for anatomical exams, research or training. Surgeons need bodies for practice, before operating on a live person.

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Some countries require an explicit consent (opt-in), meaning a person must confirm his wish to donate organs in writing. Other countries have presumed consent (opt-out), where the default is every citizen giving consent. Germany uses opt-in. About 12% of Germans give consent. Austria has presumed consent. The Austrian state has a right to take organs from nearly 99% of Austrians. (Only 1% has declined consent).

The world has a huge shortage of organs. The USA has more than 100,000 people waiting for organ transplants with no donors.

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Yesterday, I wrote about a will (testament). A living will is different. It tells the medical staff what the person wishes if he were to be in coma or a vegetative state. Modern medicine is aggressive and usually tries to keep a person alive without bothering about the quality of life. Patients with terminal or incurable illnesses can spend months if not years in agony or as a vegetable. The expense can kill the surviving family. (Not only cost of living, but cost of dying is also going up).

A living will allows a person to refuse such interventions in advance. Alternatively, a medical power of attorney (e.g. spouse) can be issued. That person is given an authority to take decisions about the treatment to an incapacitated person. Two years ago, the Indian Supreme Court confirmed the right to die with dignity. Netherlands allows euthanasia.  

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A pandemic is an excellent time to create a will and a living will. And if someone wishes to posthumously donate organs or body, forms must be filled and explained to the family.

Organ donation offers a singular opportunity to be useful to humanity beyond our lifetime.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 300: Will-o-phobia

If you own property or money, however little; have a spouse or children, and haven’t made a will, you are either irresponsible or immortal.

I have met a few super-rich Indians, in their fifties or sixties, who can’t bring themselves to write a will. Making a will requires a certain degree of imagination, creation of morbid scenarios. During one Christmas vacation, my family including my parents and brother, was due to fly together- there and back. I suddenly realized the possibility of all the beneficiaries in my will perishing together. With all of us gone, it shouldn’t really matter what happens next. But I can’t leave the world with loose ends. I hurriedly wrote a new will, explained the instructions to my friend whom I have appointed as the executor. The state confiscating property for lack of a will is distasteful.

Making a will actually serves several functions. One is to declutter your assets. Before making your will, you may be tempted to close five out of ten bank accounts. Indian banks traditionally issue fixed deposit receipts. These are mere pieces of paper. Indians routinely misplace or lose them. Unless they were mentioned in a will, children might never know of their existence.

A will ensures completeness. It tells others what you have, and therefore what you don’t have. I have lived in Russia, Poland and England. I have no property in any of these countries. Without a will, my successors would have a lingering hope of finding (and inheriting) something in those places. A well-made will gives an all-round picture of what a person has. It may include valuable stuff like money or jewellery, but also intellectual property. My unpublished books or my wife’s unsold paintings can figure in the will. Who knows they may be worth millions posthumously.

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Many myths surround will-making. You don’t require a lawyer. You can even handwrite it. In most countries, you need to sign in the presence of two witnesses. Registering or notarising can help, but is not essential.

In any case, a will is unproven. Because the person who has signed it is dead, it could have been forged. That is where the probate process comes in play. Probate is the proving of a will (in a court). The two witnesses who signed your will become important. They confirm you were of a sound mind, and signed the will in their presence. It is better to select witnesses younger than you, and of some standing. Usually probate (proving of a will) is needed only if there is a dispute, or if bureaucracy demands it.

Without a will, intestacy (death without a will) laws apply. Your estate will be distributed as the state specifies, and not as you would have wished.

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A marriage automatically makes a will null and void. You must write a fresh will after marrying. On the other hand, divorce doesn’t. In the USA and some European countries, it is assumed that your divorced husband/wife is dead (although alive). Otherwise, the will remains valid. This can have unpredictable consequences. For example, in a living will (which I will explain tomorrow) a hospital may demand calling your ex-wife to decide whether to pull the plug when you are in a coma. Because on the form she was the one authorized to take those decisions, and you forgot to fill a new form after the divorce. A good practical way out is to write a fresh will after divorce as well.

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In the last six months, there is a rise in estate planning, and will-making. CNBC reported a large number of 18-34 making a will because of covid-19.

Making a will has no relation to your life expectancy. If you love your family, or anybody else, a will saves them from bureaucratic harassment.

Ravi 

Corona Daily 301: Death & Co.

Several young start-ups providing end-of-life services have prospered during the pandemic.

Our own mortality is a difficult and unpleasant concept. Indian mythology mentions seven immortal men, but I have never met any of them nor could I find their whereabouts in the internet. One can understand children and youngsters not believing they would die. But people in their 70s and 80s also struggle to visualize a world without them. I read about a woman, who finally, on her 90^th birthday decided to end each of her phone call with ‘I love you.’ She maintained that phrase until she eventually died at 98.

Sex and Death have historically been top taboo topics. Now sex education is given to school children, but talking about death is still in bad taste. Buddhist monks are given pictures of decaying corpses so they understand the inevitable final fate. Yoga practitioners end the session with a ‘corpse pose’, the most relaxing asana. (One is expected to lie like a corpse, with a blank mind. In most cases, that is when thousands of thoughts come flooding in).

Thankfully, the pandemic is raising awareness among people of all nations and nationalities that they may actually die one day. In modern times, you must decide what is going to be your final tweet. Should your FB wall disappear, or be memorialized with a dove on it? (Otherwise, you will keep getting happy birthdays for years after you are gone). What happens to your email correspondence? We struggle to remember the passwords when we are alive, it is an unspeakable burden on our survivors to open our emails or bank websites after we are gone.

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Cake offers a free service to catalogue a user’s end-of-life wishes. Burial or cremation? Ashes to be scattered or composted into tree food or immersed into an ocean? What sort of music would you like to be played at the funeral? In the last six months, Cake has started receiving emails from young people. Between February and June, Cake received five times the number of sign-ups. Cake software allows you to design your tombstone. Cake has signed up with 51 hospitals and 1000 clinics. Cake’s “trusted decision maker” form, a document giving the instructions in case a person becomes a vegetable, can now be submitted without a notary.

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Eterneva specializes in turning a person’s ashes into diamonds. The company sends you a special pack in which you post two tablespoons or half a cup of ashes of your loved one and $3000. In seven to ten months, you get the diamond ring, an eternal presence of the departed around your finger. Eterneva offers a wide and luxurious choice, the 3 carat Blue Diamond costing $50000. This service is offered for pets as well, because pets is a faster moving business.

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Lantern provides its patented grief and condolence content that includes a ‘pandemic-proof’ guide to ‘inclusively address grief at work’.

Lifeweb360 allows you to collect memories of the loved ones to celebrate the life of the departed.

Going with grace is formed by five black women entrepreneurs. It primarily advices on a good death in a racist society. (meaning how to avoid a white policeman pressing his knee on your neck, or storming your house and emptying his gun into you).

Some offer exciting games such as “write your own obituary”. Apparently, this is an exercise at the Stanford business school. The platform includes templates and help to write and publish your top-class obituary, posthumously.

In this booming time, all these start-ups have come together to form a sort of consortium. It is called the “Death & Co.”

Ravi