Chances are you’ve been sitting at home for a few months now, only venturing out to the grocery store because you’ve finally eaten the very last pretzel that you found in a forgotten package in the very back of the pantry, and there’s absolutely nothing else in the place to consume. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve been able to socially distance yourself from neighbors enough to say howdy. But as far as normal activities go – sports, movies, church, kids’ stuff, hitting bars and restaurants with friends (the usual stuff that makes life interesting) – for the most part, that ain’t happening.

So, if you got sick, what would you pay for a Covid-19 treatment that relatively quickly return you to some degree of normalcy? How about $2,340? Or, actually, more likely $3,120. That’s the pricetag I saw in a recent article that Gilead Sciences Inc. has put on Remdesivir, its COVID-19 drug candidate. Sound pricey? Well, according to the report, that’s below the $5,080 that a group called the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review recommends.

How many treatments would you like?

You didn’t think the cure for this mess would be in any way, shape, or form cheap, did you? Let’s see, just for us 320 million Americans, we’re talking about . . . hmmm, apparently my calculator doesn’t compute that high.

Of course, at least as far as I’ve read, Remdesivir is only one possible treatment. There are a plethora of pharmaceutical companies trying to jump on this Covid cash cow bandwagon. The only thing that’s for certain is that somebody stands to make big bucks out of all this mess.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese government is trying to tell the world that traditional Chinese medicines are the way to go. And they just happen to have a huge stockpile of them on hand. Imagine that. I’m not sure if these remedies happen to come from Wuhan Province, but would that revelation surprise anyone in the Free World? Not to be cynical – well, maybe a little – is there anybody on the planet that would put it past the country that gave the world the virus to just happen to have the cure?

In other news that will come as no surprise to you, Kim Jong Un (he of the bad haircut in North Korea), obviously couldn’t stand to be out of the limelight. Rumors circulated within the past couple of months that he was dead. But it seems suggestions of his demise were, to quote Mark Twain when similar reports were floated about him, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Although Kim’s less-than-diplomatic sister, Kim Yo Jong, has reportedly been acting in her brother’s stead and threatening to kill the North’s agreements with South Korea, it apparently was Big Brother that actually ordered his minions to blow up a joint inter-Korean liaison office. The sister also called South Korea’s president “disgusting” and “insane.” (There was no word on whether or not she thought those adjectives were applicable to her sibling too. But as far as is known, she’s still alive, so probably not.)

Given the secrecy of the regime, nobody accurately knows how The Virus has affected the Hermit Kingdom. But since the citizens were already starving, it’s a good bet things are not pleasant. (Given the close relationship between neighboring despots, perhaps the Chinese are trying out some of those traditional home remedies on North Koreans.)

Not everything is expensive, though. On that front, there actually is a bit of good news. But it comes with a bit of a risk. You can get some pretty decent deals on travel right now. Round trip coast-to-coast fares are a fraction of normal. Of course, there are some restrictions. For example, say a “no frills” trip runs $150. Good price, but your seat is in the wheel well of the plane. Just hang on tight during take-offs and landings and you’ll be fine. Food and beverage services are limited there too. But, come to think of it, it’s probably best not to eat on a flight anyway right now.

As we all try and cope, chances are we’ll collectively be willing to take a few more risks. The travel industry pretty much has to count on that happening in order to survive. So, as an economic segment, it’s willing to provide temptation to get us all out of the house and moving along.

We’re going to need those deals if the proposed virus treatment costs are what we end up paying. Or, hey, here’s an idea: Let’s just send our treatment and vaccine bills to China. Shouldn’t they be paying for all this anyhow?

 

©MMXX. William J. Lewis, III – Freelance Writer