The fight against the virus is nothing more than large-scale manipulation.

The worldwide hysteria surrounding the coronavirus directly recalls "Blindness" by the brilliant Portuguese writer José Saramago. In our context, blindness applies to different fields, from political manipulation to religious regimes (including so-called Pentecostalism). In Saramago's story, everyone progressively goes blind, destroying personal, family, and friendship relationships. Only one woman miraculously escapes. She will be the one to control social relations and the progressive regeneration of the dirty city.

It's an unparalleled metaphor. I won't narrate it because I don't want to deprive readers of the pleasure of savoring it page by page. However, it's worth seeing the parallels. The way the World Health Organization is handling the fight against the coronavirus, dragging other public health systems around the world into a hysterical battle against the virus, is absolutely irresponsible. It's acting with the blindness described by Saramago. And it has charlatan religious elements because, like Edir Macedo, it exploits the ignorance of the people.

I am not a health scientist. However, what I learned during my doctoral studies in Production Engineering allows me to conclude, with certainty, that the lethality levels of the coronavirus primarily affect the elderly and the sick, without affecting young people or the general population at all. These people catch the flu. In Italy, where the largest number of cases in Europe are concentrated, the lethality is very low, and, as observed, mainly affects the elderly and the sick. However, what was the origin of this global verbal pandemic?

First, it could have been a CIA biological attack on China that got out of control, something Chinese authorities have already formally denounced. On the other hand, it could have been biochemical conditions favorable to the spread of the virus in Hunan, due to high pollution and other atmospheric factors. We don't know if science will be able to trace the virus, but considering the well-documented past activities of the United States in the field of illegal aggression against other countries, there are doubts about its role in this episode.

Regardless of the effectiveness of its treatment, the coronavirus, no more than a common flu, creates difficulties for millions of people, ultimately overloading hospital services. This is an exaggeration. As stated above, the virus's lethality is no greater than that of a common flu for people of the same age. This means that those who are not blind – like the female character in Saramago's novel who woke the others – will eventually understand that somewhere on the planet there is sunlight.

Without resorting to metaphors, the health initiatives in Brazil, along with those of practically every country in the world, seem to a discredited and incompetent government like a unique opportunity to gain attention. The coronavirus has obscured the infamous privatization project of state-owned water companies, the devastation of the Amazon, the degradation of the pension system, the devastating crisis in the stock market, and the depletion of foreign exchange reserves. Oh, I forgot: all of this will end with the reforms, to save the country!