The Incalculable: Thoughts on the Collapse of the Biosecurity Regime

Previous articleNext article FreeThe Incalculable: Thoughts on the Collapse of Biosecurity RegimeLydia H. LiuLydia Liu Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMore26 May 2020It makes a world difference where novel coronavirus travels. For first time, I feel as vulnerable my eighty-eight-year-old mother who is locked down in another part world. Neither she nor anyone know has ever, living memory, been through moment like this. Has woken up new catastrophe, or are we pretending that do not what have always known?This terrible thought, and it haunts me city, New York, succumbs COVID-19 outbreak. Sirens wail day night streets doctors nurses struggle keep critically ill patients alive while exposing themselves deadly pathogen. To astonishment world, American society prepared itself disaster magnitude; worse, many Europe America had initially led believe might be one those isolated, regional affairs, unlike SARS (2003), MERS (2012), Ebola (2014) gets reported from remote, disease-prone countries Asia Africa.1 Therefore, US travel restrictions flights China 2 February Iran 29 should taken care matter, but they didn’t. Recent genomic analyses suggest vast majority cases York came Europe, Asia.2 Blindsided its own racism, political calculus biosecurity regime misfired. It forgets reckon with incalculable.The moral balance sheet ruling caste bankrupt. How would you weigh losses gains human lives scale global pandemic? You simply can’t. People dying, tens millions suffering face economic hardships. There so questions bearing upon incalculable—and possibility second third wave pandemic coming months years—that must heed W. J. T. Mitchell’s call reflect itself.3 When say incalculable escapes calculus, mean falls outside calculating machine, but, rather, penetrates core machine virtue being excluded terms reckoning. The contaminates shadow—in manner return repressed—which why careful our facile metaphors comparisons. analogies Spanish flu other plagues past may help us talk about tragic consequences major public-health fallout, misleading if let them guide thought fallout itself. such often dissimulate simulate and, therefore, can obscure truth than clarify it. question raised: Are known?Take most recent exercises—code named Crimson Contagion—organized Department Health Human Services (HHS) Homeland Security (DHS) well Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This series simulation exercises ran January August 2019, involving Washington twelve states including Illinois York.4 During exercises, HHS asked federal local partners imagine fictional scenario breaks out China. What prevent respiratory virus spreading US? government, state governments, hospitals, private stakeholders coordinate effective operations? Here script summarized Times reporters:The outbreak began was quickly spread around air travelers, high fevers. In United States, detected Chicago, 47 days later, World Organization declared pandemic. By then too late: 110 million Americans were expected become ill, leading 7.7 hospitalized 586,000 dead.5Call prescience extraordinary coincidence. Sometimes, fiction provides kind insights intelligence facts ground cannot. But case, bears uncanny resemblance actually happen Wuhan within three conclusion Contagion. instance, participated summer according Allison Arwady, commissioner Chicago Public Health, “We did preparedness exercise here that, not, written an emerging seen Chicago.”6By contrast, government officials Wuhan, city regarded China’s central geographic location function nation’s transportation hub, wasted 2019 doing absolutely nothing prepare eleven residents SARS-like disease. Rumors abound how virus—be crimson red contagion—got there place; await pending independent WHO investigation, all at point people became casualty rub: Had adopted same cities, better chance averting initial catastrophe?7 Sadly, answer “no,” look inspiration.Not only involved Contagion last year, also high-level code-named Event 201 took place October just four weeks before actual outbreak.8 Led Johns Hopkins Center Security, tabletop partnered Economic Forum Bill Melinda Gates Foundation zoonotic modeled SARS. pathogen, originating Brazil, transmittable bats pigs becomes highly transmissible person person. One poignant detail predicted spreads efficiently low-income, densely packed neighborhoods, exactly borne Detroit, cities African Latinx working-class communities suffered highest death rates. close parallel 201’s unnerving prompted issue statement disavow prediction COVID-19.9This shocking revelation. world’s advanced failed miserably. Bear mind ranked top Global Index,10 Kingdom running second, worldwide survey 195 conducted Nuclear Threat Initiative published China.11 With best-funded research, farsighted preparations, carefully designed timely warnings, supposed outperform nations coping Instead, currently number deaths late May, when checked. no will action until leaving governments little time fix links identified, stockpile masks ventilators.Has knowledge translate into action? seems unlikely. We learned fiasco think public health flu, known since HIV/AIDS pandemic.12 imperial regime, both Trump, unusually active mobilizations, Dark Winter (2001), Atlantic Storm (2005), Clade X (2018), Contagion, 201, name few. And then, end unpreparedness midst preparedness? key understanding this, Driven fantasy control, allowed operate logic racism conceptualization implementation calculus; yet unintended logic.It hope safe vaccine SARS-CoV-2 (the responsible disease COVID-19) available get mess year so. Even so, scientists able put back control destiny bringing uncertainty tolerable levels suggested Lorraine Daston?13 confess some trepidation: Is likelihood SARS-CoV-3 SARS-CoV-4 wake SARS-CoV-2? incalculable—be infinitely small gigantic—escapes again?14NotesLydia Wun Tsun Tam Professor Humanities Columbia University Director Institute Comparative Literature Society. She Freudian Robot: Digital Media Future Unconscious (2010); Clash Empires: Invention Modern Making (2004); Translingual Practice: Literature, National Culture, Translated Modernity (1995).1. February, ICUs hospitals overwhelmed dying patients, Wall Street Journal Walter Russell Mead’s opinion piece, “China Real Sick Man Asia,” Journal, 3 Feb. 2020, www.wsj.com/articles/china-is-the-real-sick-man-of-asia-11580773677. uproar social media over paper’s callous display racist disregard nonwhites Ministry Foreign Affairs expel WSJ journalists Instead taking urgent protect out, Secretary State Mike Pompeo tweeted: “mature, understand free press reports expresses opinions” (Secretary [@SecPompeo], “The States Condemns Move China,” Twitter, 19 twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1230182054383562752).2. See Carl Simmer, “Most Coronavirus Cases Came Genomes Show,” Times, 8 Apr. www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/science/new-york-coronavirus-cases-europe-genomes.html3. Mitchell, “Groundhog Day Epoché,” “Posts Pandemic,” online supplement Critical Inquiry (Winter 2021): S95–99.4. David E. Sanger et al., “Before Virus Outbreak, Cascade Warnings Went Unheeded,” Mar. www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-outbreak.html5. Ibid.6. Quoted “Chicago Officials Held Exercise Last Summer Preparing Emerging From NBC 4 www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-officials-held-exercise-last-summer-preparing-for-new-virus-emerging-in-china/2231187/7. Under unprecedented lockdown measures, Wuhan’s contained swiftly moved implemented military style campaign. According South Morning Post, campaign literally PLA army, navy, force medical personnel swooped full protective gear engaged large-scale defense against bioterrorist attack. Minnie Chan, “How Military Took Frontline Role Crisis,” 17 www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3075396/how-chinas-military-took-frontline-role-coronavirus-crisis8. Bloomberg School Scenario: A Pandemic Exercise,” www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/scenario.html9. “Statement nCoV Our www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/news/center-news/2020-01-24-Statement-of-Clarification-Event201.html10. “Global Index: Building Collective Action Accountability” (Oct. 2019), pp. 1–316, www.ghsindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-Global-Health-Security-Index.pdf11. “Biosecurity: Reducing Biological Risk Enhancing Biosecurity,” NTI, www.nti.org/about/biosecurity/12. academic studies being. Andrew Price-Smith’s Chaos: Disease, Ecology, Era Globalization (Cambridge, Mass., 2008).13. Daston, “Ground-Zero Empiricism,” S55–57.14. “gigantic” allusion Martin Heidegger’s observations applies current situation very (Martin Heidegger, Age Picture,” Question Concerning Technology Other Essays, trans. William Lovitt [New 1977], p. 135). DetailsFiguresReferencesCited Volume 47, Number S2Winter 2021Posts PandemicEdited Hank Scotch Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/711450 Views: 1379 © 2021 Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref citing article.