Locusts, Pandemic Spark Apocalypse Fears

Coronavirus: Did Nostradamus predict the deadly China virus? Prophecy of ‘great plague’

Feb 13, 2020 |

The Express – The novel coronavirus in China, now officially named Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), shows no signs of stopping after it surpassed the 2002 to 2003 SARS pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has dubbed the outbreak a global emergency but has not called it a pandemic just yet.

Some have even claimed the 15th-century writer and mystic Nostradamus predicted the outbreak of a “great plague” in the future.

Twitter user Marco Malacara said:

“The antichrist leading the White House, locusts, floods, flies, coronavirus. I think this is what Nostradamus was telling us about 465 years ago.”

Another person tweeted in Spanish, which translated reads:

“The plague of the 21st century has arrived. A Nostradamus prophecy. We will die very soon. #coronavirus” Read more. 

Is the Coronavirus a Prophesied End-Times Plague?

Feb 4, 2020, SHAWN A. AKERS

Charisma News – The Wuhan coronavirus, which has spread from Asia and is now becoming a major health concern in the United States, could very well be a prophesied end-times biblical plague, end-times expert Michael Snyder says.

Last week, the World Health Organization designated the disease as a “public heath emergency of international concern.”

The director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious disease told the New York Times earlier this week that it is “almost certainly going to be a pandemic,” defined by the World Health Organization as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.”

Snyder told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network:

“This brand-new coronavirus, never before seen by anyone, as it turns out spreads very, very easily from person to person and it’s starting to spread all over the world. The number of total confirmed cases is to 17,000, a jump of over 20 percent in one day.

“In the United States, we’re in double digits in terms of cases, now up to 11. But we’re still waiting to see ultimately how bad this outbreak will become. This is very, very serious. In China, they’ve locked down entire cities, quarantined approximately 50 million people at this point.

“It’s really become the most concerning new virus pandemic we’ve seen emerge. People are comparing this to the Spanish flu epidemic back in 1918, which ultimately infected approximately 500 million people. Approximately 50 to 100 million people died during that horrible pandemic … Read more. 

What Christians Should Know About the Wuhan Coronavirus

Feb 2, 2020

Pastor Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition – On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency because of the spread of a contagion called the Wuhan coronavirus. The U.S. State Department also issued a new travel advisory on Thursday night, telling U.S. citizens not to travel to China, where the current version of the virus originated.

Chinese officials say there are nearly 10,000 confirmed cases, with the death toll rising to 213. In the United States, there are 120 potential cases and six confirmed cases. The total number of people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus has surpassed the 8,098 people worldwide who were sickened by SARS in the 2003 outbreak.

What is the danger to Americans?

Cases of 2019-nCoV infection in people have been detected in the United States. At the time of publication, states with confirmed cases included Arizona, California, Illinois, and Washington.

However, while CDC considers this 2019-nCoV to be a “very serious public health threat,” they say the current immediate health risk to the general American public is considered low.

The total number of people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus has surpassed the 8,098 people worldwide who were sickened by SARS in the 2003 outbreak.

Why should Christians be concerned about the coronavirus?

There are several reasons Christians should be concerned about the coronavirus, and for those who are suffering from the disease.

But the primary reason, as the apostle Paul tells us, is that we should “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15) and that we “comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:4).

As a pastor of a church in Wuhan recently said in an open letter to fellow believers:

“If you do not feel a responsibility to pray, ask the Lord for a loving soul, an earnestly prayerful heart; if you are not crying, ask the Lord for tears. Because we surely know that only through the hope of the Lord’s mercy will Wuhan be saved.” Read more. 

SCIENTIFIC VIEWS

What Science Says About the Coronavirus

Science Magazine
“Beyond China itself, Thailand is the country that most likely will have people who arrive at one of its airports with an infection by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that has sickened more than 30,000 people.” – Science Magazine, Feb 7, 2020

LiveScience.com

• China reports that 1,716 medical workers have COVID-19 (1,502 of those cases in Hubei Province), and six of these workers have died, the Times reports.
• Hubei Province, where the outbreak started, has changed how it diagnoses the virus, causing the number of cases to skyrocket in the area.
• There are now 15 confirmed U.S. cases. 13th confirmed U.S. case of virus reported in person evacuated from Wuhan and accidentally released from a San Diego hospital. LiveScience, Feb 14, 2020

Nature.com
“On 14 February, Chinese authorities revealed for the first time the number of infections in medical staff. As of 1,716 health workers had contracted virus, 6 of whom died.” – Feb 14, 2020

Los Angeles Times
“More than 60,000 infections have been confirmed, but experts are certain there are at least tens of thousands more. Some cases haven’t been counted because patients didn’t have biological samples sent to a lab. Some never saw a doctor, and others had such mild symptoms that they didn’t even know they were sick. Without a true picture of the total number of cases, it’s impossible to calculate a fatality rate.” – Feb 12, 2020

STAT NEWS 
“U.S. health officials have been signaling for nearly two weeks now that a coronavirus pandemic may be on the horizon. While stressing that the virus presents only a “low risk” to Americans right now, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, acknowledged Tuesday that that might not remain the case for long.” – Feb 12, 2020

LiveScience.com
“[S]cientists have studied seasonal flu for decades. So, despite the danger of it, we know a lot about flu viruses and what to expect each season. In contrast, very little is known about 2019-nCoV because it’s so new. This means 2019-nCoV is something of a wild card in terms of how far it will spread and how many deaths it will cause.” – Feb 5, 2020

A background piece published in 2007 helps put this all in perspective …

Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota
“Medical historians tell us there have been nine influenza pandemics in the past 300 years. So one every 30 to 35 years or so, or roughly three per century, is everybody’s best guess about the future frequency of influenza pandemics. [Coronavirus is not influenza, but they are similar.]

“But extrapolating from nine cases is far from a sure thing. Scientists wouldn’t be all that shocked if pandemics started coming more frequently or less frequently. And even if the average remains three per century, it’s only an average. The 21st century could still give us just one pandemic—or five. A semi-official list of the nine pandemics since 1700, listed by the year they started is:

• 1729
• 1732
• 1781
• 1830
• 1833
• 1889
• 1918
• 1957
• 1968

“There is nothing cyclic about this list. The shortest gap between pandemics is 3 years; the longest so far is 56 years.” – Feb 22, 2007