Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

We had 3 months advance notice about what was happening in China and the administration just went to Congress yesterday. The Administration’s approach was to lie and pretend it wasn’t that bad. Even restricting travel would only delay response.

 

LOL! You’re as shameless as Trump.

 

And my comment about “the third declaration first” was tongue in cheek.

 

Discovery of this new viral disease was much earlier than that. Timeline in wiki link. We needed to be ahead of the curve. And, we should have been making WHO test kits sooner. And a significant reason we need money for the CDC is Trump’s cuts to the agency.
Timeline of the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak in December 2019 – January 2020 - Wikipedia

 

The dates to declare emergencies are all well and good, but the question is why is the testing situation so messed up after all this time. Seems like the CDC was not proactive and not prepared at all for this virus to actually get here.

Maybe it wasn’t containable anyway, but not having a grasp of how much it is spreading means the worst case gets more likely. The “official” numbers are in the hundreds, but as testing finally just now gets going it wouldn’t be surprising to find there are already thousands or tens of thousands of infected people already here.

 

Trump followers should stop claiming this is just like the flu.

Mortality rate of the flu is approx .1%


“Conclusion
CDC estimates that influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season. This burden was similar to estimated burden during the 2012–2013 influenza season1.”

Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths in the United States — 2018–2019 influenza season | CDC

 

I think people on both sides miss much about what is truly at issue. It's not that millions will die or conversely that it is mild. It's not when a state of emergency was called or money asked for, it's that an outbreak of a new virus in which there is no vaccine or approved treatment means that authorities are already fighting an uphill battle, which further means that people will get sick and not be prepared for it because we haven't been able to contain it. And because this can have pandemic effects, it means those at high risk due to other illness, might die. This is why since the beginning there was alarm and why there should be alarm. Doesn't mean we all go nuts, but it means taking precautions, it means listening to experts, not a president who has proven daily that he is unfit for the office he holds by menacing the public with his ignorance.

 

Interesting discussion as to whether or not the CDC reacted with sufficient speed and focus. Wonder how other western governments, eg the EU, Canada, are doing in developing a vaccine.

 

They seem ridiculously ahead of us in terms of testing, but I sure as $h!@ wouldn’t trust them for any possible vaccines.

 

Woman at trump rally says Coronavirus is fake, blames democrats....

The transcript, it’s near the end of the video linked...

Alba: So you don’t think coronavirus exists?

Woman: I don’t.

Alba: So the two people [now up to six] who have been reported to have died from it in Washington State, you don’t trust that’s true?

Woman: I don’t trust anything the Democrats do or say.

Alba: That’s been put out by the governor of that state, it’s been put out by bipartisan lawmakers…

Woman: (interrupting) Are they Democrats?

Alba: …Republicans and Democrats agreeing that there are people contracting the virus, two people dying so far.

Woman: I just don’t believe it.

WATCH: Trump Supporter Says Coronavirus Doesn't Exist, Is Fabricated By Dems To Hurt The President

 

That woman is an example of why trump is irresponsible and a menace to the public.

 

So trump just told the public that anyone who wants a test can get one, despite the fact that we don’t have test kits.
He spent the day bragging about how much he knows about the virus, which I’m super was the most important topic.
Pence announced that a cruise ship off of California had 21 confirmed cases, which came as news to the people on the ship.

So yeah, just another day in the trump administration, but now people, Americans, are literally going to die because of it.

 

New CDC guidance says older adults should 'stay at home as much as possible' due to coronavirus - CNN

 

Mulvaney is out tonight. Maybe worth its own thread.

 

Y’all know those test kits are for conservatives only.

 

While not affecting younger people too much this stuff has a pretty high death rate for older people apparently - much higher than the Flu for people over 65 it seems.

 

Good point. We've seen a lot of comparisons in death numbers for various pandemics, however, we often look at it too broadly through the lens of an entire population rather through the narrower lens of those most at risk--very young, older, and those with various health conditions, especially conditions that compromise immune systems.

This population is much smaller and their risk of serious illness and/or death from Covid 19 is much higher.