At what point did you / will you take the coronavirus epidemic seriously?

[myboynoah]

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[tooblue]

The coronavirus test that wasn’t: How federal health officials misled state scientists and derailed the best chance at containment

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/03/27/coronavirus-test-officials-botched-rollout-derailed-containment/5080781002/

"In late February, the CDC's deputy director of infectious disease projected calm in a conference call with state laboratories. The labs were told they could now send samples to the CDC and receive results within 24 hours. 'That was a bald-faced lie, said Wadford. At that point, she was waiting four to five days on test results for samples she had sent to the CDC.

'The most disappointing part was that they couldn’t just be frank and straight with us,' said Wadford, who took detailed notes of the conference call that she dictated to USA TODAY. 'Tell us the situation. Don’t sugarcoat it and lie. But to mislead us is just not right ...'

The crisis may soon be just as dire in rural communities. As of mid-March, Dr. April Abbott, the microbiology lab director at the largest hospital chain in southern Indiana, said she could not get equipment to run her own tests, in part because the federal government does not consider her area a priority like New York or California."

[All-American]

This reminds me of when SU was arguing that global warming was a liberal hoax.

I hope he has a happy birthday anyway.

[SeattleUte]

This reminds me of when SU was arguing that global warming was a liberal hoax.

Both human-made climate change and Covid-19 are real, of course. But in each case the hysteria in response exacerbates the harm to societies and in each case the most economically vulnerable suffer the most. The same folks who have reacted in self-destructive ways to climate change have so reacted to Covid-19, and following this herd mentality becomes synonymous with science. We owe all to science, but to turn governance and policy-making over to a group of like-minded scientists is folly, we’ve seen. Science is a tool that by definition resides at the limit of human knowledge. But society’s more comprehensive knowledge-base needs to be applied—including economics. The problem here is that the hysteria has been able fully to express itself with self-destructive action. And the media is having too much fun and, I bet, never made so much money.

Clearly some of the trillions directed to climate change should have been spent on pandemic preparedness.

[frank ryan]

When all is said and done, we are going to find out that there were some really ineffective strategies against COVID-19. And probably a handful of really bad ones. But I honestly don't get the trust put into the likes of Ben Shapiro and others who can sound off on a podcast and get nods of approval from the general population. I mean, come on, Ben Shapiro?!?

10% of the US economy is grinding to a halt in California. Do people think that this decision was made flippantly? I'm sure the CA governor would love to stay open for business. Isn't anyone curious to know what state and federal leaders are hearing from behind the scenes, to make them issue drastic measures?

Hold on a second. The White House remains laser focused on ensuring that the public knows this virus is from China. The other stuff is a distraction.

Both human-made climate change and Covid-19 are real, of course. But in each case the hysteria in response exacerbates the harm to societies and in each case the most economically vulnerable suffer the most. The same folks who have reacted in self-destructive ways to climate change have so reacted to Covid-19, and following this herd mentality becomes synonymous with science. We owe all to science, but to turn governance and policy-making over to a group of like-minded scientists is folly, we’ve seen. Science is a tool that by definition resides at the limit of human knowledge. But society’s more comprehensive knowledge-base needs to be applied—including economics. The problem here is that the hysteria has been able fully to express itself with self-destructive action. And the media is having too much fun and, I bet, never made so much money.

Clearly some of the trillions directed to climate change should have been spent on pandemic preparedness.

Or some of the tax cuts.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Both human-made climate change and Covid-19 are real, of course. But in each case the hysteria in response exacerbates the harm to societies and in each case the most economically vulnerable suffer the most. The same folks who have reacted in self-destructive ways to climate change have so reacted to Covid-19, and following this herd mentality becomes synonymous with science. We owe all to science, but to turn governance and policy-making over to a group of like-minded scientists is folly, we’ve seen. Science is a tool that by definition resides at the limit of human knowledge. But society’s more comprehensive knowledge-base needs to be applied—including economics. The problem here is that the hysteria has been able fully to express itself with self-destructive action. And the media is having too much fun and, I bet, never made so much money.

Clearly some of the trillions directed to climate change should have been spent on pandemic preparedness.

I had someone tell me recently that the media is overhyping this thing so that they can make more money. I can't imagine being cynical enough to believe something that stupid.

[Uncle Ted]

I had someone tell me recently that the media is overhyping this thing so that they can make more money. I can't imagine being cynical enough to believe something that stupid.

A lot of the media outlets are giving coronavirus related news away for free. I doubt they are making a lot more money.

[Northwestcoug]

I had someone tell me recently that the media is overhyping this thing so that they can make more money. I can't imagine being cynical enough to believe something that stupid.

Indeed. Most of the larger papers are making their coronavirus coverage free. That's a bad business plan!

Our local paper is also laying off people. They should be hyping the virus more!

[Uncle Ted]

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Didn't he just meet with the Queen not too long ago?

[wapiti]

Clearly some of the trillions directed to climate change should have been spent on pandemic preparedness.

Are you saying we have to make choices in how we spend?

[BlueK]

And the media is having too much fun and, I bet, never made so much money.

Ad revenues are down to recession levels right now as companies are cutting back their budgets due to lower sales and uncertainty. So no, media is not making so much money.

[Uncle Ted]

TRUMP CLAIMS U.S. STATES DON'T NEED THE AMOUNT OF VENTILATORS THEY'RE ASKING FOR: 'I DON'T BELIEVE YOU NEED 40,000 OR 30,000'




https://www.newsweek.com/trump-claim...u-need-1494599

"FEMA says, 'we're sending 400 ventilators," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a Wednesday news conference. "Really? What am I going to do with 40 ventilators when I need 30,000?"

It seems all Cuomo does is whine and b*tch, not to mention distort the facts. Did he mention that the Fed Gov actually sent 4000 more ventilators? Come NewsWeek... that was two days ago! Of course, Newsweek didn't mention the fact that Cuomo decided that not to buy 16,000 ventilators for pandemic prep but decided to piss away $750m on some sh*t solar company instead.

Frank, you need to find a better news source.

[wuapinmon]

I wonder how many meetings the Taiwanese government has had in recent days about China starting some shit, what with the world distracted.

[CardiacCoug]

Costco is cracking me up today.

They have strips of tape every 6 feet for social distancing reminders.

People are lining up like 6 strips of tape apart, 36 feet. Line is long!!!

People have no idea how long 6 feet is I guess.

[SeattleUte]

I had someone tell me recently that the media is overhyping this thing so that they can make more money. I can't imagine being cynical enough to believe something that stupid.

To say categorically that "the media" is not overhyping this is really stupid. They are not varied. We have some in the mainstream media such as the Wall Street Journal complaining that other media including the New York Times are overhyping it. The New York Times and the Washington Post, in news not opinion stories, have used words like "apocalypse" and "perfect killing machine." Lawyers like to try cases. Farmers like to grow potatoes. The media likes bad news. This has always been true.

You are of course brilliant, especially in your narrow field. You also can be quite stupid when outside your lane, I've noted. You also would be at home in a totalitarian regime. Indeed, you are a sort of commissar in a kind of totalitarian regime. People like you, brilliant as you are, should not be making decisions that affect the lives of millions.