The Coronavirus Thread

[JimC]

The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne has been cancelled, health authorities here are calling for all gatherings over 500 people to be banned, many schools will close to students and switch to delivering content on line.

[Sean Hayden]

How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.

The title and article make it perfectly clear what's being argued here. I don't think my interpretation is so far off as to invite a request for substantiation in the form of a matching exact quote from the piece.

What do you think they're arguing?

[JimC]

Here authorities are saying that non-symptomatic people should not get tested, unless they've returned from overseas, or had potential contact with an infected person.

One worry is the coming flu season - in the last few years, hospitals have been put under strain coping with fairly large numbers of people with severe cases of the flu, requiring hospitalisation. Add that to the pressure from coronavirus cases, and we may have a problem, even with our fairly robust health system. Bron and I will get the flu vaccine ASAP...

[JimC]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-13/ ... n/12051232

United States President Donald Trump's prime-time address to the nation about the spread of the coronavirus began with two unforgettable words.

"Oh f***".

CSPAN, the channel that airs all matters of national importance from Congress and the White House, had started its broadcast a few minutes early.

On screen, there was just a title page with the words "Presidential Address". Trump couldn't be seen, but his unmistakable voice could be heard. Clearly.

"Oh, oh! I got a pen mark," he said amid frantic shirt-rubbing sounds.

"Anybody got any white stuff?"

But he'd need much more Liquid Paper before the night was through.

As Trump's address to the nation continued, there was another major blunder.

"These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval," Trump said.

He was wrong.

It seems Trump had inadvertently added one hugely consequential word: "only".

The sentence should have read: "These prohibitions will not apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval."

The markets sank like a stone. Again.

[L'Emmerdeur]

How testing failures allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S.

The title and article make it perfectly clear what's being argued here. I don't think my interpretation is so far off as to invite a request for substantiation in the form of a matching exact quote from the piece.

What do you think they're arguing?

The title of the article is sensationalist and inaccurate, yes. Knowing as I do that headlines are generally not written by the reporter but by a headline editor, I tend to discount them as carrying any real weight. So the blame-throwing is being done by the editor who wrote the headline. The contents of the article are significantly more nuanced than the headline, and in fact do not support the assertion in the headline. This isn't a new phenomenon. The 'they' (of 'they're saying') is the knuckleheaded editor and who wrote the headline and perhaps their boss.

The importance of the failure of the United States to expedite testing is explained in the article. The people who made the decisions that delayed deployment of tests have not described the basis for their decisions. The article is damning enough, and should have been given a less sensationalist and more accurate headline.

[Sean Hayden]

I think the title fits the article. Admittedly more is said, but the bulk of it is concerned with highlighting this administration's failure to produce testing, and its impact on the outbreak.

--//--

Like I said, it'll be nice if someone focuses on this aspect of it later and gives an account of the actual impact testing had.

[L'Emmerdeur]

I think the title fits the article. Admittedly more is said, but the bulk of it is concerned with highlighting this administration's failure to produce testing, and its impact on the outbreak.

--//--

Like I said, it'll be nice if someone focuses on this aspect of it later and gives an account of the actual impact testing had.

Nobody in the article made the claims you said they did. Even the sensationalized title is not completely off base.

The WHO has indicated that the aggressive effort to implement wide-spread testing made by South Korea is a worthwhile model to follow.

In Italy and Iran, Tedros [Director General of the WHO] warned the situation was very serious, with patients filling intensive care wards, and shortages of ventilators, protective equipment, and medical staff. He pointed to the successful bottling up of outbreaks in China, with more than 80,0000 cases, and South Korea, with more than 7,000, as pointing to the possibility of constraining the epidemic in countries worldwide.

I get the impression that you may not believe that testing is effective and worthwhile, and ideally should begin as soon as possible. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you have a problem with. Those who work in the field for a living appear to believe it's important though. The US bungled this.

You talk about 'politicizing' this crisis, but the fact is, the Trump administration has lied to the public in the US and downplayed the seriousness of what's going on, as well as failed to act in a timely manner (insisting on taking time to develop tests in the US when tests were already available, and fucking that up) without giving any explanation. Republicans won't raise a stink about the incompetence and dishonesty. If the press and the Democrats don't make an effort to hold the administration responsible, who will? Would you rather that they just shut up about it?

[pErvinalia]

FUCKING YES!!

[Hermit]

FUCKING YES!!

Not The Onion

And I so hope it was on account of shaking hands with Scotty from Marketing.

[Sean Hayden]

I believe my interpretation of the article is fine. It's clear to me that they would have you believe that this administration's failure to provide tests has made the outbreak considerably worse. In fact, if testing had been provided at the appropriate time and to more people the spread may not have occurred at all. We may have contained the virus earlier.

My problem is I'm skeptical. It's not about needing somebody to call out this negligence, and shouldn't I be glad someone is. It's about being accurate. I'm not convinced this is an accurate description of reality, and it looks like any distortion that may exist serves to push a political agenda.

[Scot Dutchy]

And the rest. There's tonnes of cases in Europe. Last I heard there weren't all that many in the UK.

The UK is one of the highest in Europe but it does not matter as he is playing the blaming game.

Rubbish. Infections in the UK - 450 odd. Infections in Germany - 2400 odd.

Bollocks to you m8. The UK does not test like they do in Germany. They dont have the money in the NHS. The Germans do pre-emptive testing not just reactive as they do in the UK.

[pErvinalia]

FUCKING YES!!

Not The Onion

And I so hope it was on account of shaking hands with Scotty from Marketing.

This just gets better. He met with Barr and Invanka Trump in the last 7 days.

[pErvinalia]

And the rest. There's tonnes of cases in Europe. Last I heard there weren't all that many in the UK.

The UK is one of the highest in Europe but it does not matter as he is playing the blaming game.

Rubbish. Infections in the UK - 450 odd. Infections in Germany - 2400 odd.

Bollocks to you m8. The UK does not test like they do in Germany. They dont have the money in the NHS. The Germans do pre-emptive testing not just reactive as they do in the UK.

So how do you know it's one of the highest in Europe? Guessing?

[JimC]

Actually, I wouldn't wish coronavirus on anyone, not even Dutton...

[Scot Dutchy]

Not guessing:

Coronavirus: as many as 10,000 in Britain may already have it, says PM

Chief medical officer adds that 80% of UK could contract virus, with half a million people dying

Up to 10,000 people may already have coronavirus in Britain and many families should expect to lose loved ones before their time, Boris Johnson warned on Thursday as he set out measures less stringent than those taken by other countries.

Medical, scientific and public health experts criticised the steps outlined to tackle what the prime minister described as the “worst public health crisis for a generation”, including ending school trips abroad, stopping older and vulnerable people taking cruises and the use of self-isolation for a temperature and cough lasting four hours.

Like I said they have not got a clue in the UK.