I find this completely shocking. Other countries moved rapidly but they did so at national level or at least at the level of the provinces in Italy. The fact that things are happening so rapidly and in such such a fragmentary way at state and local level, with as yet no hint of a national strategy and national statistics that are a joke is extremely concerning.
I understand the Bay Area’s strategy compared to other countries; the choices of what to allow and not to allow depend on many local factors like population density and local customs, but there are also problems that affect the whole nation and need clarification at national level. If we don’t get that clarification and corresponding guidance from the federal government state and local policies are going to cause disasters in themselves, and possibly deaths.
Yes the degree of federal inaction to this whole crisis is incredibly shocking and perturbing, especially re: the lack of quick production of testing kits, publicly downplaying the issue, and referring to the virus in xenophobic ways. Not to mention the fact that the present administration disbanded the NSC pandemic response unit that was created in the wake of Ebola and roundly praised by experts as necessary for future pandemics like exactly what we are now facing.
There was enough warning about this that the federal government absolutely had time to have an organized and much more effective response. It’s a shame they did not.
Please tell me how referring to the Wuhan virus as the Wuhan virus is xenophobic. Is calling Ebola Ebola, or Lyme Disease Lyme Disease, or dozens of other maladies by their place of origin equally xenophobic?
And how is a travel ban from a Wuhan Virus hotspot xenophobic? You should instead be grateful for that early action for dramatically flattening the infection curve in this country. I suspect you would have complained if President Trump had not instituted that travel ban.
I know you are more intelligent than your comment confers, but your unbridled TDS is plain ugly.
I’m blocking any individual who repeatedly goes to personal attacks over discussing the substance of these issues. Disagreement is fine! Attacks are unnecessary and suggest someone lacks the ability to otherwise make their point. Don’t need their input on politics or anything else.
The reality of the situation is that this federal response has been unprecedented and Im unbelievably glad we have a leader who isn’t afraid to make tough decisions even if they’re unpopular.
I know individuals who came back from China after the travel ban was implemented. They underwent no quarantine or any kind of follow up.
Both got COVID 19 and idiotically didn’t self quarantine or do anything… except end up with pneumonia. One went to the doctor who tested her for the flu… then her husband went a week later when finally COVID 19 tests were available and tested positive. Now their area has dozens of cases.
If we’d had an effective response, our curve would look like South Korea’s right now. Nearly flat.
I don’t fault the administration for either of the travel bans. Personally, I think that was one of the only right decisions the administration made in the early stages of this virus. But tourists are less of a risk to a community than citizens.
Agree. We needed more sooner. Not lost upon me though that during Ebola outbreak everyone was completely supporting the previous administrations hands-off approach and insisting that travel bans would be horrible ideas etc … we’ve seen a lot more response this time around, yes in hind sight more sooner would have been better
Trump isn’t calling it “Wuhan virus”. He is calling it “China virus”. But this virus already has a name - in fact it has two. “Corona virus” and “Covid-19”. The latter is more precise, but we seem stuck with the first one too since it was the first one used. So why is Trump now trying to CHANGE the name to “China virus”? Can you think of any reason other than he wants to use a racist trope to point the finger of blame at another country and away from his own vast incompetence?
I have no problem with travel bans if they serve a purpose. Banning travel from Wuhan and China, then later Europe seemed reasonable to me. Except that when banning travel from Europe he was going to allow travel from the UK, when the UK had the same rates of infections (or worse) than the rest of Europe. The best explanation of that I could find was that he had three golf courses in the UK and zero in the rest of Europe.
I found cardamom’s comment perfectly intelligent. And I see you didn’t bother to try to defend our lying commander in chief’s other actions and statements. What about disbanding the NSC pandemic response team to cut costs then lying about it, saying to check with “Tony” whoever the f*ck he is? What about repeatedly trying to reduce the budget for the CDC? What about initially claiming the virus was a “democrat hoax”, that would “go away in April with the heat”? What about claiming that the “common flu” is much worse, that the covid risk is “very low” and that he had it “very well under control” in February? What about claiming that he bears “no responsibility” for the fact that he promised covid tests for anyone who wanted it when there were none available. The number of ways in which he has lied about this subject are uncountable.
@jag1 Your post, just like @cardamom’s is a trope, full of misinformation. I guess I’m going to have to go one by one.
This virus had been widely referred to as the “Chinese Wuhan Virus” quite widely by all news media when it was initially being reported. That is the first name that they gave it. When President Trump uses their name that they coined for the disease, how is he at fault all of a sudden for xenophobia? Also, he referred to the virus as the “China Virus” only after and in response to the Chinese government saying that US soldiers were the source, which should be an affront to every American.
You are right, travel bans serve a purpose. At the time there were three severe outbreak locations. Italy, China, and Iran. He didn’t include Great Britain because at the time the virus was not as advanced. Also, the purpose of a travel ban is to keep casual travelers out of the country. Trade and commerce is not banned. And I guess Trudeau is an anti-American because he banned travel (but not trade) with the US.
And you only make yourself look small by thinking that President Trump excluded Great Britain because of his golf clubs with the health of America and the world at stake.
I have seen this lie propagated from the left for the last few weeks. Only problem is it is false, fake news. President Trump folded the NSC pandemic response team into the more efficient and wider scope Pandemic Strategy Initiative. Read about it in this HHS press release.
CDC funding for jobs that were no longer at CDC was appropriately adjusted. There were no cuts to existing programs.
He did not say that the virus was a “Democrat hoax”. This tripe has been widely debunked. He called the virus reporting and the fact that democrats and leftists were telling lies about his response (travel ban being xenophobic, refusing test kits from WHO, doing nothing about the virus, etc., etc) a hoax.
And the fact is that many in the Democrat party have been trying to use a National Crisis for political purposes. It is only recently that some have come to their senses. Governor Gavin Newsome, Governor Cuomo, CNN’s Dana Basch, among others, have all made statements thanking the President for his Wuhan Virus reaction.
Fact is, the CDC and most virus experts say that heat, especially on exposed surfaces, will inactivated the virus. It’s usually pretty hot in the US in the summer.
The common flu actually is quite a bit more deadly than coronavirus at this time. Many more people are infected and die from flu than from Corona virus.
The risk from coronavirus also seems pretty low, maybe because of all the precautions that are now being taken. While it is heartbreaking that 500 people have died from this terrible disease, there are 350 million people in the US. A death rate of .02% is not astronomical.
I would say that the government’s control of the virus is under pretty good control. What is not under good control are the lies, tropes, and misinformation coming out of primarily the left. If we can all come together about the facts, both about coronavirus and President Trump, the better off we will be.