Live data from Hacker News

CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

khn.org

191–200 of 339 posts

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ll still get looks for wearing a mask. It’s ridiculous.

Have you considered that people are looking at you not because they want to shame you, but because they're trying to determine if you're sick and they should be extra careful around you, e.g. don't touch anything you've touched, etc? If the guidance so far has been to only wear a mask if you're sick, it seems reasonable to assume that someone wearing a mask is more likely to be sick than average.

Most of these people are passersby on the street who would have no opportunity to touch something I've touched.

I heard from someone who wore a mask recently who was flat-out told, "You're overreacting." It's not just caution, there is some kind of social insistence that the masks are not necessary and even to be discouraged, which I even sense in myself when I'm out and about without a mask and see others wearing them. It's natural for whatever reason, but we should be cognizant that it's just better than if people don't have protection enough to fight that tendency.

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#192
post #170
post #121

The damage will be much longer lasting than this. The Chinese bought the US precious weeks to prepare while it locked down vast numbers of its own population. The disaster could have been prevented through a vigorous testing/quarrantine program in Washington and California. At every step of the way the US either bungled testing, or actively discouraged testing. It's been nothing but lies and mistakes from the start.…

These problems are not due to an "administration". The rot of American institutions is deep. The competence and coherence of the entire American civil service and civil life has fallen precipitously in the last 20 years, and, in part because of their irrational fixation on this administration, people still cannot wrap theirs head around the fact that problem is in personnel and structure. The CDC botched the developm…

There may be structural problems, but the current administration contributed significantly the poor response to this epidemic. Had they kept existing infrastructure and people in place, things could have gone significantly better.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-...

https://blog.ucsusa.org/anita-desikan/trump-administration-h...

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#193
post #121

The damage will be much longer lasting than this. The Chinese bought the US precious weeks to prepare while it locked down vast numbers of its own population. The disaster could have been prevented through a vigorous testing/quarrantine program in Washington and California. At every step of the way the US either bungled testing, or actively discouraged testing. It's been nothing but lies and mistakes from the start.…

I don't understand this mentality when other Western Nations are going through the exact same thing. Did the administration cause every other countries problems with containing the virus too?

No, but it offers a stark comparison of the actions taken by "leader" of the "free world" vs countries like South Korea and Taiwan who managed to control the outbreak.

The United States is supposed to be the most prepared country to deal with a pandemic like this, yet the administration failed at its duty to protect its citizens and economy, even with ample warning from the world's best medical experts and intelligence agencies.

If America is struggling to contain this, how are impoverished countries supposed to?

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obama ramped up the CDC pandemic response team in 2014 after bird flu, and Trump let CDC leadership roles go unfilled in 2018 after they left. The Trump admin is directly responsible for the CDC becoming an 'embarrassment' as you say. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/28/michael-bl...

Or https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/dems-misconstrue-trump-bud... /heh, folks downvoting factcheck.org these days....

Or https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0...

Maybe get a fact check on that?

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#195
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These problems are not due to an "administration". The rot of American institutions is deep. The competence and coherence of the entire American civil service and civil life has fallen precipitously in the last 20 years, and, in part because of their irrational fixation on this administration, people still cannot wrap theirs head around the fact that problem is in personnel and structure. The CDC botched the developm…

There may be structural problems, but the current administration contributed significantly the poor response to this epidemic. Had they kept existing infrastructure and people in place, things could have gone significantly better. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-... https://blog.ucsusa.org/anita-desikan/trump-administration-h...

Yeah, for me the inflection point was NOAA and hurricane Dorian. Only so many people can put their careers on the line before something breaks in an organization.

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On 1/24/20 the WHO said there’s no human to human transmission of covid-19 https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152?s=20 They are to blame as much as anyone else

WHO deserves a ton of blame. For one, they refused to call it a pandemic and actually pressured experts who disagreed to take back what they said and then called it a Pandemic the very next day. https://twitter.com/RizaHawkeye8/status/1241415090097684480

Um, I've not been watching the WHO that closely, but didn't they state clearly their definition of a pandemic, and say [not a direct quote] "it's not yet a pandemic but might well become one", and then when it did pass their definition they called it a pandemic.

Seems reasonable, forthright, and scientific.

What did you want instead? Every epidemic to be called a pandemic?

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#197
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this mentality when other Western Nations are going through the exact same thing. Did the administration cause every other countries problems with containing the virus too?

No, but it offers a stark comparison of the actions taken by "leader" of the "free world" vs countries like South Korea and Taiwan who managed to control the outbreak. The United States is supposed to be the most prepared country to deal with a pandemic like this, yet the administration failed at its duty to protect its citizens and economy, even with ample warning from the world's best medical experts and intelligen…

> The United States is supposed to be the most prepared country to deal with a pandemic like this

Based on what? For years - long before the current administration - health experts in the US have been talking about how unprepared the US is for a pandemic. So where did you get this idea?

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#198
post #161

Admittedly, America dropped the ball, tripped over it, and broke it's nose. However, lets not forget that the WHO was also wildly irreaponsible by not declaring this a pandemic sooner.

To the degree that the WHO was wildly irresponsible - and I'm not I'm ready to apply the "wildly" part, it was publishing the terrifying 3.4% CFR when there was no basis for caluculating a denominator at that time. Even though they've been called out on that by one of the world's foremost experts in the area of research reliability [0], and even though every subsequent study [1] [2] [3] [4] has shown the CFR to be fa…

People keep repeating this idea that there's no basis for guessing the denominator of the CFR. This is silly.

The denominator of CFR is the number of people positively identified as having the disease. This isn't something that needs guessing.

The problem is that the general population doesn't understand that you can't project from a CFR at one instant in time to the actual fatality rate in the population.

But there's no need to criticize epidemiological terms of art just because people don't understand them and/or misuse them.

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/dems-misconstrue-trump-bud... /heh, folks downvoting factcheck.org these days....

Or https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0... Maybe get a fact check on that?

Very well. Point two, on a link proffered by someone else earlier: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/28/michael-bl...

Now, Trump can claim he INCREASED CDC's budget..because it's true.

Re: CDC coronavirus testing decision likely to haunt nation for months to come

#200
post #170
post #121

The damage will be much longer lasting than this. The Chinese bought the US precious weeks to prepare while it locked down vast numbers of its own population. The disaster could have been prevented through a vigorous testing/quarrantine program in Washington and California. At every step of the way the US either bungled testing, or actively discouraged testing. It's been nothing but lies and mistakes from the start.…

These problems are not due to an "administration". The rot of American institutions is deep. The competence and coherence of the entire American civil service and civil life has fallen precipitously in the last 20 years, and, in part because of their irrational fixation on this administration, people still cannot wrap theirs head around the fact that problem is in personnel and structure. The CDC botched the developm…

I agree with what you've said here. I'm curious if you have thoughts as to an underlying cause, or causes, that you would be willing to share.
Post reply on HN