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Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

cdc.gov

111–120 of 140 posts

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#111
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CDC doesn't do much local testing. Mainly they provide test kits to local labs which do the tests. Please bear in mind that CDC funding for international coordination on pandemic control was cut by 80% a few years ago, and since 2018 they have not had a representative on the National Security Council, and had their senior Pandemic response positions eliminated. Reports that their overall funding was cut are not a…

Of course, this is not related to the weird issue with tests not being available. Local hospitals are being prevented from running their own tests not by a lack of availability, but by a special directive that activates during a public health emergency.

Can you elaborate on that? I haven't heard of this.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#112

the data posted to the CDC website seems all over the place. e.g. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html right above the table the report says: Updated February 29, 2020 Looking at their editing history on archive you can see how their numbers evolved over time: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.cdc.gov/coronaviru... inconsistencies/errors in the report (e.g. 21st Feb they claimed 479 tota…

.. Trump didn’t succeed in slashing the budget, however. > Trump’s budgets have proposed cuts to public health, only to be overruled by Congress, where there’s strong bipartisan support for agencies such as the CDC and NIH. Instead, financing has increased. https://apnews.com/d36d6c4de29f4d04beda3db00cb46104

I don't think that's the full story. Trump will replace and bully everyone that is not on his side ( just look at his Twitter)

Look at the mess at the Trump administration where competent people just quit and some people stay in the background, fixing things.

They don't even dare to answer the press anymore and limit freedom of speech/journalism.

I'm not suprised that the CDC officials were replaced by Trump loyalists and the current mess he left behind.

Even his main goal of building the wall is too fill his own pockets through friendly contractors.

And I wouldn't be suprised that he tries to manipulate stocks also, people in the past didn't believe him anymore after his multiple attempts to manipulate stocks. Then he actually tried something and went broke multiple times ( Trump casino's). He's more worried about the stocks and low taxes, than the health of US citizens.

And that is not the most worrying part. During his presidency, I have yet to see any sign of intellect.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#113
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First tested and confirmed case in NYC. There have been numerous reports from NYC residents who returned from areas with community spread, got sick, tested negative for the flu, and the CDC wouldn’t test them. I think in a few weeks we’ll find out that Coronavirus has actually been spreading in NYC for 3+ weeks. The CDC is incompetent.

The CDC doesn't do much local testing. Mainly they provide test kits to local labs which do the tests. Please bear in mind that CDC funding for international coordination on pandemic control was cut by 80% a few years ago, and since 2018 they have not had a representative on the National Security Council, and had their senior Pandemic response positions eliminated. Reports that their overall funding was cut are not a…

The CDC doesn't do much (any?) local testing but they established ridiculously stringent guidelines for having people tested. There was a case in NYC over the weekend from a man who had recently returned from a trip to Japan. The CDC wouldn't test him because Japan wasn't on the list at the time and so his case didn't meet their overly strict criteria. The hospital discharged him and he went home... on the subway. Flu symptoms but no flu, recently traveled to a country with community spread, and the CDC said he didn't qualify for a test kit.

According to the CDC there were no cases in NYC until yesterday but that is almost certainly a lie. The quoted numbers from the CDC are completely worthless.

This lack of transparency and accountability is causing people to panic more than they might otherwise. And now that proper testing is finally (maybe?) getting underway we're likely to see the number of cases skyrocket which will cause people to freak out even more.

This panic response from the general public could have been and could still be avoided if the CDC and the federal government would just be open, honest, and transparent with people. But they aren't. They are tripping over themselves relentlessly which is causing panic and stirring conspiracy theorists.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#115

I was curious why Canada has not had a breakout, given that Canada didn't shut down any flight, and many people from China, Iran, and Korea fly in and out of Canada.

I dont know if it counts as a breakout but Canada has 19 confirmed cases so far.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#116
post #3

>This virus is NOT currently spreading widely in the United States. Curious how this is known given practically zero tests have been done and numerous cases with no contact external to the US have been discovered.

Yeah, this is absurd. Surveillance testing isn’t even being done at anywhere near the levels to make this claim, nor are any of the only known effective mitigation strategies, like bans on mass gatherings, being put in place. Compare this to what is being done in Singapore with effective quarantines and extensive contract traces, or Korea with on-demand, drive-thru testing, and the complacency is staggering. The CDC…

Before you advocate 'surveillance testing', you should provide a link to hard data showing what the false-positive rate is.

Not assurances of how accurate it might be...

I want a definitive false-positive rate.

Until we have that, surveillance testing may be more harmful than beneficial.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#117
Serious question...

In light of the fact that this virus has never been tested for before, how does one know the virus hasn't been part of the popilation for centuries? How do you know your last flue wasn't in fact Covid-19?

With some illnesses -- say smallpox -- you can 'count' the number of cases by symptoms alone.

But for this, it seems the symptoms in the majority of cases are inonsequwntial... similar to the flu or cold.

I don't know what happened in Wuhan. But, as far as the rest of the world, there does not appear to be any significant increase in actual illnesses requiring hospitalization. At least nothing that wouldnt otherwise manifest itself during flu season.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#118
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why would s/he pay $3000 to get tested for something s/he already recovered from? https://twitter.com/NickKristof/status/1234140218023989253

This is plain ridiculous. It's like the US is 50 years late on social/health/worker conditions. Mandatory paid sick leave sounds like a win/win thing no matter how you look at it. > The U.S. is the ONLY wealthy nation that doesn't guarantee all workers paid sick leave, paid family leave & health coverage. This means many workers go to work sick

Don't blame the US. Here in Germany, its 300 EUR out of pocket to get tested (source: tagesspiegel from a few days ago, a story about a guy in Berlin, returning from a trip to Italy and wanting to get tested before getting together with his wife and kids. Doctors didn't want to see him, and the only clinic that was willing to do the test would charge 300 EUR. Public health insurance doesn't pay. Private health insurance probably would though, but it sounded the like he had just public).

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, this is not related to the weird issue with tests not being available. Local hospitals are being prevented from running their own tests not by a lack of availability, but by a special directive that activates during a public health emergency.

Can you elaborate on that? I haven't heard of this.

Take a look at this: https://twitter.com/davidalim/status/1233032552056807426

Fortunately I heard this is in the process of being lifted. We should see the tests coming soon.

Re: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Situation Summary

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is absurd. Surveillance testing isn’t even being done at anywhere near the levels to make this claim, nor are any of the only known effective mitigation strategies, like bans on mass gatherings, being put in place. Compare this to what is being done in Singapore with effective quarantines and extensive contract traces, or Korea with on-demand, drive-thru testing, and the complacency is staggering. The CDC…

Before you advocate 'surveillance testing', you should provide a link to hard data showing what the false-positive rate is. Not assurances of how accurate it might be... I want a definitive false-positive rate. Until we have that, surveillance testing may be more harmful than beneficial.

That’s insanity. The WHO themselves insisted that aggressive surveillance testing is necessary to formulate an adequate response and it’s what Korea and Singapore are doing right now. There have been no reports of widespread false positives, only false negatives, and even in that case, testing was ramped up because it’s better to catch some than none.
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