Interesting. Do you have a reference for this please ? I haven't seen this stat before.
This probably only applies in the US, where we did not accept the tests that had already been produced from the WHO in February, - rather individual laboratories scrambled to invent their own as fast as they could over the last few months. https://www.livescience.com/covid19-coronavirus-tests-false-negatives.html
Thanks to everyone staying at home.In a pandemic situation like this, you know you did it right when it seems like a overreaction in hindsight.If it seems like you didn't do enough in hindsight.... I fear that we're about to go through this all over again with more deaths due to the early reopenings.
Good point. I think as time progress, this comparison will become less relevant since South Korea to a certain extent, has it 'under control' for the last two weeks with low teen new cases, and US is still high on active cases. The lesson learnt here is the importance of science-driven decision making, the early availability of test has enable them to successfully do quarantine and contact tracing, which helped stop the spread. As case numbers go up, the number of testing/contact tracking/quarantine will exponentially goes up. And I guess that maybe why some experts would say US needs 5 million tests daily, which is a really high number. In retrospect, the month of Jan/Feb was indeed a window of golden opportunity, and it's probably why mainstream media has been trying to hold government/personnel accountable for that loss. Nonetheless, no point of playing blame game but stay focus on saving lives, I really only hope the testing level can catch up, because as the spread continues, harder it is to catch up with the increasing numbers. If Fauci was right about the virus continues into Fall, new flu cases would make this situation even more complicated to wrestle.This is a long story. I have friends whom were invited to join WHO meeting early in Feb, and that was the first time I heard about the of ineffective CDC tests and lack of testing in US. It was worrisome to say the least. As I always say, it's time to stop all the blame game, misinformation or betting on 'feeling', and it does need international collective effort to get this under control.I agree with you on staying home--it's half of the story. It is equally important to effectively quarantine everyone who's sick in proper facilities(so they get treated early on and lower death rate), contact trace and test those around them to make sure no one else got sick. That's why testing is so important. We are not only testing those with obvious symptoms, but whomever in close contact during incubation period or asymptomatic group, so we could slow down the spread and 'flatten the curve'.
2- I agree with a lot of the conspiracy types, but maybe not in the obvious way. Governments have seized a lot of control over citizenry, and they are not as good at relinquishing the control when the crisis is over, and that scares the bejeezus out of me. I'm not an anti-masker, I'm not an anti-vaxxer and I don't wear a tinfoil hat, but here in 2020 us Canadians are still paying income tax, which was something introduced to help pay for the war effort in WWII. Surely we have paid that off by now, why are we still paying? Simple- the government gets something and they don't like to give it up again. I imagine they will ease some restrictions so we all think they are releasing everything, but some measures of control will stay on the books "for the public good" while they raise taxes to pay for the costs of COVID related issues. Yeah, yeah, I am a bit of a paranoid anarchist, but I don't see a lot in the historical records that give me any confidence.
I have been keeping up with this thread since it started, but I haven't had a chance to respond properly- and I'm not 100% sure I'm going to get through this one either, but here goes!1- The COVID issue is a difficult one as there is so much misinformation, and so much conflicting information from a variety of actual expert sources. What people don't realize is that despite the millions of cases, no two are the same. People will have different reactions and symptoms, but the environment also plays a huge role in infection, treatment etc. With all of these factors at play (and a lot more) it takes time to develop an accurate model, and even longer still to develop a treatment. We are in this for the long run, whether we like it or not.Def
Agreed. Star Trek didn't prepare us for things like this. We have been told for generations now that doctors, once exposed to a completely alien organism, unlike anything they have ever seen, can be eradicate the virus, along with all of it's affects, in about 42 minutes, once you remove the commercial breaks. Well, we don't live aboard the Enterprise, it's been more than 42 minutes, and reality is settling in. It is unfortunate, but it takes time to model these things, which is an important factor in finding a way to fight it. It's a new mutation of an existing virus, which is fortunate because we can modify an existing model rather than starting from scratch, however it also means that mistakes will be made as we expect X = Y, but it turns out that due to the mutation, X = Z instead. Certain off the counter, existing medications may have some effect on it, but it isn't the silver bullet that some quacks are making it out to be. In fact, there is no silver bullet, at least not yet, which is why we are required to take a multitude of precautions. Folks saying "if your mask work, why do I need one?" really annoys me, because masks don't work by themselves, but instead are part of a larger framework of treatment and containment. This question makes about as much sense as saying "if my fire extinguisher works, why do I need insurance and a fire department? My house is safe." Yeah, yeah, I know I am upsetting some members here, and members are the most important part of this forum. Even so, I welcome the healthy debate on what works and what doesn't, in order to keep as many of us as safe as possible. so we can go back to enjoying the stupid things we all do that jeopardize our safety, but in a fun way. Def