Coronavirus (COVID-19)

We had like a month to get ready, other countries managed to get test kits ready in a couple weeks as far as I know, and we did not. I get it, though. The buck stops with the head of the CDC, am I right? The fact that they’re denying tests for people who should be getting them while Trump brags on TV about the low number of positive tests in USA #1 is a total and absolute coincidence, right? This isn’t a guy who would lie to the American public and risk innocent lives, right? Of course not!

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I listened to Science Vs Podcast episode on corovirus and they made it seem like the CDC would not be the tip of the spear on a response as The USA! USA! obsession with states rights has decentralized medical response.

Tens of millions of Americans got H1N1 but I think testing was generally not done because the diagnosis wasn’t going to change the treatment. There certainly could have been that many test kits prepared but that will also eventually be true of Corona.

Made a commitment to myself to avoid this thread and the news over the weekend. I feel like it’s negatively impacting my sanity. Need a break from the paranoia.

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I think it was Ebola and SARS. They said hundreds of thousands of test kits were prepared in advance, but I can’t find the article right now.

It’s not paranoia, but it might still do you good to get away from reality.

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Yes, I do think that the senior leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the people most to blame for the failure of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to adequately control and prevent the spread of coronavirus in the US. The administration obviously has some responsibility as well for putting incompetents in charge but reading the head guy’s resume, his appointment looks totally reasonable from his experience and qualifications.

Because trumps administration has never before meddled with an agencies mandate or operations!

Sometimes it’s like you have been asleep for 3 years

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I mean what Obama would have done was 1) immediately get the CDC all the funding they could possibly need, 2) made clear that getting reliable testing in sufficient #s was the top priority, 3) demanded answers from people he would hold accountable as to if there were any roadblocks to such goal, and 4) if so, demand recommendations to immediately enlist foremost experts outside the CDC to achieve the goal.

Trump did the exact opposite, he made abundantly clear that he didn’t want large numbers of people being tested positive for Coronavirus and that he would harshly punish anyone who did anything outside the ordinary course and treated the Coronavirus like the public health emergency it is.

So do I think some lab rat intentionally fucked up the tests to ensure failure because Trump personally told him to? No. But was this an orchestrated failure? Absolutely. It’s the most extreme version possible of “Republicans argue that government doesn’t work, then prove themselves right once they are in charge.”

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I think he’s getting better, though. Before reading this, I would have guessed the Keeed position was that everything is actually being handled just fine. We’re at least a level better than that.

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Well, did it in this specific case? Big story if true – the administration overriding the judgement of the CDC on testing guidelines and production of test kits? Huge story. Also doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would be able to be kept secret. Of course you don’t have any actual evidence for any of this, you’re just spouting literal conspiracy theories.

Can Bloomberg pay for massive testing to drive confirmed case numbers up to embarrass Trump?

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Willie robs the local store 19 times in a row. The local store is robbed. Thinking it might be Willie is not a conspiracy theory. It’s a logical null hypothesis to be disproved by evidence.

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You’re right. Paranoia is the wrong word. I meant the paranoia that I put in my own head after reading the discussions here. Discussions here have mostly been very factual and realistic. Minus the nuclear war thing.

Elon really helping the situation…

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528?s=21

https://mobile.twitter.com/NeerajKA/status/1236031715778457600

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Let me get this straight. There’s no evidence at all that Trump interfered with the inner workings of the CDC’s testing response, but actually, the burden is on me to prove that Trump didn’t order the CDC to put guidelines in place to make it difficult to test for community spread of the virus? lol?

Costco person here. When my wife heard about the hoarding she was like “we’re all set, we already have three months’ worth of everything”.

It absolutely is a comfort/coping mechanism in my life, even without a crisis. I’ve actually talked about it in therapy and think that, all things considered, my need to have a huge surplus of non-perishable stuff stored in our house isn’t that big a deal. I’m not harming anyone, and it’s certainly a healthier reaction than the way I used to manage my insecurity and fear of scarcity.

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Boomer at my table eating with his hands while playing, but eyeing the old Asian guy with the raspy voice suspiciously.

Trump is going to unwittingly thin out a lot of his supporter herd.