Coronavirus

[Nikka]

[Stavros]

On the one hand the scale of the Covid 19 pandemic has taken governments by surprise, that it shifted from being a localized epidemic to a pandemic so quickly, and the ease of transmission of the virus which makes it significantly more dangerous than, say, the 'flu.

On the other hand, it is clear that actions taken by, for example, South Korea at an early stage (the first case was recorded in Wuhan on the 31st December 2019), have reduced the impact of Covid 19 so far, and that testing was crucial to the manner in which the disease is still being managed.

But in the UK and the US, there are no excuses, because in both countries, the prospect of a viral infection leading to deaths and enormous pressures on health care providers has been factored in to Government policy, or has been anticipated but practical contingency plans ignored.

In the UK Exercise Cygnus in 2016 enacted a viral infection across the UK, with every Government department taking part. The Report into its findings has not been published, while the lack of unpreparedness is at the heart of the decisions made in the UK, with money at its core, thus

the revelation the government and the NHS leadership knew of the gaps in Britain’s surge capacity ahead of the current outbreak will not go ignored. It was the lack of “surge capacity” within the NHS, combined with fresh data from Italy, that the modellers at Imperial cited only last week as the reason for Britain having to pivot from a strategy of mitigation to total lockdown six days ago.
In their defence, insiders say that while the Cygnus findings have not been published they were acted on in part at least. Projected shortages of PPE and ICU beds were not filled with bulk purchase because of cash constraints and worries they would become outdated or obsolete if left in storage. Instead work was done on securing reliable supply chains - something they say we will see evidence of this coming week in terms of PPE.
“Throwing money at the problem was not necessarily the solution. The NHS eats up money. It’s a bottomless pit,” said a senior former government source. “We were in a time of austerity and it wasn’t easy.” (My emphasis in bold)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...ed-government/

But Covid 19 now costs Billions, and there are shortages of equipment, and a lack of testing for the population.

In the US the Obama administration, widely admired for its leading role in the Ebola outbreak in Africa, set up a unit dedicated to combating pandemics. Established in the NSA, it was shut down when John Bolton was National Security Adviser. In addition to the current Government's war on Science, leading to the dismissal of the very people needed when a pandemic erupts across the country, the Obama Admnistration left its successor a comprehensive report on pandemics that was 'thrown onto a shelf'-

The administration got rid of most of the staff who worked on identifying global health problems in China, while repeatedly attempting to slash funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A comprehensive document on battling pandemics, drawn up under the Obama administration, was “thrown on to a shelf” by its successor. Only last October, an internal federal government report warned that the US was woefully underprepared and underfunded to tackle a virus without a cure.
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...american-lives

Fail to prepare, means being prepared to fail. Even with the unique nature of Covid 19, we could have done better, and still the majority of people in the UK and the US have not been tested, and now we have infantile 'advice' on masks and scarves, with the man in charge making a mockery of the advice he has been given.

Stay safe, stay healthy, isolate yourself as much as you can, above all, Survive.

[filghy2]

Harry S Truman (1945): "The buck stops here"
Donald J Trump (2020): "I don't take responsibility at all"

[Rover177]

Just think of the number of class action lawsuits if Trump repeated Truman's comments. Cuomo was ranting at Trump for ventilators - his own warehouse had 3,000 of them. Lefties are always good at blaming others.

[Nikka]

AVianca airline offered a Bonus for 6 more month, I cannot believe it but lets just wait

[Fitzcarraldo]

Just think of the number of class action lawsuits if Trump repeated Truman's comments. Cuomo was ranting at Trump for ventilators - his own warehouse had 3,000 of them. Lefties are always good at blaming others.

Then I guess Trump is a Leftie. He is the king of blaming others for his own incompetence.

[filghy2]

Just think of the number of class action lawsuits if Trump repeated Truman's comments. Cuomo was ranting at Trump for ventilators - his own warehouse had 3,000 of them. Lefties are always good at blaming others.

What a stupid comment. Taking responsibility for dealing with a major crisis is the President's job, regardless of whether the state voted for him or said something that wounded his fragile ego. They have stockpile of ventilators because they need to prepare for the further worsening of virus cases that is still to come. At the rate the virus is progressing they could run through the stockpile in a few days.

[Laphroaig]

Just think of the number of class action lawsuits if Trump repeated Truman's comments. Cuomo was ranting at Trump for ventilators - his own warehouse had 3,000 of them. Lefties are always good at blaming others.

Can you honestly say that Trump is handling this crisis well?...

[broncofan]

Just think of the number of class action lawsuits if Trump repeated Truman's comments.

The President can't actually get sued based on the performance of his official duties. If he could, nothing would expose him to more liability than what he's already said, which is that governors need to flatter him to get life-saving equipment from the federal government.

As late as March, both Kushner and Trump were comparing Covid-19 to the Swine Flu Epidemic of 2009 and asking why the "liberal media" wasn't as hard on Obama back then. The problem is that the Swine Flu had a case fatality rate of about .03% while it was pretty clear by early February that Covid-19 was about 15-20 times as lethal as Influenza. Their failure to take it seriously caused complacency among the public, who thought they were dealing with a flu strain.

Pence also kept promising tests and failing to reach every benchmark he set, which allowed community spread much earlier than we'd have otherwise seen. We are in a race against time, to find treatments and for scientists to develop and test a vaccine. Allowing this disease to spread throughout the country because testing people may cause a dip in the stock market is next level stupid and depraved.

Trump could have invoked the Defense Production Act and had businesses produce ventilators in early February when it seemed pretty likely the disease wouldn't be contained. He could have forced companies to produce tests, which are badly needed and which the government failed to roll out. He could have produced ppe for front-line workers risking their lives, many of whom are getting sick and dying. The failures were obvious, preventable, and inexcusable.

Please stay safe everyone.

[filghy2]

This article outlines the failures in ordering medical supplies. https://www.vox.com/2020/4/5/2120880...rs-masks-march Masks weren't ordered until 12 March, and the contract does not require delivery until the end of April. Companies were not ordered to produce ventilators until after March 27, and they won't be available until late June at the earliest.

On top of that, uncoordinated buying as a result of states being left to their own devices has pushed prices way up and (not surprisingly) some of the profiteers are Trump donors. https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...rus-power-grab

But I guess in Fox News world none of this is happening.