He is also the one that we need right now. My understanding is that the only thing that has gone wrong with the US response (officially) is that the testing process has fallen flat. I can see Trump as CEO, listening to the CDC tell him, “we have this under control Mr. President”. So he listened to them, just as a good CEO would do. Then the testing fell apart. So Trump did what no other President likely could do in our day, and that is to bring together public and private resources to work together on the problem.
1. My allusion to The Dark Knight was intended to be a compliment for Trump, i.e., he's our dark knight. In the context of the film, Batman isn't the hero we need not because of Batman, as such, but because of Gotham. At least that's how I see it. So yeah, don't worry, I support Trump. I'd defintely vote for him.
2. That said, unfortunately, I think you're right. The testing process did fall flat. That's not entirely Trump's fault (e.g. I wouldn't blame the malfunction in the test kits that led to delays in manufacturing on Trump, per se), but as the president I think he could've taken certain actions to make sure we did roll out the tests early.
3. Again, unfortunately, it's a very big deal that the tests didn't get out in time. In fact, we still haven't done much testing. I think we're over 20,000 tests total across the US right now, but consider S. Korea was doing like 10,000 tests per day maybe a month or even longer ago. Actually, I think I might've recently seen South Korea is at like 20,000 tests per day right now, which wouldn't be surprising if true, but I'd have to check. What's more, South Korea already had the coronavirus sequenced, started running PCRs, and preparing for tests way back in Dec 2019. Their early, aggressive, and extensive testing is one big reason experts believe they're doing so well with the coronavirus epidemic in their borders. Last I checked, their case fatality rate was at a mere 0.6%. That's very good news for them. But again, unfortunately for us, it looks like we are past the point where we could have tested the local population, tracked down contacts, isolated pockets of outbreaks in hot zones like Seattle or Denver or Santa Clara, and quashed them before they became more widely spread (e.g. spreading from Seattle across other parts of Washington state).
4. However, that's all in the past. Hopefully things will be better in the future. I don't know if they're taking any cues from Trump, but I do know of lots of health care workers (for example) who are working like crazy and doing extra shifts and everything just to make sure the coronavirus stays under control and doesn't become as bad as it could become. Hopefully we'll be able to look back on this and see that it wasn't a big deal. If so, I think Trump would agree the main credit wouldn't go to him but to every day Americans doing all they can to stem the rising tide of the coronavirus pandemic.
In reading about the COVID-19 spread as most people are (i.e. those without university/government exclusive info), one of my early concerns - beyond concerns about me and mine - was Africa. I wondered if COVID-19 might not simply ravage 3rd world populations, with the only silver lining possibly being the natural remoteness of many people. But as for the bigger cities? Maybe borderline apocalyptic. Same for some of the lesser developed Central and South American nations. But of course it's notoriously hard to predict the future.
Speaking only for myself I see this developing into a global post 9-11 of sorts where things won't ever be quite the same as before. Some experts are saying to expect an influenza season alongside a coronavirus season annually from here on out. A dangerous and deadly 1-2 punch even when vaccinations are widely available.
I'm reminded of the ancient Chinese curse/blessing "may you live in interesting times".
Thanks, CD! Coincidentally, I also used the same Chinese curse/blessing just the other day, lol. :)
By the way, it's certainly possible the coronavirus could be endemic, like the seasonal flu is, though of course it's also debated. I guess time will tell.
In the meantime, you might be interested in this article as well as this one which is an older article about the first SARS epidemic (our current one is SARS-2) and its "seasonality".
Indeed. The Antichrist will rise to power on the back on the next depression.
ReplyDeletePre-war Germany teaches us that intelligent, educated people will only let themselves be ruled by demagogues if they see no alternative.
Some people think that Trump is already the Hitler in power. #Trump4eva.
ReplyDeleteI think Trump is the hero Gotham deserves.
DeleteHe is also the one that we need right now. My understanding is that the only thing that has gone wrong with the US response (officially) is that the testing process has fallen flat. I can see Trump as CEO, listening to the CDC tell him, “we have this under control Mr. President”. So he listened to them, just as a good CEO would do. Then the testing fell apart. So Trump did what no other President likely could do in our day, and that is to bring together public and private resources to work together on the problem.
Delete1. My allusion to The Dark Knight was intended to be a compliment for Trump, i.e., he's our dark knight. In the context of the film, Batman isn't the hero we need not because of Batman, as such, but because of Gotham. At least that's how I see it. So yeah, don't worry, I support Trump. I'd defintely vote for him.
Delete2. That said, unfortunately, I think you're right. The testing process did fall flat. That's not entirely Trump's fault (e.g. I wouldn't blame the malfunction in the test kits that led to delays in manufacturing on Trump, per se), but as the president I think he could've taken certain actions to make sure we did roll out the tests early.
3. Again, unfortunately, it's a very big deal that the tests didn't get out in time. In fact, we still haven't done much testing. I think we're over 20,000 tests total across the US right now, but consider S. Korea was doing like 10,000 tests per day maybe a month or even longer ago. Actually, I think I might've recently seen South Korea is at like 20,000 tests per day right now, which wouldn't be surprising if true, but I'd have to check. What's more, South Korea already had the coronavirus sequenced, started running PCRs, and preparing for tests way back in Dec 2019. Their early, aggressive, and extensive testing is one big reason experts believe they're doing so well with the coronavirus epidemic in their borders. Last I checked, their case fatality rate was at a mere 0.6%. That's very good news for them. But again, unfortunately for us, it looks like we are past the point where we could have tested the local population, tracked down contacts, isolated pockets of outbreaks in hot zones like Seattle or Denver or Santa Clara, and quashed them before they became more widely spread (e.g. spreading from Seattle across other parts of Washington state).
4. However, that's all in the past. Hopefully things will be better in the future. I don't know if they're taking any cues from Trump, but I do know of lots of health care workers (for example) who are working like crazy and doing extra shifts and everything just to make sure the coronavirus stays under control and doesn't become as bad as it could become. Hopefully we'll be able to look back on this and see that it wasn't a big deal. If so, I think Trump would agree the main credit wouldn't go to him but to every day Americans doing all they can to stem the rising tide of the coronavirus pandemic.
In reading about the COVID-19 spread as most people are (i.e. those without university/government exclusive info), one of my early concerns - beyond concerns about me and mine - was Africa. I wondered if COVID-19 might not simply ravage 3rd world populations, with the only silver lining possibly being the natural remoteness of many people. But as for the bigger cities? Maybe borderline apocalyptic. Same for some of the lesser developed Central and South American nations. But of course it's notoriously hard to predict the future.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking only for myself I see this developing into a global post 9-11 of sorts where things won't ever be quite the same as before. Some experts are saying to expect an influenza season alongside a coronavirus season annually from here on out. A dangerous and deadly 1-2 punch even when vaccinations are widely available.
I'm reminded of the ancient Chinese curse/blessing "may you live in interesting times".
Thanks, CD! Coincidentally, I also used the same Chinese curse/blessing just the other day, lol. :)
DeleteBy the way, it's certainly possible the coronavirus could be endemic, like the seasonal flu is, though of course it's also debated. I guess time will tell.
In the meantime, you might be interested in this article as well as this one which is an older article about the first SARS epidemic (our current one is SARS-2) and its "seasonality".