
The Coronavirus Called America’s Bluff - mpweiher
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-showed-america-wasnt-task/608023/
======
thedudeabides5
_Chu was not threatened by the government, like Li had been in Wuhan. But she
was just as effectively silenced by a rule-bound bureaucracy that was
insufficiently worried about the pandemic_

This moral equivocation between America's bureaucratic incompetence and
China's police state is ridiculous.

Chu may have been blocked by a bunch of stuffed shirts in the FDA etc, but she
wasn't taken out back and shot like the citizen journalists in Wuhan.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AI3R41dGnU&feature=youtu.be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AI3R41dGnU&feature=youtu.be)

~~~
redis_mlc
The author wasn't making a "moral equivocation".

She was explaining how concerned citizens were trying to make a difference in
2 different countries, and were prevented by the government from succeeding.

I find the article to be reasonable and balanced. I suggest you more carefully
read it.

------
tomohawk
This is a month old, with a lot of finger pointing and grumbling.

What does the data say so far as of today?

[https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/new-covid-deaths-per-
mill...](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/new-covid-deaths-per-
million?tab=chart&time=44..&country=BEL+FRA+ITA+ESP+SWE+GBR+USA)

It is currently looking like Sweden is doing very well with their much
criticized protocols. And, hey, the US is also doing pretty well when compared
with many other countries that have transparent reporting of stats.

There will be a lot of lessons learned in the months ahead as we compare what
different countries are doing. What worked, what didn't work, and why.
Political mudslinging is unlikely to help this process.

~~~
MyHypatia
By what metric is the US doing well? We have the highest number of cases and
the highest number of deaths.

While it may be true that some countries are not reporting accurately, it's
certainly not true that our numbers only look bad because the US is so
transparent. We have a problem, a serious one, and the numbers lay it out
quite clearly. We should try to improve.

~~~
tomohawk
Click on the link and look at the chart.

The US is currently below 5 new daily deaths per million, while many other
countries have a much higher rate.

Keep in mind that if you add up the populations of the UK, France, Italy,
Spain, and Germany - you still have fewer people than live in the US.

~~~
redis_mlc
I looked at the chart you linked.

I don't see how you can draw any conclusions from it, as each country has
different testing and death reporting.

Also, the USA contains many cities and large rural areas, so the rates would
be different.

But most importantly, regardless of how the graph is interpreted, it doesn't
answer any questions, such as:

\- when should we stop social distancing? forever isn't an answer.

\- do ventilators help or not?

\- how much testing do we need to do? tracing?

To conclude, I think you're confusing data with information.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
I thought ventilators were pretty much a given - a 50% or better survival rate
when needed. They give treatment the time to work. If used when treatment
options are exhausted, then they simply prolong life a few days (and
suffering) so there's that I suppose.

~~~
redis_mlc
No. The numbers are 66% to 90% mortality rate (NY is 80%) on ventilators, and
the survivors can't talk or climb a flight of stairs for an unknown amount of
time.

The current recommendation is to use a cannula with an oxygen bottle as long
as possible (until the patient can't stop fainting.)

There is no treatment yet. Your body can use the first week to try and recover
itself, but after that most people die.

From a public health policy, ventilators don't work, so they're not really
part of the equation now as they were in March.

What's misunderstood about ventilators is that being intubated requires
general sedation and is more like major surgery than assistance.

