I don't understand how this addresses anything I said.

There are actual questions in my post. You didn't address any of them. You did, however, bring up a decade old debate about healthcare policy. Super helpful and relevant.

I'll ask it again more directly: what's so reckless about a high estimate of Covid 19 cases in Ohio, even if it ends up incorrect? And is that more or less reckless than Trump insisting the virus was completely under control and would be at zero?

Which of those two things puts people in more danger?


We have literally no idea how many people have this virus in the US. There's no reliable way to get tested. We just don't know. Part of the point I'm making is that while you feel it's reckless when people estimate large numbers, I think it's equally reckless to continue to insist the number of confirmed cases is at all representative given that the US fell flat on our face implementing testing infrastructure.

We don't know much of anything right now. As a result, there are going to be people whose estimates are way too high and people whose estimates are way too low.

The question I'm asking is why you all think one of those things is so reckless that it warrants impeachment, but the other is totally fine.


And underreactions make things worse as well, because it leads to people not taking it seriously. The fact of the matter is that we don't know the scope of things currently precisely because it was underestimated and we lost 5 weeks. Those that continue to underestimate it and go about their daily lives are not helping either.


If DeWhiner should be fired for over-estimating here, can you make a case as to why Trump shouldn't be fired for his equally reckless approach?

It is, of course, not Trump's fault that Covid 19 showed up in the US. There was no avoiding that. But they handled this terribly. They made the decision to test far too few people, bungled the rollout of test manufacturing, and as a result this thing spread unchecked for a solid 3 weeks. And now we're in full pandemic mode -- schools shutting down, public gatherings cancelled -- and we're still not set up for large scale testing.

The World Health Organization offered the US tests. We refused them.

On February 25th, the White House said the virus has been "contained."

On February 26th, he said "I think every aspect of our society should be prepared. I don't think it's going to come to that, especially with the fact that we're going down not up. We're going very substantially down, not up. When you have 15 people, and the 15 in a couple of days is going to be down close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done."

On February 28th Trump said "Coronavirus is under control in the US." On Feb

If you're so upset about somebody saying the number 100,000 shouldn't you be equally upset about somebody saying the number 0?

JSF: You told me I didn’t know anything about the topic, yet the person I was criticizing later in the day said she had misspoken. Seems that’s an indication I might have had a slight bit of insight into the situation upon which I was commenting. And, yes, your snarky comments often come off, at least to me, as though you are feeling very superior about yourself and your level of expertise. You could have said you disagreed with my assessment without impugning my integrity and implying I was doing some great disservice to humanity by questioning this particular statistic. BLSS, a few posts earlier, disagreed with me in an agreeable manner. It’s possible, even, on BA to have respectful disagreements.

Okay, you think I have no integrity. I can handle that. I’m not happy about, but I can take it.

Disney has free shuttles 😎

It appears that the European travel ban may have had the exact opposite effect it was intended to have. Reports all over Twitter this morning of long, long waits for luggage and customs at major airports. 7 hour waits total at O'Hare, for instance.

So that means thousands of people who were just in high-risk countries waiting side by side for 7 hours at a time.

Not ideal.

Truly it’s a mess, but there will be opportunities to decide who is at fault after we get through the crisis. It is time to come together, flatten the curve and protect our fellow citizens. I read a tweet from Newt Gingrich, who now lives in Italy, calling for a “WWII-like” effort by all Americans to address what lies ahead. Grim words from one who is living through the pandemic in Italy.

Sorta like DeWine claiming 100k cases of "unknown" infected roaming the streets of Ohio - instantly causing panic in the general population, which immediately resulted in people rushing to the grocery stores and standing in Costco lines for 3+ hours - in direct contact and proximity with hundreds (plural) of their closest community friends.

Not ideal is right.

LOL now DeWine just mandatory closed all restaurants and bars starting tonight at 9PM. *shakes head*. Apparently the government telling people to stay home isn't enough control for this guy, the government knows better than we do so they have to ENFORCE it. And single-handedly kill a whole swath and segment of small businesses in the process. What an amazing over-reach and abuse of government power.

Thank heavens President Trump had enough foresight to see these types of reactions coming and thus provide federal funding to small businesses impacted from COVID-19 hysteria (not that he should have to).

So what you're saying is DeWine made a decision that will likely save lives and not impact people financially? What a rube.

In fairness, the same buying panic happened all over the country, not just in Ohio, so it's not clear that Dewine's statement changed anything. It isn't impossible that that there are large numbers of cases, either. COVID19 is very invisible in the early days. It progresses through 4 stages:
1. Virusemia: targets the epithelial cells. For the first 4 to 9 days, it just looks like a cold. The initial symptoms are a runny nose and a sore throat, and this phase lasts 7-9 days. During this phase it begins to do very deep damage to your lymphocytes, breaking down your immune system. You may get a temperature, but it will be very slight during this phase.
2. From day 9 to 14, it starts to form pneumonia, both bacterial and viral (bacteria are always present in our lungs, but our immune system keeps them under control).
3. Pulmonary edema, and the patient can only be kept alive by a mechanical ventilator.
4. Growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a fungi, in the lungs

Even if you recover, within a year you may develop fibrosis in the lungs, a thickening of the lungs resulting in diminished lung capacity.

Sadly, about 4 days ago I came down with a cold, which I almost never do. Hopefully it is just a cold.