03-28-2020, 12:44 AM
(03-27-2020, 07:02 PM)6andcounting Wrote: If there's no evidence it can be spread human-to-human, then of course countries will be ill prepared when it turns out it's highly contagious. The problem is - as GMD pointed out - there was ample evidence at that point in time it was contagious. WHO - a highly credible institution in this situation - announced Chinese propaganda that misled the world.
But now it WHO is complain countries didn't prepare quick enough.
A cluster of cases was first reported on 12/31/19. On 1/12/2020, or 2 days before the tweet you posted from Fox News, there were a total of 41 cases and one death.
On the same day the WHO also tweeted . . .
@haiyang050504 Hello - there has been no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020
However, such transmission is always a concern when patients have respiratory symptoms - this requires further investigation.
So . . .
1. Always a concern
2. Needs further investigation
So 15 days and approximately 40 cases into the coronavirus timeline the WHO tweeted what China told them. With the caveat human to human transmission is always a concern and further study is needed to confirm. Especially when we know coronavirus caused SARs and MERs.
Now, understand Fox News and Lou Dobbs are just trying to blame the WHO for Trump’s lack of action. After the WHO declared this was a pandemic Trump was still claiming they were wrong based upon a hunch.
In conclusion, that was a f’n tweet.
This . . .
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/112656/9789241507134_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
is a 156 page WHO guidebook on how to prepare and respond to an epidemic or pandemic respiratory illness.
Now if you were a public health official tasked with preparing for a potential epidemic or a pandemic, would you base your preparation on one tweet?
OF COURSE YOU ***** WOULDN’T BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE ***** STUPID!
If you had even the tiniest bit of common sense you would follow a guidebook on how to prepare for an pandemic and not a tweet based upon 15 days and 41 cases on information.
If someone believes countries didn’t prepare for a pandemic based upon that tweet then they’re probably the same people panic buying toilet paper.