BBC: China pneumonia outbreak: COVID-19 Global Pandemic

[PCS]

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/us-coronavirus-test/

 

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/16/joe-biden/biden-falsely-says-trump-administration-rejected-w/

 

https://khn.org/news/biden-falsely-blames-trump-administration-for-rejecting-who-coronavirus-test-kits-that-were-never-offered/

[Nerm]

3 minutes ago, Larry said:

 

Suppose you got any support for your latest shovel full?

• https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/16/joe-biden/biden-falsely-says-trump-administration-rejected-w/

[bearrock]

3 minutes ago, Nerm said:

 

Well, it is the point Biden and many dems are making.  And it is the one that I am saying is false.

 

I believe that's focusing on semantics, instead of focusing on the nature of the criticism on the testing front and international cooperation. 

 

International help was available.  Trump didn't take it.  And still hasn't asked for it (as far as I know) despite our continuing lag on testing.

[Larry]

OK, reading the fact check articles.  (Thanks, folks.)  

 

The claim that there was no kit, it was a liberal myth, is the biggest whopper in this subject discussion.  

 

However, yes, Joe Biden absolutely gave the impression that the WHO offered to give the US kits which they had available (and the US refused them).  This is untrue in several ways.  

 

1)  The WHO never offered kits to the US.  And would not have offered them.  The WHO makes kits, and gives them to third world countries who can't make their own.  They aren't in the business of handing out charity to countries who have US-level capabilities.  In the case of first world countries, they simply tell them how they made the test.  

2)  And it's normal for the US to not use WHO tests, and make their own, instead.  (As do many other countries.)  This is the way we normally do things.  

 

Biden's comment implied that the WHO offered the US ready-to-use kits which they had in stock.  And that's not true.  (And it's not just a case of "well, they didn't actually offer them", either.)  

[visionary]

 

 

 

 

[ShredSkins]

So, the majority of Casinos closed Monday in my state, mine stayed open.  Only Casino in a major city open tonight after the Major closed all bars. We had a meeting today where the GM said we need to stay open till Friday because our competitors are closed. I could lose my job for posting this. It's so ****ed up. We are putting the entire state at risk. 

[kfrankie]

Do Kevin Durant has Covid 19. Any one care?

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by kfrankie

[visionary]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by visionary

[visionary]

 

[ixcuincle]

 

[ixcuincle]

Nice to see them adopt Yang policies with 1000 per month until this crisis blows over.

[zCommander]

2 hours ago, Nerm said:

• https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/16/joe-biden/biden-falsely-says-trump-administration-rejected-w/

 

 

(CNN)As the United States struggled to launch testing for the novel coronavirus using kits developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization shipped hundreds of thousands of tests to countries around the world.

 

No discussions occurred between WHO and the CDC about providing tests to the United States, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told CNN on Tuesday, and WHO did not offer coronavirus tests to the CDC.

 

The United States, Jasarevic confirmed, doesn't ordinarily rely on WHO for tests because the US typically has the capacity to manufacture its own diagnostics.

US chose to design its own coronavirus test

 

On January 17, WHO published a protocol from German researchers with the instructions necessary for any country to manufacture coronavirus tests.

[visionary]

 

[visionary]

 

[twa]

as far as I know there was no problem with the test the CDC developed, but there was quality control issues in some production runs with a key reagent.

identifying and correcting that was probably deemed better than trying to switch to a test deemed inferior.

 

my biggest gripe was not allowing alt test methods, which some are blaming FDA rules for

[Mr. Sinister]

5 hours ago, kfrankie said:

Do Kevin Durant has Covid 19. Any one care?

 

 

I care, just not as much as I care about my own situation. 

[Long n Left]

9 hours ago, skinsfan_1215 said:

Talked to a work colleague from NJ today. He was bedridden with 4/5 of the common covid symptoms. He just got back from London, where he attended two soccer games against teams from Spain. With fans from Spain. You know, where there’s a huge outbreak. Should probably get him tested right? Nope, his fever isn’t high enough and he didn’t go to a “high risk” country (SK, China, Japan, Iran, and Italy). 
 

So testing. Yeah, we’re still doing this same ****. 

My daughter returned from spring break in Madrid Sunday before last, and cannot get tested because she shows no symptoms...yet. Her boyfriend, who was abroad in Madrid for the semester, just made it out in time. Upon his return, he had symptoms, but they were mild, and he recovered in two days. He still is being refused testing, because he has no active symptoms.

 

THIS has been our country’s largest failure, the inability to have mass testing ready, when it was clear this could become a global problem, like a month ago. Also, refusal to accept donated tests is irresponsible, FDA approved or not. Most virologists I have read and heard, are saying aggressive testing is of paramount importance.

 

THIS, specifically, is where our administration has failed us incredibly.

[bcl05]

This failure to produce adequate testing can be directly tied to the widespread economic/social shutdown and the recession to come.  If we had accurate, fast, available, widespread testing very early in this crisis, we could have tracked all infected patients and their contacts.  South Korea did this and are back to playing baseball.  We could have isolated this virus and kept it from spreading, or at least would have had a chance.  Now, with no data to follow and no way of achieving comprehensive testing, we have to shut everyone and everything down.  This is what happens when we are reactive rather than proactive.  This shutdown and recession (not to mention the huge numbers of excess infections and excess deaths) is directly the result of the CDC's failure to produce adequate testing and the Trump administration's failure to take this crisis seriously early enough.    

[skinsmarydu]

I can almost say I'm proud to be in Atlanta. There are food banks popping up everywhere, restaurants are donating space for volunteers to set up 10-day meal kits for low income students in one county, and a laundromat is letting folks do laundry for free for a few hours a day. 

Southern hospitality. It's a real thing. 😎

[Xameil]

6 hours ago, visionary said:

 

Not sure where in NY this guy is talking about. There are at least 4 hospitals I can name off the top of my head within 30 minutes of each other doing drive thru testing. Only requirement is a prescription for the testing

[twa]

37 minutes ago, bcl05 said:

  If we had accurate, fast, available, widespread testing very early in this crisis, we could have tracked all infected patients and their contacts.

 

I think this part is overstating it, but it sure would have been better.

on the other hand a high number of false positives would have us chasing our tails.

 

I think wide spread was unstoppable here, but maybe we could have bent the curve more.

[skinsmarydu]

5 minutes ago, twa said:

 

I think this part is overstating it, but it sure would have been better.

on the other hand a high number of false positives would have us chasing our tails.

 

I think wide spread was unstoppable here, but maybe we could have bent the curve more.

In all fairness, he started his post with "accurate" in the description of the tests. 

But I agree with your last point. 

[Renegade7]

1 hour ago, twa said:

as far as I know there was no problem with the test the CDC developed, but there was quality control issues in some production runs with a key reagent.

identifying and correcting that was probably deemed better than trying to switch to a test deemed inferior.

 

my biggest gripe was not allowing alt test methods, which some are blaming FDA rules for

 

I mean, how bad was the test that we decided to get this far behind on testing?

 

Procedures can save lives, yes, but they can also cost lives, and that's why we adjust them and make exceptions when necessary.  

 

I'm not ready to defend the administration for following what they thought was the right thing to do, in part because how long it took them to catch up and now far behind we still are in testing. 

 

I'm convinced he was convinced this wouksnr be this bad, otherwise they would've aked for the tests in the meantime and I'm sure WHO would've said he's since they were blasting us for taking so long to do our own testing.

[bcl05]

13 minutes ago, twa said:

 

I think this part is overstating it, but it sure would have been better.

on the other hand a high number of false positives would have us chasing our tails.

 

I think wide spread was unstoppable here, but maybe we could have bent the curve more.

 

A widely available test with significant false positives would have been a far preferable situation than what occurred.  False positives are an issue in that they lead to some being isolated who don't really need to be.  In the absence of testing, with spread that is unconstrained, we have asked that ALL be isolated.  And, because of mixed messaging and the lack of specificity, many people are not taking that directive seriously.  We have caused much more harm to ourselves and our economy because of the lack of testing.  

[twa]

but false positives (especially )with symptoms would tie up medical facilities,supplies, testing capacity and personnel when you are already expected to be overloaded.