Anyone else feels that US didn't take COVID-19 serious enough?

[dalibord]

Trump closed his eyes and held fingers in his ears long enough. Now it's late to contain COVID-19 in the US successfully.
He still refuses to see the threat of the virus, and only focuses on the business side. People getting ill is not a great business...

[btcltcdigger]

No one took COVID-19 seriously, especially not people.

Even to this day, in Italy, there are still caffee's open serving people.
But it comes as no surprise, until last week, everyone called it "just a flu"

[Soldierswitlittlefaith]

Trump closed his eyes and held fingers in his ears long enough. Now it's late to contain COVID-19 in the US successfully.
He still refuses to see the threat of the virus, and only focuses on the business side. People getting ill is not a great business...

FYI : can i ask you the success rate of those countries who had locked down their country and restricted citizen from coming out (not even a 200 meter walk away from their home)

Now do you think this is really working well?
I'm in rome. we only saw a slight drop down in this curve on sunday/monday and now  the spread seems to have started again.

Thanks
Soldierwitlittlefaith

[Csmiami]

FYI : can i ask you the success rate of those countries who had locked down their country and restricted citizen from coming out (not even a 200 meter walk away from their home)

Most countries that have taken those measures have taken them in the last 7/14 days, so the results of such actions will be showing up during the following weeks. Yesterday this post, coming from a newspaper article said that until the end of April some of the regions inside of Spain won't be seeing the highest spike, and thus starting the decrease in cases.

Italy was more or less one month ahead of the spanish situation, so....

[NeuroticFish]

US didn't take it serious enough.
Before that, UK and NL didn't take it serious enough.
Before that Italy and Spain didn't take it serious enough.
Before that China didn't take it serious enough.

...And I've only enumerated a small part of the list 

[Yogee]

Soldierwitlittlefaith, that slight drop down in the curve is already an improvement don't you think? If no lockdown was put in place, it's most likely that there will be no drop down in infection rate. I also remember reading a post that the reason the virus spread so rapidly is that the citizens from Lombardy, where the highest number of confirmed cases were, escaped or flee when it was leaked that the place will be locked down.

[Soldierswitlittlefaith]

Soldierwitlittlefaith, that slight drop down in the curve is already an improvement don't you think? If no lockdown was put in place, it's most likely that there will be no drop down in infection rate. I also remember reading a post that the reason the virus spread so rapidly is that the citizens from Lombardy, where the highest number of confirmed cases were, escaped or flee when it was leaked that the place will be locked down.

@Yogee,
Maybe - maybe not because i'm seeing another crisis if, nCOV-19 should end today. that is the the nCOV of famine.

Already we've started seeing the sign in super store.

TRUMP is right. we should look for an alternative way's to handle this issue. Locking down people means locking down life. A president who is taking a security measure to ensure the economy maintein it's balance can not be against his citizen

Do you understand what the impact of such action will lead to?

Thanks
Soldierwitlittlefaith

[Yogee]

Locking down people to flatten the curve is locking down life? That is something a government who failed to contain the pandemic would say. So yeah, open up the economy and let the people work like there's no deadly virus around while they find an anti-flu drug, a vaccine, or whatever. Tell them, "Hey, take your chances and go to work. If you get infected, we'll test our COVID-19 cure on you."

The businessman in him is probably telling US citizens to sacrifice their life to save their government.

[Strufmbae]

Trump closed his eyes and held fingers in his ears long enough. Now it's late to contain COVID-19 in the US successfully.
He still refuses to see the threat of the virus, and only focuses on the business side. People getting ill is not a great business...

People will now realize How Important their "VOTE" is.

US is a first world country where people loves to interact.

I recommend total LOCKDOWN, if they don't do it, well Goodbye is the best word.

[Raja_MBZ]

It's not just about the US, it's not just about the Trump, it's literally about every country and every top leadership out there (well, except for China maybe, it was locked completely right after the little spread in Wuhan, but that doesn't really mean that China knew more about the virus than us before December, right? Right?!?).

We should know by now that our president/prime minister/dictator doesn't really care about us (*they don't really care about us!*). In order to keep the economy running, they were ready to let the virus spread by not locking down before. All they wanted was short-term temporary stability in their stock markets and economy. They never realized that if something so dangerous hits the country with a big force, and if they're unable to buy the ventilators for the people right now, the economy will itself be put on a ventilator. It has happened already with about ten countries and is now continuing to happen with others.

BTC was developed for a reason.

[dalibord]

Trump closed his eyes and held fingers in his ears long enough. Now it's late to contain COVID-19 in the US successfully.
He still refuses to see the threat of the virus, and only focuses on the business side. People getting ill is not a great business...

FYI : can i ask you the success rate of those countries who had locked down their country and restricted citizen from coming out (not even a 200 meter walk away from their home)

Now do you think this is really working well?
I'm in rome. we only saw a slight drop down in this curve on sunday/monday and now  the spread seems to have started again.

Thanks
Soldierwitlittlefaith

I'm from Croatia, so we are neighbors. We have implemented lockdown on time, and despite being in so close proximity to one of the hotspots (you), we managed to keep it under control (so far). At this moment we have around 500 confirmed cases, and only a few fatalities.
Our lockdown is working.

If we were late to implement it, or if the people were not disciplined in obeying it, I think our scenario would be much, much worse now.

The virus will spread eventually, but I hope not all will be sick at the same time. For now, our hospitals can manage it, thanks to lockdown.
I fear that UK(saw a picture of full metro the other day)  and especially US will get the worst of it (after Spain and Italy). Screw the business for a few months, much less people will die if the business is on hold for a few months...
IMO ->Trump + bad health care for the poor + lots of poor = disaster

That being said, I hope I am wrong. And I do hope that they will develop the vaccine soon.

[LTU_btc]

I think that many countries didn't took it serious enough and reacted too late. Probably most of us did the same. Just 2 weeks ago before most countries in Europe closed borders and started quarantine, I couldn't have imagined such scenario in my worst dreams and that global lockdown will be needed. It would sound like scenario of some fantastic Hollywood movie just some time ago. Italy reacted way too late - people still were hanging out in cities, going to pubs, football, supermarkets despite that number of infected were groving fast. UK started quarantine when number of infected people was already huge.
And for me, it seems that USA and Trump realised that situation is very serious when USA become leading country by number of COVID-19 cases.
I can understand this situation. Humanity in modern era haven't been in such situation and they didn't knew how to react. And it's obvious that most countries wasn't ready for it.

[Cnut237]

Almost no country took it seriously enough. There is an exception, which we'll come to in a moment.

Governments are reactive rather than pro-active. They will act when there is a visible threat, not when there is a potential of a threat. This is why a virus with a 5-day incubation period can wreak such havoc. If you wait until there is an outbreak before you implement a lockdown, then you're 5 days too late, the virus is already spreading. Why do governments act in this way? It is because in general their main aim is not to protect the population, but to protect the economy. They are not going to take costly pre-emptive protective measures when it would cost millions of dollars to do so. They are not going to stockpile medical supplies and equipment against the possibility of a future pandemic. And they are sure as hell not going to shut shops and businesses until the very last minute when it becomes unavoidable.

In retrospect of course, I'll bet a lot of governments are wishing that as soon as the initial news surfaced in China, they had just shut their borders or implemented a 14-day quarantine for people entering the country. That would have kept economic damage to a minimum. The reason they didn't do this is because they weighed the definite economic effects against the possibility of an outbreak occurring, and went with the option that is best for the economy right now. It's what they always do. Democracy is great, but is flawed like any system of governance. We are locked into 4 or 5 year electoral cycles, which promotes fatal short-termism. Governments are habituated into making decisions that affect the current moment. They won't spend money that will hurt now but show benefits in say a decade's time. They would get hammered by the press for spending money needlessly, whilst some future administration would take all the credit for a decision made by their predecessors.

Underestimating events such as the COVID-19 pandemic is hard-wired into our societies.

So where is the exception? South Korea. The purple horizontal line across the middle of the chart.


_{https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Epidemic_curve_COVID19_certain_countries.jpg}

Ever since confirmed cases began cropping up, disinfecting crews have been blanketing South Korea’s trains, subways and crowded public plazas. The government is pushing out mobile phone alerts with details about confirmed cases and spots visited by those who tested positive; apps alert users when they are near potentially infected sites. Residents showing symptoms flock to drive-through stations and mobile booths for quick, cheap tests, getting the results by text within hours. Those testing positive receive health kits with masks, sanitiser and other supplies; investigators interview them for details about where they have been and who they have been in contact with, requiring those in self-quarantine to provide regular updates via an app. All the information is uploaded in real time on a map online.

_{https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/south-korea-coronavirus-flatten-curve-covid-19}

The backbone of Korea’s success has been mass, indiscriminate testing, followed by rigorous contact tracing and the quarantine of anyone the carrier has come into contact with. As of March 19, the country has conducted more than 307,000 tests, the highest per capita in the world. The UK has conducted 64,600; The US even less that. “You have countries like the US right now, where there's a fairly strict criteria of who can be tested,” says Kee Park, a lecturer on global health at Harvard Medical School. “I know people personally who have symptoms that are highly suspicious, but they don't meet all the criteria and so they're not being tested.”
“[South Korea’s] extensive testing is a very valuable tool to both control the virus and understand and measure the effectiveness of the responses that are taking place,” says Michael Mina, assistant professor at the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard University. “It’s allowed individuals to take matters into their own hands and make social distancing decisions on their own, both to protect those around them and to protect themselves from those who are infected around them.”

_{https://www.wired.co.uk/article/south-korea-coronavirus}

So why did South Korea react so quickly and decisively whilst other major economies were dragging their feet? The answer is that South Korea has been here before.

Q) What best enables a country to respond quickly and decisively to a pandemic?
A) Previous experience of a pandemic.

South Korea had a MERS outbreak in 2015. Fatality rate 35%.
Have a look at Hong Kong and Singapore, too. They had experience of the SARS outbreak in 2002-4. You will find their lines towards the bottom of the above chart.

So I think we can draw comfort from this. Evidence suggests that all countries will be better prepared next time. And there surely will be a next time. Whilst the current pandemic is terrible and is costing thousands of lives around the globe, we can be thankful that the fatality rate is comparatively low - a couple of percent at most, compared to say the 35% of MERS. If COVID-19 had that not-unheard-of fatality rate, w'ed be staring at an apocalypse right now, instead of a mere global emergency.

[target]

A lot are not taking it seriously until it reaches in our country and killed popular people. Only then our department of Health orders covid testing kit and so right now we have more than thousands of people infected and maybe about to die. I heard people in NY are resisting to self quarantine, this is more dangerous.  We've heard enough I think people are not going to be grateful that the ones will be left alive are the strongest kind.

[dalibord]

Almost no country took it seriously enough. There is an exception, which we'll come to in a moment...

Sure, at the beginning. But it's not the same if they didn't take it seriously after China, or after China, Italy, Spain...
It's somewhat understandable that Italy didn't take it seriously after receiving cryptic reports from China. But WTF the rest of the world didn't take it seriously after Italy?
How stupid you must be to think that this shitty virus will need a visa for your country...

[Raja_MBZ]

Almost no country took it seriously enough. There is an exception, which we'll come to in a moment...

...
It's somewhat understandable that Italy didn't take it seriously after receiving cryptic reports from China. But WTF the rest of the world didn't take it seriously after Italy?
How stupid you must be to think that this shitty virus will need a visa for your country...

IMO, probably because of:

In order to keep the economy running, they were ready to let the virus spread by not locking down before. All they wanted was short-term temporary stability in their stock markets and economy. They never realized that if something so dangerous hits the country with a big force, and if they're unable to buy the ventilators for the people right now, the economy will itself be put on a ventilator. It has happened already with about ten countries and is now continuing to happen with others.

[Cnut237]

Almost no country took it seriously enough. There is an exception, which we'll come to in a moment...

Sure, at the beginning. But it's not the same if they didn't take it seriously after China, or after China, Italy, Spain...
It's somewhat understandable that Italy didn't take it seriously after receiving cryptic reports from China. But WTF the rest of the world didn't take it seriously after Italy?
How stupid you must be to think that this shitty virus will need a visa for your country...

No idea what your problem is. I'm saying that South Korea flattened the curve very impressively, due to their recent previous experience with MERS. If you disagree, fine.
Also I'm pretty sure that the virus doesn't need a visa to enter a country - that was your idea.

Some other countries are certainly acting quickly now, as they have the example of what can happen with Italy (also Spain). Of course it's a bit too late. South Korea was before Italy, and didn't have the benefit of seeing what could happen, which for me makes their response even more commendable.

[franky1]

in hindsight
chinas first case was a woman with mild flu symptoms Dec 10th. just went to a local clinic and got normal flu meds and went back to work.
december 18th she was hospitalised with breathing issues. it was still an isolated single incident so no big panic.
it took 3 weeks of other people with similar symptoms and then looking back to find the pattern about the wetmarket.
but even then they were not sure if it was some localised infection contamination via food only affecting those at wetmarket.
it was then on january 9th that they realised it was contagious/transmittable that they informed the world

3 weeks from first hospitalisation shows china did work fast.

however UK/USA also knew about it on january 10th.. yet USA 2 months later are now only just making temporary hospitals
UK/US waited until march.
UK/US tried to continue to get people in china back to home UK/US countries thus bringing it to UK/US.

so yea china 3 weeks vs UK/US 2 months.. i feel UK/US took too long

[xtraelv]

in hindsight
chinas firt case was a guy with mild flu symptoms Dec 10th. just went to a local clinic and got normal flu meds and went back to work.
december 18th he was hospitalised with breathing issues. it was still an isolated single incident so no big panic.
it took 3 weeks of other people with similar symptoms and then looking back to find th pattern about the wetmarket.
but even then they were not sure if it was some localised infection contamination via food only affecting those at wetmarket.
it was then on january 9th that they realised it was contagious/transmittable that they informed the world

3 weeks from first hospitalisation shows china did work fast.

however UK/USA also knew about it on january 10th.. yet USA 2 months later are now only just making temporary hospitals
UK/US waited until march.
UK/US tried to continue to get people in china back to home UK/US countries thus bringing it to UK/US.

so yea china 3 weeks vs UK/US 2 months.. i feel UK/US took too long

I agree.

It is pointless pointing the finger to China. They were dealing with a unique and unknown case.

Everyone else could see it coming much more clearly. Containing it within your own population is the responsibility of the leadership of the affected country.

Blaming others is just an immature way of dodging responsibility. True leadership takes responsibility and action.

History will write about the heroes, cowards, competence and sheer incompetence.

[slackovic]

No one took COVID-19 seriously, especially not people.

Even to this day, in Italy, there are still caffee's open serving people.
But it comes as no surprise, until last week, everyone called it "just a flu"

That's quick one now let me shock you, out here in Africa let's say 24 States are really taking things serious lockdown every where u can't go from one state to another and to make the case worst there is no food supply due to borders been close down. Africans are crying of hunger than that of the covid19.

In Europe the borders are too closed. People can go from one country to another, but when you enter a foreign country you have to be in isolation for 14 days. However, delivery trucks can go trough the borders without a problem. The drivers of those trucks just don't exit the vehicle and they can't spread the desease.