Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

List of Articles that Argue the International Response to Coronavirus is a Massive Overreaction

Some people agree with Trump that the cure is worse than the disease.

"The coronavirus is scaring people because it is new and much is not known about it. But what we can tell so far is that this is no Ebola. Most people who contract it recover just fine. The fatality rate appears to be considerably lower than SARS and is probably much lower than it appears right now, since so many cases are very likely going unreported and mild versions of the disease are probably not being counted at all. Most fatalities are among the elderly and those with preexisting conditions." https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-01-31/coronavirus-china-quarantine-world-health-organization

"One-third of British people in the latest Guardian Essential survey believe there has been an overreaction to the threat of the coronavirus, and only 35% of the sample trust the media to give them honest and reliable information about the pandemic." https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/guardian-essential-poll-one-third-say-there-has-been-an-overreaction-to-coronavirus/ar-BB11AyQ3

"But the presidents of Brazil and Mexico, who govern more than half of Latin America’s population — Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and, to a lesser degree, his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador — have remained strikingly dismissive. They’ve scoffed at calls to shut down business and sharply limit public transportation, calling such measures far more devastating to people’s welfare than the virus." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/world/americas/coronavirus-brasil-mexico.html

"The current coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has been called a once-in-a-century pandemic. But it may also be a once-in-a-century evidence fiasco.

"At a time when everyone needs better information, from disease modelers and governments to people quarantined or just social distancing, we lack reliable evidence on how many people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or who continue to become infected. Better information is needed to guide decisions and actions of monumental significance and to monitor their impact.

"Draconian countermeasures have been adopted in many countries. If the pandemic dissipates — either on its own or because of these measures — short-term extreme social distancing and lockdowns may be bearable. How long, though, should measures like these be continued if the pandemic churns across the globe unabated? How can policymakers tell if they are doing more good than harm?"

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/?fbclid=IwAR1iqN_iDE2HO2J2IjrpYYtIcLnMjn4CkvI3KPeAeaAgQGJABXRFD-33oOA

 
 

Reader Comments(1)

TML writes:

The less educated think this virus thing us no big deal. The rest of us know better. According to the first Pew poll, conducted between March 10 and March 16, 59% of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic said the outbreak was a major threat to the population's health, but only 33% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said the same. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College poll conducted within the same time frame, from March 13 to March 14, showed a similar, stark partisan gap: While 56% of Americans thought coronavirus was a real threat, 76% of Democrats said it was, but only 40% of Republicans said the same.