We used to quarantine sick people. Now we quarantine people who are not sick. Welcome to Utopia.
It's because the USA Fd up, and did not have enough tests, to know who to Quarantine.
Thus trying to shelter in place, everyone.
THAT would not be the case, if we began testing in January.
All the what ifs in the world can't change the fact....
Are you listening to yourself?
How can you have tests for something completely new and unknown? You'd think that test is available immediately when new disease strike?
How can you begin testing in January when China, place where this shit started was covering up their own outbreak like it didn't happen?
Go back and look at your posts from February (I just did), and you'll notice that you didn't even talk about Coronavirus before mid month.
Had we traced down all contacts during the first few months and quarantined them, limited all foreign travel to the US, and had test kits that actually worked, we would not be isolating the general public today. The blame lies with the current and previous administrations for not listening the CDC, the WHO, and numerous epidemiologists who told us that America was not prepared for a pandemic.
This is something I could agree with you to some degree.
First of, to be clear, WHO did not offered test kits to US. Second, when Trump issued travel ban from China and Europe, left accused him of racism, premature panic, etc. For those things, left actually can't say anything, because he was right, and they look like morons. Hid did good, and left ridiculed him for it, now they're criticizing him for not doing more?
Now about tests. WHO issued the statement on Jan 14, 2020 that China found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of coronavirus. No reason to panic, right? Well, panic did hit us in January and officials at the FDA and CDC stymied private and academic development of diagnostic tests while pushing defective government tests. Then U.S. government stopped Seattle’s Dr. Helen Chu from testing for coronavirus because Chu’s lab "was not certified as clinical lab under regulations established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services". It was not until March 17 that the FDA first gave emergency approval to any private company to distribute non-government tests to hospitals. Not to mention that to date, the agency still prohibits distribution to private citizens. For that, you cannot blame Trump neither, because that is nature of bureaucracy that Trump is actually trying to downsize or eliminate, and he can't do it alone, or without Congress.
Those the same bureaucrats have always sought to monopolize all testing within government (and gov't certified hospitals), and that caused deaths of thousands, if not tens of thousands over time. Just to give you an example. You know that AIDS/HIV was present in US for more than three decades, and despite there were test available, only in 2012 U.S. government finally permitted a private, at-home, HIV test. Prior to that, the stigma of that disease undoubtedly kept hundreds of thousands from getting tested at government-controlled clinics. Thousands undoubtedly died as a result, because they didn't tested or they tested too late.
Or another example, government has also banned production of non-approved protective masks until manufacturers submit detailed applications to the CDC’s NIOSH office. Meanwhile government inspectors are grounded from travel to inspect the manufacturing facilities. Why? And especially why in the time of crisis?
President have huge powers, but he can't resolve every problem with a "phone and a pen". U.S has actually followed the Chinese model of COVID-19 response to the letter. Just as in China, American officials enforced regulations which stalled and obstructed all efforts by private, local or academic medical experts to test or report on the virus, and then overreacted to public concerns by implementing Orwellian measures to illustrate the government’s supposed control. But that's another subject.
thehill.com
