EDITORIAL:
Our job is following #coronavirus news 16+ hours per day, 7 days a week, and we've been doing this since Jan 23rd. We are US based (with global sensitivity). From everything we are seeing, we believe the US is on the verge of a v. serious situation. A quick thread...
Our job is following #coronavirus news 16+ hours per day, 7 days a week, and we've been doing this since Jan 23rd. We are US based (with global sensitivity). From everything we are seeing, we believe the US is on the verge of a v. serious situation. A quick thread...
2. Seattle is clearly an epicenter right now in the US, with CA close behind, & runs the risk of being Wuhan 2.0. This is not alarmist, this is based on our view taking in all available info. Measures being implemented generally in the US, compared to other countries are woeful.
3. In the US we tend to think our health care system is amazing & we are well protected. Our developing view is that our system of federalism & patchwork private healthcare, means we are in a far more compromised position to deal with this crisis, than other countries.
4. The situation with protective gear (PPE) in the US is dire, one report today says the country has only 1% of the equipment it needs. The photo shows a comparison of patients being taken away from the nursing home near Seattle, compared to other countries. 
5. The situation with litigation in the USA - such as communities obtaining injunctions to prevent patient transfers (NIMBY) is a big problem. We can only imagine what will happen when the lawsuits start flying. Fear of litigation can lead to indecision, inefficiency and inaction
6. The population at large, and US media, seem utterly complacent about what is v. likely going to happen. Why would what happened in China NOT happen here? Why does the US think we can achieve anything approaching China’s method of containing this? It could be *far* worse.
7. Part of the antipathy, particularly among the media, which is utterly focussed on politics, means we are seeing no investigative journalism so far, nor citizen journalism, unlike other countries. Will it take videos of people collapsing on the street to change people’s views?
8. This is a *slow moving train wreck*. We think that the USA is approx. where China was on Jan 1st. By Jan 21st, the Chinese government was cutting off Wuhan and implementing unthinkable (to US norms) procedures, to contain this virus. We ask... Is the US ready for this? /END
