1/x To everyone from our government leaders to middle managers in our hospitals. No more gaslighting! Stop lying to us! Stop patronizing us! #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #coronavirus
2/x I am unbelievably disappointed in Deborah Birx's misrepresentation of modeling studies at yesterday's press conference. @ImperialCollege's @Neil_Ferguson
3/x Yes, @Neil_Ferguson & colleagues made some revisions to their model, which they presented to the UK's parliamentary committee. The major change in their estimates? That #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #coronavirus may be MORE TRANSMISSIBLE than initially thought. NOT less lethal.
4/x Birx was also questioning the validity of @MLipsitch & @StephenKissler's work. Not surprisingly, they found that intense social distancing for a temporary period, followed by a letup, produces predictions of resurgent transmission & large epidemics.
5/x Also not surprisingly, @MLipsitch & @StephenKissler found that what happens after you relax social distancing measures depends on the degree & duration of reduced transmission during social distancing.
6/x But American-style social distancing hasn't been aggressive enough to get us to an R0 <1 (i.e. a shrinking epidemic).
7/x I have lost my confidence in Deborah Birx as someone who leads through science. It's scary and demoralizing. realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/… Don't pat us on the head and tell us it's going to be OK. We need to know the truth so we understand what we need to do and and why.
9/x Be honest about policy being dictated by supply and the need to ration, not by the science and need. #GetMePPE
10/x Most healthcare workers are highly committed professionals. We will step up even when it's dangerous. We will make sacrifices. Take for instance 9/11 first responders. They knew it wasn't safe. When you minimize HCW risks and sacrifices, you also minimize their heroism.
11/x It's unethical to paint an unrealistically rosy picture... to provide false reassurances. It's incredibly patronizing and shows a real lack of respect for the American people and healthcare workers on the frontlines.
12/x Yes, people will be scared. But we need people to fear and leverage that fear for good. Yes, people are emotional. That's what it is to be human. But to withhold or misrepresent the science because you don't want to cause panic? That's just wrong.
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