In January, "the real contagion is racism" was an ideological mistake that cost precious time and untold lives. It's absolutely astonishing that we not only haven't learned from it but are already regressing to it. This is a leadership failure as profound as President Trump's.
Let's walk through this. January:
Reports of mass closures and travel bans in China to fight coronavirus.
WSJ reports: "“Everyone was blindly optimistic,” an adviser to the Wuhan government said. The focus at the time, the adviser said, was to maintain the facade of stability."
Reports of mass closures and travel bans in China to fight coronavirus.
WSJ reports: "“Everyone was blindly optimistic,” an adviser to the Wuhan government said. The focus at the time, the adviser said, was to maintain the facade of stability."
January and early February in the US:
Lots of headlines that fear of the virus will be worse than the virus itself, will feed xenophobia, is motivated by xenophobia, and travel bans, quarantines, and social restrictions are racist.
Lots of headlines that fear of the virus will be worse than the virus itself, will feed xenophobia, is motivated by xenophobia, and travel bans, quarantines, and social restrictions are racist.
January 21: CDC confirms first travel-related Covid case in the US. cdc.gov/media/releases…
By the beginning of February, there's already talk of canceling large gatherings in the US to prevent a possible Covid outbreak. statnews.com/2020/02/03/cor…
It's in the context of all this that @MarkLevineNYC, chair of the NYC Council health committee, tweets this curious celebration of "huge crowds gathering in NYC's Chinatown" in a "powerful show of defiance of #coronavirus scare."
We already knew from existing outbreak areas that by the time local transmission is detected, it's likely been underway for weeks.
We now know that Covid was probably beginning to circulate in the community in New York at the exact time Levine was cheering crowds defying Covid.
We now know that Covid was probably beginning to circulate in the community in New York at the exact time Levine was cheering crowds defying Covid.
March 10:
Dr. Mitchell Katz, head of the public health system in NYC, advises de Blasio "Canceling large gatherings gives people the wrong impression of this illness" and that this messaging would threaten those with mental illness. nytimes.com/2020/05/14/nyr…
Dr. Mitchell Katz, head of the public health system in NYC, advises de Blasio "Canceling large gatherings gives people the wrong impression of this illness" and that this messaging would threaten those with mental illness. nytimes.com/2020/05/14/nyr…
March 11: The whole country wakes up at once. Stock markets crash, the NBA cancels its season, Tom Hanks and a Congressional staffer test positive.
wired.com/story/an-oral-…
wired.com/story/an-oral-…
You know the rest: New York locks down too.
Levine on March 14: "We need everybody to avoid crowds and congested places.... We need to end the denial and skepticism."
Levine on March 14: "We need everybody to avoid crowds and congested places.... We need to end the denial and skepticism."
This is the status quo until the last week or two, when... well, now Coronavirus is actually about racism again.
In May, the New York Times reported that locking down even a week earlier would have averted over 80% of Covid deaths in New York City — nearly 15,000 lives.
They also reported that national outbreak was seeded mainly by travel from NYC.
They also reported that national outbreak was seeded mainly by travel from NYC.
Though it was a knowable mistake at the time and many warned about it, there were far more mayors from Jaws in Jan/Feb than not. It was a collective failure.
But you know, NYC leaders: if you're looking to place blame about Covid deaths, I think you need to start closer to home.
But you know, NYC leaders: if you're looking to place blame about Covid deaths, I think you need to start closer to home.
The danger that groupthink and signaling would fatally compromise the public health response to Covid was not only foreseeable in January but foreseen. So please, please don't tell me these well-meaning folks just changed in response to emerging science.
