Answer to question why is the “English” COVID strain in the UK & not the US?

Simple. Because the UK has surveillance testing & the US still doesn’t. 1/
The Trump Administration had plenty of opportunity to build a national testing strategy with surveillance testing for THE LAST ELEVEN MONTHS $ chose not to. 2/
Instead Trump decided that we were “testing too much” and it was making him look bad. 3/
A testing strategy would have required a national strategy. Trump decided that would mean taking responsibility. And the stock market was moving back up. So he abandoned a national strategy. 4/
I had arguments with several Republicans in Congress when they were passing money for testing. They argued it was “the states’ role.” 5/
So now a new strain comes and we can’t discover it. We allowed, frankly, a not smart person, a not caring person, and a stupidly ideological Congress to make the decisions. 6/

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More from @ASlavitt

23 Dec
COVID Update December 22: Yesterday I wrote a tweet thread about bottling up my own anger.

But I also have tons of hope. On my #inthebubble with Tony Fauci tomorrow am, you will see why. 1/
Yes one reason is science. Tony represents the reason you invest in science regardless of the administration and regardless of whether we are worried about taxes & deficits. 2/
Investing in science is an investment in each other. An investment in our future. And it cuts against all the excesses of capitalism. 3/
Read 21 tweets
22 Dec
COVID Update December 21: 2020 has been filled with such a strong assortment of emotions, facts, and politics.

And I’ve tried the best I could to find & summarize the right facts in these threads. But there’s more going on that I haven’t captured. But I will try now. 1/
As a country it became clear to most of us at some point that you can’t get through a pandemic very well as a divided nation. That all the division that had been brewing for years was coming back to haunt us. 2/
That every bit of indifference to the plight of others, every time we didn’t do everything we could to make people less likely to suffer, every selfish instinct— were all coming bone to roost. And in the worst possible ways— with people’s lives. 3/
Read 27 tweets
20 Dec
Morning update on COVID news.

Vaccine rollout
Senate package
New strain in UK
More data/California 1/
Vaccine rollout.

Trump Administration have problems counting how many Pfizer vaccines they have & where & when they go. Will fail to send committed amounts on time to states. 2/
Governors are annoyed & trying to be patient. Delay will be weeks not months from what I hear.

This sounds sloppy. But kinks are to be expected. Moderna vaccine begins to ship. 3/
Read 12 tweets
19 Dec
NEW: There is a new strain of COVID in England that is far more infectious. What it means and what it doesn’t mean.

Doing a Sat morning roundup with a few scientists and will report here shortly. Follow if interested. 1/
Here is a pasted article while I finish gathering info.

google.com/amp/s/www.bloo…
I have some responses and am gathering others but the met effect is this is not a game changer but all the more reason to limit your interactions as much as possible. 3/
Read 18 tweets
19 Dec
COVID Update December 18: We got here not just because Trump did nothing but also because he asked nothing.

Biden plans to change that. 1/
Trump had no concerns letting us get to a place where thousands of day are dying. He had no understanding, no interest, and desire to prevent the pandemic from overwhelming the country. 2/
But doing nothing is not his only crime. Before there was a vaccine, and even now, our best medicine is how we communicate, how much we can unite, and our willingness to sacrifice a little to save a lot. 3/
Read 20 tweets
18 Dec
COVID Update December 17: This is my worst thread. I hate writing it. But I have to write it. 1/
This is what happened yesterday in California. 61,000 new cases in a single day.

But it’s not the cases. It’s the trajectory. 35,000 prior peak. 2/
This is what happened in Minnesota. It’s not the decline to still historically high numbers. It’s that the governor was forced to majorly let up on restrictions yesterday at the first sign— a sure fire sign they are coming back. 3/
Read 26 tweets

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