Last night, President Trump called into Hannity to downplay the risk from COVID-19. Among the lies he told were that WHO said the mortality rate was about 3%, but "his gut" told him it was less than 1%. He does have a big gut, but that's not really helpful. The man has a degree in economics from UPenn, and can't do simple math.
The numbers change daily, even hourly, but here's the latest I could find: Globally, there have been 98,000 cases identified and 3,256 deaths - that's a 3.3% mortality rate, which is right in line with WHO's estimate.
In the US the numbers are skewed higher because we still can't get testing off the ground - unlike the rest of the world - but so far there have been 210 confirmed cases and 12 deaths - that equates to a 5.7% mortality rate from known cases. That rate will undoubtedly go down as more cases are identified, but right now, that's where it is.
The reason we can't mobilize to test our citizens like the rest of the world is doing should be obvious to anyone with a functioning brain stem - the Trump Administration has gutted both the NIH and the CDC, because from the top down, they don't believe in science. And now that we need the scientists, the virologists, the researchers, the doctors, the people at ground level who understand epidemics and pandemics and how to deal with them, there's no one there. It will take YEARS to recreate the scientific community that Trump has dismantled.
That's all water under the bridge - we can't rewind and undo the stupid things that Trump has done; we have to work with whatever we were left with.
Do yourself a favor - ignore everything Trump and Pence say about the coronavirus because neither of them has the smallest hint of a clue about what they're saying, and this Administration seems to be purposely downplaying the seriousness of the situation. Rely instead on what the experts are saying, and act accordingly. And that is going to come from the mainstream media who do actual reporting. Rely on Hannity, Ingraham. Carlson, Limbaugh, Jones, etc for your news about this at your own peril.
Unless of course, you want your final words to be, "<Cough> <Cough>, but Sean Hannity said..." |
