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Of course it is. The officials at WHO failed us because they are more worried about the politics than the truth. This type of behavior will make us not trust th

Of course it is. The officials at WHO failed us because they are more worried about the politics than the truth. This type of behavior will make us not trust them in the future.

wozniacki 7y ago
Please cite defensible sources. The past weeks have been filled with mostly sentiment-heavy reports either downplaying it as just a mere flu, with no masks worn even in places like Tokyo - or on the other end of the spectrum - overblown sensationalist videos of people dropping like flies. We need more credible and helpful reports not just hearsay.
mytailorisrich 7y ago
It's still actually quite limited according to official data. They have to consider the reactions of the public and also the potential effects of declaring pandemics too often if it is not necessary. I don't have many comparison points but a quick Google shows that we are still very far from the 2009 flu pandemic, for example. Of course that may change...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- pmoriarty 7y ago
  The problem there's very little testing being done for this novel pathogen. New tests can't just be created by hospitals and labs out of thin air, and they can't be used without undergoing a lengthy bureaucratic approval process. For a novel pathogen like this the tests are still in the early phases of being manufactured and approved, so most people who go in with symptoms just aren't going to be tested. There's also a manpower issue that has to be taken in to account: if everyone with flu-like symptoms came in to get tested the hospitals and labs would be overwhelmed even if they had enough tests available and those tests were already approved. Many labs and hospitals are already close to being overwhelmed from seasonal flu. So I really wouldn't consider official data to be very reliable at this point. We really need to wait and see. Meanwhile, though, it would be prudent to err on the side of caution.
James_Henry 7y ago
I think that a misunderstanding of the official definitions that the WHO uses is maybe what has "failed us". The WHO has been pretty alarmist and helpful in getting people to prepare. They also were instrumental in getting China to start reporting clinical diagnoses as well. The world is going to keep trusting them in the future, and of course we're going to keep thinking for ourselves as well.
throwaway5752 7y ago
It may not seem like it, but when you say things like, "The officials at WHO failed us because they are more worried about the politics than the truth" you are peddling conspiracy theories.
JulianMorrison 7y ago
Pandemic has a definition, and a disease that seems to be being detected and contained doesn't meet it. This one is at the tipping point. The situations in Italy and in Iran are potentially run-away if they can't draw a boundary around all the infections including the original spreader.
- RegnisGnaw 7y ago
  There is no definition of a Pandemic. Even the WHO states they don't have it. I quote the article: The World Health Organization no longer uses the classification pandemic, but the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak remains an international emergency that is likely to spread further, a spokesman said on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-who/who-says-no-longer-uses-pandemic-category-but-virus-still-emergency-idUSKCN20I0N8 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-who/who-says...

Of course it is. The officials at WHO failed us because they are more worried about the politics than the truth. This type of behavior will make us not trust them in the future.

wozniacki 7y ago

Please cite defensible sources. The past weeks have been filled with mostly sentiment-heavy reports either downplaying it as just a mere flu, with no masks worn even in places like Tokyo - or on the other end of the spectrum - overblown sensationalist videos of people dropping like flies. We need more credible and helpful reports not just hearsay.

mytailorisrich 7y ago

It's still actually quite limited according to official data. They have to consider the reactions of the public and also the potential effects of declaring pandemics too often if it is not necessary. I don't have many comparison points but a quick Google shows that we are still very far from the 2009 flu pandemic, for example. Of course that may change...

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
pmoriarty 7y ago
The problem there's very little testing being done for this novel pathogen. New tests can't just be created by hospitals and labs out of thin air, and they can't be used without undergoing a lengthy bureaucratic approval process. For a novel pathogen like this the tests are still in the early phases of being manufactured and approved, so most people who go in with symptoms just aren't going to be tested. There's also a manpower issue that has to be taken in to account: if everyone with flu-like symptoms came in to get tested the hospitals and labs would be overwhelmed even if they had enough tests available and those tests were already approved. Many labs and hospitals are already close to being overwhelmed from seasonal flu. So I really wouldn't consider official data to be very reliable at this point. We really need to wait and see. Meanwhile, though, it would be prudent to err on the side of caution.

James_Henry 7y ago

I think that a misunderstanding of the official definitions that the WHO uses is maybe what has "failed us". The WHO has been pretty alarmist and helpful in getting people to prepare. They also were instrumental in getting China to start reporting clinical diagnoses as well. The world is going to keep trusting them in the future, and of course we're going to keep thinking for ourselves as well.

throwaway5752 7y ago

It may not seem like it, but when you say things like, "The officials at WHO failed us because they are more worried about the politics than the truth" you are peddling conspiracy theories.

JulianMorrison 7y ago

Pandemic has a definition, and a disease that seems to be being detected and contained doesn't meet it. This one is at the tipping point. The situations in Italy and in Iran are potentially run-away if they can't draw a boundary around all the infections including the original spreader.

RegnisGnaw 7y ago
There is no definition of a Pandemic. Even the WHO states they don't have it. I quote the article: The World Health Organization no longer uses the classification pandemic, but the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak remains an international emergency that is likely to spread further, a spokesman said on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-who/who-says-no-longer-uses-pandemic-category-but-virus-still-emergency-idUSKCN20I0N8 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-who/who-says...