4 ms·

I think this epidemic will expose a lot of weaknesses in public health sector globally. Hopefully, we will learn valuable lessons, but I wished we didn't have t

I think this epidemic will expose a lot of weaknesses in public health sector globally. Hopefully, we will learn valuable lessons, but I wished we didn't have to learn them at the cost of losing numerous lives.

officialjunk 7y ago
what is scary to me is that the average american seems to be ignoring this and are more scared of lice and bedbugs, which are not lethal. telling folks to treat this as worse than lice and bedbugs, has worked in waking up some of my acquaintances. i think because it triggers more of an emotional response, though just a guess.
hnick 7y ago
And its interaction with social safety nets in general. Staying alone for 14 days in self imposed quarantine is a potential death sentence anyway for many in our JIT hand-to-mouth sectors of society.
jacobolus 7y ago
In the USA maybe we can bring back the pandemic response command chain in the executive branch of the federal government who were all summarily fired in 2018 because the president and his national security advisor didn’t want to keep “people who sit around doing nothing most of the time” (paraphrased) on payroll. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0...
- HenryKissinger 7y ago
  Sounds like the old IT joke. No pandemic: What the hell do we pay you for. Pandemic: What the hell do we pay you for.
- pandaman 7y ago
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/04/no-trump-didnt-shut-down-37-47-global-anti-pandemic-programs/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/04/no-trump-...
  - jacobolus 7y ago
    That is about a different claim, related to efforts by the US to help developing countries respond to pandemics. He absolutely did dump everyone in the pandemic command chain in NSC/DHS, and then not replace them. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fire-pandemic-team/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fire-pandemic-team/ When recently asked about this and his proposals to defund the CDC by the press, he said in response “I’m a businessperson. I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them. When we need them, we can get them back very quickly.”
    - pandaman 7y ago
      Luckily, we have an entire agency dedicated to pandemics - CDC and the article I linked assures that CDC has not been defunded.

officialjunk 7y ago

what is scary to me is that the average american seems to be ignoring this and are more scared of lice and bedbugs, which are not lethal. telling folks to treat this as worse than lice and bedbugs, has worked in waking up some of my acquaintances. i think because it triggers more of an emotional response, though just a guess.

hnick 7y ago

And its interaction with social safety nets in general. Staying alone for 14 days in self imposed quarantine is a potential death sentence anyway for many in our JIT hand-to-mouth sectors of society.

jacobolus 7y ago

In the USA maybe we can bring back the pandemic response command chain in the executive branch of the federal government who were all summarily fired in 2018 because the president and his national security advisor didn’t want to keep “people who sit around doing nothing most of the time” (paraphrased) on payroll. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/0...

HenryKissinger 7y ago
Sounds like the old IT joke. No pandemic: What the hell do we pay you for. Pandemic: What the hell do we pay you for.
pandaman 7y ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/04/no-trump-didnt-shut-down-37-47-global-anti-pandemic-programs/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/04/no-trump-...
- jacobolus 7y ago
  That is about a different claim, related to efforts by the US to help developing countries respond to pandemics. He absolutely did dump everyone in the pandemic command chain in NSC/DHS, and then not replace them. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fire-pandemic-team/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fire-pandemic-team/ When recently asked about this and his proposals to defund the CDC by the press, he said in response “I’m a businessperson. I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them. When we need them, we can get them back very quickly.”
  - pandaman 7y ago
    Luckily, we have an entire agency dedicated to pandemics - CDC and the article I linked assures that CDC has not been defunded.