The plural of anecdote is not data, but here is an anecdote that should give pause. Yesterday I took my sick daughter to a hospital to see a doctor with a feve

The plural of anecdote is not data, but here is an anecdote that should give pause. Yesterday I took my sick daughter to a hospital to see a doctor with a fever, cough and sore throat. We were screened for strep, told it was viral and sent home with no further testing. Talking to my ex (an urgent care doctor) she said that she is still trying to find out how she can even get a test for patients of hers who fit the symptoms for COVID-19. This is in Orange County, CA. Which has only 5 confirmed cases, but lies between Los Angeles and San Diego. Both with known community spread. I'm now more amazed that doctors in Los Angeles and San Diego were able to get tests to verify community spread than I am confident that Orange County does not. There is a lot of theater around COVID-19. You can't even show up for a hospital visit without being asked whether or not you have the symptoms for coronavirus. But the show of looking for symptoms combined with the failure to follow up when you find them makes me think that it is mostly theater. We are taking lots of action to make you aware that we are containing the spread, but we are also avoiding finding out any potential bad news that we don't want to hear about. Going forward I am calling this what it is. "Public health theater."