4 ms·

So much contradictory information through this epedemic. CNN just ran an article highly critical of decentralized approaches. (They were advocating top-down,

So much contradictory information through this epedemic. CNN just ran an article highly critical of decentralized approaches. (They were advocating top-down, unified actions on a country-wide basis.) Here, NPR tells us Germany is doing well because the regions are able to act autonomously. Hard for us armchair quarterbacks.

lainga 7y ago
How do you feel when you watch a political debate?
gameswithgo 7y ago
perhaps centralized vs not isn’t a first order concern? maybe how educated the population is and or what they value in their elected officials is, or other cultural things.
stevenwoo 7y ago
The one big difference between USA and Germany i got from article is one place found a test and shared it and every German state adapted it, they didn’t have to wait or rely on FDA or CDC like we in USA with our early problems exposed in Washington state outbreak and still present at time of NYC outbreak. Other places I’ve read each German state is reporting deaths differently so that death rate could be misleading.
Semaphor 7y ago
The "decentralized approach" thing wrt Germany is something I’ve seen mentioned several times in English media (I assume Drosten said it in a press conference). I don’t know how it is in other countries, but it seems to me this is only great in comparison to the US problems of broken centralization, and only regarding the testing. There are several demands of higher centralization in Germany when it comes to information: reporting of cases, information about hospital beds, and distribution of patients based on those.
- Barrin92 7y ago
  I think if you look at the level of care in Germany that you get even in remote towns (corona virus aside), there is a lot to be said for the decentralised model. A lot of states, not just the US have highly unequal public infrastructure. France being one of the bigger examples, but the UK too. There's a very basic Hayekian argument about the problems of concentrating so much knowledge and capacity in the capital alone. It simply impedes flow of information, it creates distrust and simply put dysfunction. People in the anglosphere don't just ask these questions about Germany when it comes to healthcare, they also often ask them when they see regions like the Rustbelt or North England and compare it to the German Mittelstand. In many ways the centralised model is broken.
  - Semaphor 7y ago
    > I think if you look at the level of care in Germany that you get even in remote towns (corona virus aside), there is a lot to be said for the decentralised model. Is it better? I really don’t know, all I heard about this are the complaints about rural areas being underserved by doctors, especially GPs
    - Barrin92 7y ago
      They're sometimes maybe not quite up to the standards you'd find in a urban university clinic, but compared to other places I've been it's quite astonishing how high quality the care is even in small remote hospitals. The demographics are increasingly affecting the number of physicians though, that much is true.
pvg 7y ago
The important claim in the article is that Germany started testing early and on a large scale. That can happen either top down or when disparate authorities agree to coordinate their response. It's also worth noting that in the 5 days since that article, the number of deaths in Germany appears to have quadrupled. There's also: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germany-to-centralize-supply-chains-set-prices-on-masks-protective-gear/a-52952314 https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germany-to-centralize-supp...

lainga 7y ago

How do you feel when you watch a political debate?

gameswithgo 7y ago

perhaps centralized vs not isn’t a first order concern? maybe how educated the population is and or what they value in their elected officials is, or other cultural things.

stevenwoo 7y ago

The one big difference between USA and Germany i got from article is one place found a test and shared it and every German state adapted it, they didn’t have to wait or rely on FDA or CDC like we in USA with our early problems exposed in Washington state outbreak and still present at time of NYC outbreak. Other places I’ve read each German state is reporting deaths differently so that death rate could be misleading.

Semaphor 7y ago

The "decentralized approach" thing wrt Germany is something I’ve seen mentioned several times in English media (I assume Drosten said it in a press conference). I don’t know how it is in other countries, but it seems to me this is only great in comparison to the US problems of broken centralization, and only regarding the testing. There are several demands of higher centralization in Germany when it comes to information: reporting of cases, information about hospital beds, and distribution of patients based on those.

Barrin92 7y ago
I think if you look at the level of care in Germany that you get even in remote towns (corona virus aside), there is a lot to be said for the decentralised model. A lot of states, not just the US have highly unequal public infrastructure. France being one of the bigger examples, but the UK too. There's a very basic Hayekian argument about the problems of concentrating so much knowledge and capacity in the capital alone. It simply impedes flow of information, it creates distrust and simply put dysfunction. People in the anglosphere don't just ask these questions about Germany when it comes to healthcare, they also often ask them when they see regions like the Rustbelt or North England and compare it to the German Mittelstand. In many ways the centralised model is broken.
- Semaphor 7y ago
  > I think if you look at the level of care in Germany that you get even in remote towns (corona virus aside), there is a lot to be said for the decentralised model. Is it better? I really don’t know, all I heard about this are the complaints about rural areas being underserved by doctors, especially GPs
  - Barrin92 7y ago
    They're sometimes maybe not quite up to the standards you'd find in a urban university clinic, but compared to other places I've been it's quite astonishing how high quality the care is even in small remote hospitals. The demographics are increasingly affecting the number of physicians though, that much is true.

pvg 7y ago

The important claim in the article is that Germany started testing early and on a large scale. That can happen either top down or when disparate authorities agree to coordinate their response. It's also worth noting that in the 5 days since that article, the number of deaths in Germany appears to have quadrupled. There's also: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germany-to-centralize-supply-chains-set-prices-on-masks-protective-gear/a-52952314 https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germany-to-centralize-supp...