6 ms·

I don't want to get into partisan politics, but the US central authorities weren't serious about the problem until relatively late in the process, and our testi

I don't want to get into partisan politics, but the US central authorities weren't serious about the problem until relatively late in the process, and our testing ramp up was also very slow. The move to block travel from China was well timed, but it can arguably be seen as more influenced by geopolitics than health concerns. The US now is catching up fairly well as the country started playing on its strengths, such as the extremely strong industrial base, financial power and, for better or worse, international leverage. Regarding the more centralized system, it has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of Germany's central coordination is that it made generally good decisions from the get go, so the country was able to move quicker. The US had a confused central response and the states were able to implement local fixes that prevented the entire system from falling apart. So I think the US model has the advantage of offering a second layer of defense from poor central planning, which perhaps wouldn't be as easy in Germany (I'm speculating here, I don't know much about Germany democratic guards against bad central decisions).

gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
The US had the issue of complete failure of a federal monopoly. CDC and FDA failed at the most critical time and prohibited private enterprise and states from rushing in.
- jakeogh 7y ago
  Measured by what? We achieved better results than every single pre-peak best case estimated outcome. If you know of a predicted outcome that we havent come in under, please link to it.
  - gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
    Measured by a month of delayed testing at the outset of a virulent pandemic? > Forced to suspend the launch of a nationwide detection program for the coronavirus for a month, the C.D.C. lost credibility as the nation’s leading public health agency and the country lost ground in ways that continue to haunt grieving families, the sick and the worried well from one state to the next. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/cdc-coronavirus-lab-contamination-testing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/cdc-coronavirus-la...
    - jakeogh 7y ago
      In science, when errors are made, we are supposed to acknowledge and correct them, which is what the CDC did. Why base your opinion on a second order result rather than first hand outcomes? If we had not tested at all, and still had this _drastically better than predicted_ result, might you still be unhappy about it? And the NYT... They are not just a news orginization. Still run by the BBC's Mark Thompson I see. https://imgur.com/VUdcIou https://imgur.com/VUdcIou https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIMxvS-WEAER49I.png https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIMxvS-WEAER49I.png https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CINJUoqUwAEkSip.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CINJUoqUwAEkSip.jpg
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
seppel 7y ago
> I don't want to get into partisan politics, but the US central authorities weren't serious about the problem This was a problem in Germany as well. End of January, the German minister of health still said that Corona is not as bad as the yearly Influenza. > until relatively late in the process, and our testing ramp up was also very slow. Ramping up testing was also very slow in the beginning and highly chaotic.
notechback 7y ago
You misunderstood the parent poster. Germany's healthcare system is very decentralised; Germany had 16 states which have large legal, financial, etc independence in a number of fields such as healthcare it education. A key difference though is that most of German healthcare is public; there are very few private clinics and those play no major role in the pandemic response. Insurance is mandatory but cheap (and independent of employment). Healthcare is accessible no matter your budget and maybe in the pandemic nearly as important, everyone has the right to sick leave. You get s doctor's certificate and can stay home for a week or two or three, if needed. You also won't be fired for it as labour protections are strong.
- anoncake 7y ago
  Unlike education, healthcare is a federal matter. However the states are responsible for applying federal laws (Art. 83 Basic Law).

gnusty_gnurc 7y ago

The US had the issue of complete failure of a federal monopoly. CDC and FDA failed at the most critical time and prohibited private enterprise and states from rushing in.

jakeogh 7y ago
Measured by what? We achieved better results than every single pre-peak best case estimated outcome. If you know of a predicted outcome that we havent come in under, please link to it.
- gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
  Measured by a month of delayed testing at the outset of a virulent pandemic? > Forced to suspend the launch of a nationwide detection program for the coronavirus for a month, the C.D.C. lost credibility as the nation’s leading public health agency and the country lost ground in ways that continue to haunt grieving families, the sick and the worried well from one state to the next. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/cdc-coronavirus-lab-contamination-testing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/cdc-coronavirus-la...
  - jakeogh 7y ago
    In science, when errors are made, we are supposed to acknowledge and correct them, which is what the CDC did. Why base your opinion on a second order result rather than first hand outcomes? If we had not tested at all, and still had this _drastically better than predicted_ result, might you still be unhappy about it? And the NYT... They are not just a news orginization. Still run by the BBC's Mark Thompson I see. https://imgur.com/VUdcIou https://imgur.com/VUdcIou https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIMxvS-WEAER49I.png https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIMxvS-WEAER49I.png https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CINJUoqUwAEkSip.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CINJUoqUwAEkSip.jpg
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

seppel 7y ago

> I don't want to get into partisan politics, but the US central authorities weren't serious about the problem This was a problem in Germany as well. End of January, the German minister of health still said that Corona is not as bad as the yearly Influenza. > until relatively late in the process, and our testing ramp up was also very slow. Ramping up testing was also very slow in the beginning and highly chaotic.

notechback 7y ago

You misunderstood the parent poster. Germany's healthcare system is very decentralised; Germany had 16 states which have large legal, financial, etc independence in a number of fields such as healthcare it education. A key difference though is that most of German healthcare is public; there are very few private clinics and those play no major role in the pandemic response. Insurance is mandatory but cheap (and independent of employment). Healthcare is accessible no matter your budget and maybe in the pandemic nearly as important, everyone has the right to sick leave. You get s doctor's certificate and can stay home for a week or two or three, if needed. You also won't be fired for it as labour protections are strong.

anoncake 7y ago
Unlike education, healthcare is a federal matter. However the states are responsible for applying federal laws (Art. 83 Basic Law).