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They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic and prepared for one happening eventually. Just like we know there's a low risk of an entire server roo

They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic and prepared for one happening eventually. Just like we know there's a low risk of an entire server room going up in flames/water damage/lightning/getting hit by a truck driving into a building and that's why we have offsite backups even though we won't know when something is going to happen.

chrisseaton 6y ago
> They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic But I think so did every country. Wasn't global pandemic at the top of almost every country's national security risk register? They knew it was likely, and they knew it was high-risk. I know for a fact it was at the top of the UK's public national security risk register. You're perpetuating a silly myth that major western countries didn't know this was coming and didn't know it was a big risk.
- the8472 6y ago
  They (or someone within the government at least) may have known, but they did not act on it. On the contrary, for example California defunded its emergency stockpile.
- user_501238901 6y ago
  There basically wasn't a proper "modern day" pandemic before this. The previous one was the spanish flu in 1918 which was very quickly forgotten due to a much larger pointless massacre (world wars) Air travel increase is a big factor why it got so bad so quickly, even in the past two decades basically everything has changed. We have hundreds millions of people basically teleporting between continents every day.
  - wcoenen 6y ago
    > We have hundreds millions of people basically teleporting between continents every day That's hyperbole. In 2019 there were 4.5 billion passengers boarding a flight[1]. Divide by 365 days and you get on the order of 10 million per day, most of which will not be intercontinental. I don't disagree about the amount of air travel nowadays facilitating pandemics, just wanted to get the numbers straight. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-passenger-traffic-globally/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-...
    - tomglynch 6y ago
      You are arguing a very minor point.
      - wcoenen 6y ago
        I appreciate the feedback, it feels better than getting only downvotes. I thought it was an important point because the number was off by at least an order of magnitude, maybe two. But I can see how my response might have been seen as pedantic.
  - jcranmer 6y ago
    There have been 3 flu pandemics since 1918: 1957, 1968, 2009. In addition, cholera and AIDS have had non-influenza pandemics in the same timeframe, and there's a clutch of infectious diseases with little spread that qualify as pandemics by the definition of sustained spread in two countries in different regions of the world (e.g., mumps). MERS might also qualify by the definition.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - heavenlyblue 6y ago
    >> pointless massacre You’re implying as if wars happen because people are all angry and if they just happened to be kinder then all of that would be resolved immediately. It’s discounting a bunch of pragmatic reasons a lot of which have nothing to do with philosophy or human condition.
    - ivalm 6y ago
      Not immediately, but life was worse for basically all participants (at least the major powers that precipitated wwi)
- sukilot 6y ago
  Misinterprering by responding to half a sentence is rude. >> and prepared for one happening eventually
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Yes you're right - misinterprering by responding to part of a thread is rude. Which is what you're doing - because the context of the thread is more specifically that anyone foresaw it - 'He couldn’t foresee that. No one did.' and the person I'm replied to that saying that they thought just some like Taiwan foresaw it. Both are demonstrably false claims - you can look at public national security risk registers to confirm to yourself that many other countries foresaw it.
dominotw 6y ago
> They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic and prepared for one happening eventually. What else did they prepare for. Is this public knowledge?
- Tade0 6y ago
  It's just that COVID-19 is the third coronavirus to cause an epidemic this century - after SARS and MERS.
  - Izkata 6y ago
    If you drop the "coronavirus" requirement, at least fourth - there was also the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic.
    - andi999 6y ago
      I believe the 2009 swine flu is responsible for this times weak response. I remember last time a lot of fear was stoked up in the media and a huge amount of tamiflu bought by the government, and almost nothing happened in the end, apart from public scepticism and unhappiness about the squandering of funds. I think politics didnt want to repeat the mistake
  - dominotw 6y ago
    yea i guess i meant other than pandemics.
- p1necone 6y ago
  Why are you wording this like you're suspicious? Disaster preparedness is not some big conspiracy. Just because America is doing a shit job at this doesn't mean other countries are out to get them.

chrisseaton 6y ago

> They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic But I think so did every country. Wasn't global pandemic at the top of almost every country's national security risk register? They knew it was likely, and they knew it was high-risk. I know for a fact it was at the top of the UK's public national security risk register. You're perpetuating a silly myth that major western countries didn't know this was coming and didn't know it was a big risk.

the8472 6y ago
They (or someone within the government at least) may have known, but they did not act on it. On the contrary, for example California defunded its emergency stockpile.
user_501238901 6y ago
There basically wasn't a proper "modern day" pandemic before this. The previous one was the spanish flu in 1918 which was very quickly forgotten due to a much larger pointless massacre (world wars) Air travel increase is a big factor why it got so bad so quickly, even in the past two decades basically everything has changed. We have hundreds millions of people basically teleporting between continents every day.
- wcoenen 6y ago
  > We have hundreds millions of people basically teleporting between continents every day That's hyperbole. In 2019 there were 4.5 billion passengers boarding a flight[1]. Divide by 365 days and you get on the order of 10 million per day, most of which will not be intercontinental. I don't disagree about the amount of air travel nowadays facilitating pandemics, just wanted to get the numbers straight. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-passenger-traffic-globally/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-...
  - tomglynch 6y ago
    You are arguing a very minor point.
    - wcoenen 6y ago
      I appreciate the feedback, it feels better than getting only downvotes. I thought it was an important point because the number was off by at least an order of magnitude, maybe two. But I can see how my response might have been seen as pedantic.
- jcranmer 6y ago
  There have been 3 flu pandemics since 1918: 1957, 1968, 2009. In addition, cholera and AIDS have had non-influenza pandemics in the same timeframe, and there's a clutch of infectious diseases with little spread that qualify as pandemics by the definition of sustained spread in two countries in different regions of the world (e.g., mumps). MERS might also qualify by the definition.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  >> pointless massacre You’re implying as if wars happen because people are all angry and if they just happened to be kinder then all of that would be resolved immediately. It’s discounting a bunch of pragmatic reasons a lot of which have nothing to do with philosophy or human condition.
  - ivalm 6y ago
    Not immediately, but life was worse for basically all participants (at least the major powers that precipitated wwi)
sukilot 6y ago
Misinterprering by responding to half a sentence is rude. >> and prepared for one happening eventually
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  Yes you're right - misinterprering by responding to part of a thread is rude. Which is what you're doing - because the context of the thread is more specifically that anyone foresaw it - 'He couldn’t foresee that. No one did.' and the person I'm replied to that saying that they thought just some like Taiwan foresaw it. Both are demonstrably false claims - you can look at public national security risk registers to confirm to yourself that many other countries foresaw it.

dominotw 6y ago

> They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic and prepared for one happening eventually. What else did they prepare for. Is this public knowledge?

Tade0 6y ago
It's just that COVID-19 is the third coronavirus to cause an epidemic this century - after SARS and MERS.
- Izkata 6y ago
  If you drop the "coronavirus" requirement, at least fourth - there was also the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic.
  - andi999 6y ago
    I believe the 2009 swine flu is responsible for this times weak response. I remember last time a lot of fear was stoked up in the media and a huge amount of tamiflu bought by the government, and almost nothing happened in the end, apart from public scepticism and unhappiness about the squandering of funds. I think politics didnt want to repeat the mistake
- dominotw 6y ago
  yea i guess i meant other than pandemics.
p1necone 6y ago
Why are you wording this like you're suspicious? Disaster preparedness is not some big conspiracy. Just because America is doing a shit job at this doesn't mean other countries are out to get them.