3 ms·

The panic was never over the case or infection fatality rates. The panic is because of asymptomatic spreaders. If a strain of influenza suddenly spiked to high

The panic was never over the case or infection fatality rates. The panic is because of asymptomatic spreaders. If a strain of influenza suddenly spiked to higher fatality rates, less drastic measures could contain it because it's usually obvious when you are contagious with influenza. Also, as someone who had SARS-COV-2 and didn't die, it was fucking awful and I fully blame the complete failure of US leadership for the current fiasco.

nradov 6y ago
That is not scientifically accurate. A significant fraction of influenza cases are also asymptomatic, and they are capable of spreading the disease to others. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586318/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586318/ You could have already killed someone without even knowing it by transmitting the flu to them. There's no way to know for sure. US federal and state handling of the pandemic has been mostly terrible. But even if we had competent, honest leaders I doubt the long-term death toll would be much different. Community transmission was already widespread by the time anyone realized there was a serious problem, and by that point it was too late to contain the pandemic. https://www.wsj.com/graphics/when-did-covid-hit-earliest-death/ https://www.wsj.com/graphics/when-did-covid-hit-earliest-dea...
- reincarnate0x14 6y ago
  Funny how places like Taiwan reacted far earlier and have near zero fatalities then. I sometime forget to not bother commenting on overly politicized things on HN. Your own links show 20% potential asymptomatic influenza infections, which is only a tiny bit different from the estimated 80-95% on SARS-COV-2. Downvote away though.
  - nradov 6y ago
    That is not scientifically accurate. During the USS Theodore Roosevelt outbreak only 19% of cases were asymptomatic. Those sailors were generally younger and healthier than the general population so if anything we would expect the overall rate of asymptomatic cases to be lower. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7315794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7315794/ So where are you coming up with that 80-95% number?

nradov 6y ago

That is not scientifically accurate. A significant fraction of influenza cases are also asymptomatic, and they are capable of spreading the disease to others. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586318/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586318/ You could have already killed someone without even knowing it by transmitting the flu to them. There's no way to know for sure. US federal and state handling of the pandemic has been mostly terrible. But even if we had competent, honest leaders I doubt the long-term death toll would be much different. Community transmission was already widespread by the time anyone realized there was a serious problem, and by that point it was too late to contain the pandemic. https://www.wsj.com/graphics/when-did-covid-hit-earliest-death/ https://www.wsj.com/graphics/when-did-covid-hit-earliest-dea...

reincarnate0x14 6y ago
Funny how places like Taiwan reacted far earlier and have near zero fatalities then. I sometime forget to not bother commenting on overly politicized things on HN. Your own links show 20% potential asymptomatic influenza infections, which is only a tiny bit different from the estimated 80-95% on SARS-COV-2. Downvote away though.
- nradov 6y ago
  That is not scientifically accurate. During the USS Theodore Roosevelt outbreak only 19% of cases were asymptomatic. Those sailors were generally younger and healthier than the general population so if anything we would expect the overall rate of asymptomatic cases to be lower. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7315794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7315794/ So where are you coming up with that 80-95% number?