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As conservative media begins pivoting full-time into downplaying the sheer magnitude of COVID-19, with Trump soon to follow, it& #39;s important to remember how little we actually know about the outbreak. All of our assumptions are based on woefully incomplete testing data. 1/
What we& #39;re witnessing is a nationwide natural disaster. The pandemic itself was as preventable as a hurricane -- but our response to the pandemic is what is getting people killed. And that response is so inadequate that we can& #39;t even count the bodies. 2/ https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1247573157504057345">https://twitter.com/nycsouthp...
If this reminds you of something, it should: Hurricane Maria.
For weeks, Trump openly bragged about how "only" 60 or so people had died from one of the most catastrophic storms to ever make landfall in the Caribbean. He wore it as a badge of honor. 3/
For weeks, Trump openly bragged about how "only" 60 or so people had died from one of the most catastrophic storms to ever make landfall in the Caribbean. He wore it as a badge of honor. 3/
A December 2017 analysis by The New York Times found that while the official death toll had remained stuck at 64, the storm had likely resulted in the deaths of 1,052 additional Americans from September 20 to October 31 of that year. 4/ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-death-toll.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interacti...
On August 9, 2018, the government of Puerto Rico finally revised its official death toll in a draft report to Congress -- the storm had killed at least 1,427 people. (More than 22 times the official figure.) 5/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/us/puerto-rico-death-toll-maria.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/0...
Less than three weeks later, on August 28, the government revised its death toll up once again. Accepting the conclusions of an independent public health analysis, the official death toll on the island from Hurricane Maria was staggering: 2,975. 6/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-maria-death-toll-puerto-rico-2975-killed-by-storm-study-finds/">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurr...
Could we have stopped the hurricane? No.
Should we have been better prepared for it? Yes!
Rather than learning a lesson, the Trump administration looked at the aftermath of the worst natural disaster on American soil in almost a century and patted itself on the back. 7/
Should we have been better prepared for it? Yes!
Rather than learning a lesson, the Trump administration looked at the aftermath of the worst natural disaster on American soil in almost a century and patted itself on the back. 7/
Which brings me back to COVID-19. It cannot be overstated how little we know about the outbreak in the United States. The official numbers in American are shocking: 400,000 infections, 12,000 deaths. But the actual toll is going to be far more gruesome. 8/
The Trump administrations is already spinning, just as they did with Hurricane Maria, refusing to accept that there is an undercount, bragging about how we& #39;re doing compared to other countries, and even suggesting that the figures are inflated. 9/ https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1247658540455596033">https://twitter.com/ddiamond/...
At the end of the day, we simply don& #39;t know how many people are infected, or how many people have died.
We know that more people are getting infected every day, but our testing capacity is actually *down* over the past few days. Without good tests, we don& #39;t have good data. 10/
We know that more people are getting infected every day, but our testing capacity is actually *down* over the past few days. Without good tests, we don& #39;t have good data. 10/
When first discussing the economic disruption caused by COVID-19 last month, I told a colleague "it& #39;s like a hurricane hitting every city and town in America at once."
Now we know the comparison is even more niche: It& #39;s like Hurricane Maria everywhere all at once. 11/
Now we know the comparison is even more niche: It& #39;s like Hurricane Maria everywhere all at once. 11/
Trump couldn& #39;t have prevented the pandemic, but his carelessness and negligent incompetence has gotten people killed. To make matters worse, his unfittness is so grandiose that we don& #39;t even know how many. We may never know. But we can guarantee he& #39;ll refuse responsibility. /end
If you wrote the Trump administration as a villainous government in your dystopian novel any responsible editor would tell you to tone it down. https://twitter.com/npratc/status/1247988083376549888">https://twitter.com/npratc/st...
