Once again, if this is so benign the why China quarantined half the population ?
One of the possibility would be that the virus might much more virulent on Asians (I assume the Diamond Princess passengers are mostly white).
One of the possibility would be that the virus might much more virulent on Asians (I assume the Diamond Princess passengers are mostly white).
The new virus could have been the same and wipe double digits of the Chinese population so the central government went all in as soon as they heard of it.
Worst if Medical personals were infected and unknowingly transmit the virus.
We still don’t have the full picture, but this is looking to be much milder than originally feared.
Compounding that is the US government's response, which has been quite weak so far.
China — and this is not meant to give them a pass on all sorts of errors and shortcomings — took fairly dramatic measures and were well equipped.
My concern with this virus compared to SARS is that it spreads much easier, making the problem one of infrastructure and capacity to deal with a large number of cases all at once. E.g., how quickly can we ramp up to deal with a potential outbreak at scale in terms of ventilator beds, etc.
And if not for this, then the next one. Coronavirus has raised a lot of questions about our preparedness and strategy for coping with a pandemic — and personally it feels like we’re sleepwalking a bit here in the West.