[Genuine Realist]

I think I have recounted how my wife and I were in New York between February 21st and 24th. . . . Every morning, I'd . . . kill time . . . watching the news. . . . [T]here was literally NOTHING about the virus, except for growing concern about the Italian experience. It was maybe the fifth lead down. . . . These weren't even serious news items. . . . There weren't any warnings. 

There definitely were "serious news items" about the coronavirus during the February 21-24 time frame, including warnings of a pandemic. A few examples:

On February 21, NBC News ran a story titled: "U.S. takes steps to prepare for pandemic as global coronavirus cases rise." The story began: "As global concerns over the coronavirus outbreak grow, the U.S. is taking steps to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday."

On February 22, the lead article on the NY Times' front page was headlined: "Surge in Cases Raises Concern Of a Pandemic." The article began: "An alarming surge of new coronavirus cases outside China, with fears of a major outbreak in Iran, is threatening to transform the contagion into a global pandemic. . . ."

On February 22, the Washington Post reported: "Coronavirus outbreak edges closer to pandemic status." The article said: "There are outbreaks. There are epidemics. And there are pandemics, where epidemics become rampant in multiple countries and continents simultaneously. The novel coronavirus that causes the disease named covid-19 is on the verge of reaching that third, globe-shaking stage."

On February 22, CNN ran a story titled: "Fears over containing novel coronavirus grow as cases outside China spike." It began: "Concerns are growing over the global spread of the novel coronavirus after a spike in cases outside of mainland China among people with no connection to China or the city of Wuhan."

On February 24, the stock market had its biggest decline in two years, which was in the headlines everywhere. Fox Business reported: "Dow tumbles over 1,000 points as coronavirus crisis spirals."

On February 24, Fox News ran a story titled: "Global outbreak causes coronavirus pandemic fears after cases jump in Italy, South Korea and Iran."

There are other examples as well.

Indeed, Terry. You might also cite the number of smug op-eds published by the NYT, Post, and CNN, in response to to Trump's travel ban with China, on January 31st, denouncing the ban as xenophobic and generally debunking the potential of the virus to cause serious harm to society.

It's not that the public and the heads of state were not aware of the virus. It's just that no one thought that extraordinary measures were necessary to combat it. Throughout February, data continued to accumulate, mostly from the experience of Italy, which was open to the world. Stories of the type you cite were published. But these were of the 'interesting development' type. No alarm was sounded, not in the US or anywhere (the point). You'll find the rare outlier event canceled, but no sense that the coming pandemic required the extreme measures that were undertaken.

These occurred almost universally in the second week of March, usually starting about March 10th.

[Genuine Realist]

I think I have recounted how my wife and I were in New York between February 21st and 24th. . . . Every morning, I'd . . . kill time . . . watching the news. . . . [T]here was literally NOTHING about the virus, except for growing concern about the Italian experience. It was maybe the fifth lead down. . . . These weren't even serious news items. . . . There weren't any warnings. 

There definitely were "serious news items" about the coronavirus during the February 21-24 time frame, including warnings of a pandemic. A few examples:

On February 21, NBC News ran a story titled: "U.S. takes steps to prepare for pandemic as global coronavirus cases rise." The story began: "As global concerns over the coronavirus outbreak grow, the U.S. is taking steps to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday."

On February 22, the lead article on the NY Times' front page was headlined: "Surge in Cases Raises Concern Of a Pandemic." The article began: "An alarming surge of new coronavirus cases outside China, with fears of a major outbreak in Iran, is threatening to transform the contagion into a global pandemic. . . ."

On February 22, the Washington Post reported: "Coronavirus outbreak edges closer to pandemic status." The article said: "There are outbreaks. There are epidemics. And there are pandemics, where epidemics become rampant in multiple countries and continents simultaneously. The novel coronavirus that causes the disease named covid-19 is on the verge of reaching that third, globe-shaking stage."

On February 22, CNN ran a story titled: "Fears over containing novel coronavirus grow as cases outside China spike." It began: "Concerns are growing over the global spread of the novel coronavirus after a spike in cases outside of mainland China among people with no connection to China or the city of Wuhan."

On February 24, the stock market had its biggest decline in two years, which was in the headlines everywhere. Fox Business reported: "Dow tumbles over 1,000 points as coronavirus crisis spirals."

On February 24, Fox News ran a story titled: "Global outbreak causes coronavirus pandemic fears after cases jump in Italy, South Korea and Iran."

There are other examples as well.

Indeed, Terry. You might also cite the number of smug op-eds published by the NYT, Post, and CNN, in response to to Trump's travel ban with China, on January 31st, denouncing the ban as xenophobic and generally debunking the potential of the virus to cause serious harm to society.

It's not that the public and the heads of state were not aware of the virus. It's just that no one thought that extraordinary measures were necessary to combat it. Throughout February, data continued to accumulate, mostly from the experience of Italy, which was open to the world. Stories of the type you cite were published. But these were of the 'interesting development' type. No alarm was sounded, not in the US or anywhere (the point). You'll find the rare outlier event canceled, but no sense that the coming pandemic required the extreme measures that were undertaken.

These occurred almost universally in the second week of March, usually starting about March 10th.