[burger]

That's fine--I'll keep the commentary to a minimum going forward and let the articles, etc. speak for themselves (because they do).

As for not dwelling on the past, I would just add that the article that I originally linked to is talking about things happening in the last week or two that are still problems (lack of PPE, lack of hospital beds, etc.).  So this is not bringing up ancient history--these are problems that have yet to be solved.

Yes, but planning for a pandemic requires developing contingency plans and stockpiling needed supplies long before the pandemic hits.  Did you know that we have a reserve of ventilators?

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/coronav...79361.html

So that is good, but probably not enough.  Would be worth knowing how many are available and how that number was determined.

More broadly, though, while what we are seeing is poor execution during the crisis, what this really reflects is poor planning before the crisis.  Or to quote one of my favorite aphorisms, "Prior planning prevents piss poor performance".

BC

That is not even close to remotely enough ventilators.  Read this: https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavir...story.html

Here's Trump's guidance on this issue (from the same article):

The United States, by contrast, has been slow to develop a national strategy for accelerating the production of ventilators. That appears to reflect in part the federal government’s sluggish reaction to the coronavirus, with President Donald Trump and others initially playing down the threat. This week, Trump urged governors to find ways to procure new ventilators. “Try getting it yourselves,” he said.

Planning was inadequate, mostly in the sense that we squandered the advance notice we had.  It was obvious to many epidemiologists by mid-January that this was going to spread, but federal response didn't really begin until March.

[burger]

That's fine--I'll keep the commentary to a minimum going forward and let the articles, etc. speak for themselves (because they do).

As for not dwelling on the past, I would just add that the article that I originally linked to is talking about things happening in the last week or two that are still problems (lack of PPE, lack of hospital beds, etc.).  So this is not bringing up ancient history--these are problems that have yet to be solved.

Yes, but planning for a pandemic requires developing contingency plans and stockpiling needed supplies long before the pandemic hits.  Did you know that we have a reserve of ventilators?

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/coronav...79361.html

So that is good, but probably not enough.  Would be worth knowing how many are available and how that number was determined.

More broadly, though, while what we are seeing is poor execution during the crisis, what this really reflects is poor planning before the crisis.  Or to quote one of my favorite aphorisms, "Prior planning prevents piss poor performance".

BC

That is not even close to remotely enough ventilators.  Read this: https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavir...story.html

Here's Trump's guidance on this issue (from the same article):

The United States, by contrast, has been slow to develop a national strategy for accelerating the production of ventilators. That appears to reflect in part the federal government’s sluggish reaction to the coronavirus, with President Donald Trump and others initially playing down the threat. This week, Trump urged governors to find ways to procure new ventilators. “Try getting it yourselves,” he said.

Planning was inadequate, mostly in the sense that we squandered the advance notice we had.  It was obvious to many epidemiologists by mid-January that this was going to spread, but federal response didn't really begin until March.