[Snorlax94]

I agree it doesn’t matter what China’s real numbers are or were at this point in time. They really only matter later in time when the complete data set is needed to understand what happened for the sake of history and future learning.

That said, the lack of transparency from China gave countries around the world an inaccurate sense of reality and led to the misinformation about “this is just flu” in many parts of the world.

For me, the only thing I needed to see was the images of all those excavators mobilizing to build an emergency hospital on Jan. 23. That was the canary in the coal mine, and all I needed to see to conclude this thing was a very big deal and China knew it. At that moment I went from casual observer to “I better take this really seriously so I’m prepared.”

There was plenty of early warning for those willing to listen:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavi...ent-2020-3

“On December 31, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization that China had several cases of pneumonia. That day, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control began monitoring passengers who arrived in the country from Wuhan. Government officials boarded flights from Wuhan as soon as they landed, monitoring passengers for symptoms.
Less than a week later, the government began monitoring people who had traveled from Wuhan since December 20.
"Suspected cases were screened for 26 viruses, including SARS and MERS," the Stanford Health Policy report said. "Passengers displaying symptoms were quarantined at home and assessed whether medical attention at a hospital was necessary."”

And from Jamanetwork on Taiwan’s response:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fu...le/2762689

“For the past 5 weeks (January 20-February 24), the CECC has rapidly produced and implemented a list of at least 124 action items (eTable in the Supplement) including border control from the air and sea, case identification (using new data and technology), quarantine of suspicious cases, proactive case finding, resource allocation (assessing and managing capacity), reassurance and education of the public while fighting misinformation, negotiation with other countries and regions, formulation of policies toward schools and childcare, and relief to businesses.

Border Control, Case Identification, and Containment

On January 27, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and the National Immigration Agency integrated patients’ past 14-day travel history with their NHI identification card data from the NHIA; this was accomplished in 1 day”

In terms of Americans’ lack of preparation, here is an image from march 8

https://m.imgur.com/a/UAvUSO3

[Snorlax94]

I agree it doesn’t matter what China’s real numbers are or were at this point in time. They really only matter later in time when the complete data set is needed to understand what happened for the sake of history and future learning.

That said, the lack of transparency from China gave countries around the world an inaccurate sense of reality and led to the misinformation about “this is just flu” in many parts of the world.

For me, the only thing I needed to see was the images of all those excavators mobilizing to build an emergency hospital on Jan. 23. That was the canary in the coal mine, and all I needed to see to conclude this thing was a very big deal and China knew it. At that moment I went from casual observer to “I better take this really seriously so I’m prepared.”

There was plenty of early warning for those willing to listen:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavi...ent-2020-3

“On December 31, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization that China had several cases of pneumonia. That day, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control began monitoring passengers who arrived in the country from Wuhan. Government officials boarded flights from Wuhan as soon as they landed, monitoring passengers for symptoms.
Less than a week later, the government began monitoring people who had traveled from Wuhan since December 20.
"Suspected cases were screened for 26 viruses, including SARS and MERS," the Stanford Health Policy report said. "Passengers displaying symptoms were quarantined at home and assessed whether medical attention at a hospital was necessary."”

And from Jamanetwork on Taiwan’s response:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fu...le/2762689

“For the past 5 weeks (January 20-February 24), the CECC has rapidly produced and implemented a list of at least 124 action items (eTable in the Supplement) including border control from the air and sea, case identification (using new data and technology), quarantine of suspicious cases, proactive case finding, resource allocation (assessing and managing capacity), reassurance and education of the public while fighting misinformation, negotiation with other countries and regions, formulation of policies toward schools and childcare, and relief to businesses.

Border Control, Case Identification, and Containment

On January 27, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and the National Immigration Agency integrated patients’ past 14-day travel history with their NHI identification card data from the NHIA; this was accomplished in 1 day”

In terms of Americans’ lack of preparation, here is an image from march 8

https://m.imgur.com/a/UAvUSO3