[Snorlax94]

Now that being said, I agree with 2006alum; there's no evidence that the US experience is solely due to the increasing amounts of traffic between the US and China.  Genetic analysis of the cases in New York show that most of them actually came via Europe, not spread from China.  The West Coast.  And ultimately, when the extent of the impact of the virus in the US is worse here than China, the defense that "but he banned travel from China" strikes me as a bit like telling Mrs. Lincoln "But the play was great, wasn't it?"  The numbers speak for themselves, and the numbers in the US are bad.

Then again,  if not for a reduction in travel from China, the numbers could have been much worse... especially in the West Coast,  if more seeds had landed.

Probably not. I feel very fortunate to live in the Bay Area, where the counties implemented the first Shelter In Place in the country. It’s clear the public health officers shut down when the case numbers and exponential growth rate dictated it was necessary. If that had happened two weeks earlier, it’s clear they would have started two weeks earlier. They were observing the data — probably for a very long time — and had the character and competence to make a science-based decision when necessary.

[Snorlax94]

Now that being said, I agree with 2006alum; there's no evidence that the US experience is solely due to the increasing amounts of traffic between the US and China.  Genetic analysis of the cases in New York show that most of them actually came via Europe, not spread from China.  The West Coast.  And ultimately, when the extent of the impact of the virus in the US is worse here than China, the defense that "but he banned travel from China" strikes me as a bit like telling Mrs. Lincoln "But the play was great, wasn't it?"  The numbers speak for themselves, and the numbers in the US are bad.

Then again,  if not for a reduction in travel from China, the numbers could have been much worse... especially in the West Coast,  if more seeds had landed.

Probably not. I feel very fortunate to live in the Bay Area, where the counties implemented the first Shelter In Place in the country. It’s clear the public health officers shut down when the case numbers and exponential growth rate dictated it was necessary. If that had happened two weeks earlier, it’s clear they would have started two weeks earlier. They were observing the data — probably for a very long time — and had the character and competence to make a science-based decision when necessary.