Wednesday, March 11, 2020

What The World Is Doing About COVID-19, And Why

Somehow, the coronavirus situation has become deeply political in the United States. Rather than the experts – the WHO, the CDC, epidemiologists – leading the way, cable news pundits, youtube personalities, and politicians are framing the narrative around media bias, “fake news,” conspiracies, political partisanship, and economics.

Maybe - just maybe - we are better off looking to places that haven't politicized a disease.

The response in other nations overwhelmingly suggests that we ought to be taking this seriously. Even if the United States were hopelessly compromised by partisan gamesmanship, fake news, or political and financial manipulation, the rest of the world is still accessible for us to study – and they just might have something important to offer.


So, how does it compare to the flu?

The people in the 117 other countries/regions with the coronavirus are not fools. In the multitude of counselors, there is wisdom. There is a reason why so many precautions are being taken: we don’t want to know what will happen if we don’t take this seriously.

This is why around the world, it’s being taken seriously. Early and thorough intervention seems to be helping quite a bit if for no other reason than keeping hospitals below max capacity, which allows for more thorough treatment.

Yes, more people die of the flu - because up to this point, more people have had the flu. If that changes - well, let's plan and pray so that it does not.