So by looking at these numbers we have
more cases than the next three countries
Combined.
And we still lag in deaths behind Italy and Spain although we have almost 4 times the population of Italy and over 5 times the population of Spain. That will likely change in the coming weeks since we are closing there also and since a number of countries, including Italy and Spain, are ahead of us on the curve since they did not shut off travel from China when we did.
Nevertheless, it is fairly obvious that a number of countries have been hit harder per capita that us just as some of our states have been hit harder than others. Some of this is because of population density as well as local government policies. California has done particularly well for example while New York has largely failed. Part of this was likely due to lower population density in California than New York. Certainly, rural states seemed to have fared better than urban centers, perhaps for the same reason.
No doubt, there will be an inclination to fix blame. To help get that jump started, I offer the following timeline:
2019:
December: First case of coronavirus reported in Wuhan, China, early December.
2020:
January 14: World Health Organization (WHO) reported that: “Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in Wuhan, China.”
January 17, The CDC and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that American citizens returning from travel-restricted countries were being rerouted to specific airports, where they would be screened and isolated.
January 17: The CDC issued statement, “based on current information, the risk from 2019-nCoV to the American public is currently deemed to be low.”
January 21: First confirmed case of the virus in the United States. A person arriving from China was confirmed to have the virus.
January 24: The CDC confirmed second case of the coronavirus in the United States while stating that “based on what we know right now, the immediate risk to America remains low.”
January 28: Trump expanded U.S. airport screenings to identify travelers showing symptoms and instituted mandatory quarantines for people showing symptoms.
January. 30: the WHO declared a global health emergency of international concern.
January. 30: CDC confirmed publicly for the first time that person-to-person spread of the coronavirus and applauded WHO’s decision to declare the global health emergency.
January 31: Trump issued the ban on travel between China and the United States.
January 31: Bernie Sanders said: It’s interesting that a President that has been demonizing immigrants, the first thing he could think about is closing the border.”
January 31: Joe Biden said: “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia and fear mongering to lead the way instead of science.
February 4: Politico published article saying: “The Trump administration’s quarantine and travel ban in response to the Wuhan coronavirus could undercut international efforts to fight the outbreak by antagonizing Chinese leaders, as well as stigmatizing people of Asian descent, according to a growing chorus of public health experts and lawmakers.”
February 4: the Trump administration directed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to step up coronavirus diagnostic testing procedures.
February 5: New York Times published article entitled: “Who Says It’s Not Safe to Travel to China?” The first sentence of the article was: “The coronavirus outbreak seems defined by two opposing forces: the astonishing efficiency with which the travel industry connects the world and a political moment dominated by xenophobic rhetoric and the building of walls.”
February 5: The CDC issued a public statement saying, “While we continue to believe the immediate risk of 2019nCoV exposure to the general public is low, CDC is undertaking measures to help keep that risk low.”
February 18: The CDC reaffirmed that the “risk to Americans from Coronavirus is low.”
February 20: The Trump administration raised travel warnings to their highest level for Japan and South Korea in view of the number of cases in those two countries.
February 24: Nancy Pelosi said: “You should come to Chinatown. It is very safe to be in Chinatown and hope that others will come. It’s lovely here. The food is delicious. The shops are prospering. The parade was great.
February 26: first case of suspected local transmission in the United States was announced by the CDC.
February 26: President Trump named Vice President Pence to lead the Coronavirus Task Force.
February 26: Andrew Cuomo said: “This situation is not a situation that should cause undue fear among people.
February 27: Pence named Dr. Deborah Birx to serve as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator.
February 29: First confirmed death in the United States.
February 29: Trump halted travel with Iran.
March 10: De Blasio said: “This disease even if you were to get it basically acts like a common cold.”
March 11, The WHO declared coronavirus a worldwide pandemic.
March 12: President Trump imposed travel restrictions on European nations.
March 16: The Trump administration issued new guidelines which essentially shut down significant portions of the country.
March 29: Trump announced an extension of the guidelines until April 30.
March 30: Dr Fauci said (In answer to a question from Jim Acosta after a description of the situation of the early days of the disease by Dr. Birx): “In a perfect world, it would have been nice to know what was going on there [in China]. We didn’t. But I believe, Jim, that we acted very, very early on that."
Make any additions you like.
