Fauci didn't underestimate the virus. Quit your bull****.
If there was a cover-up then the question becomes what would the real situation have needed to be like so that the rest of the world would have changed their response. And I honestly don't believe the Western world would have done anything different unless China had reported casualties in the hundreds of thousands, not just thousands like they did. Why? Cause even if there was a cover-up what they did tell us was ****ing terrifying. China shut down an entire city because they claimed 500 people had a virus. They shut down the entire country during the largest festival of the year for 2000 cases.
Uh, yeah, Fauci did underestimate the virus. What's more, he did so
after Wuhan was shut down. So unless you're claiming to have greater expertise than Fauci, you're just an armchair epidemiologist using 20/20 hindsight. Hell, look at almost any interview of Fauci before Italy's outbreak:
But this is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.
The American people should not be worried or frightened by this. It’s a very, very low risk to the United States, but it’s something we, as public health officials, need to take very seriously.
But the one thing historically people need to realize, that even if there is some asymptomatic transmission, in all the history of respiratory-borne illnesses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person, even if there's a rare asymptomatic person that might transmit, an epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers.
One, they should realize at this point, it is a low risk. And two, that risk can change, so pay attention to what’s going on... So the question is, should we do anything different from what we’re already doing? No. Should we all be wearing a mask? Absolutely not.
So although we don't want people to be worried now, I think we need to realize that this could change. So right now, don't worry about it. Be more concerned about influenza, which is going into a second peak for the season, than coronavirus.
So, anecdotally, it’s clear that there are people who would judge to be asymptomatic when questioned, who very likely transmitted infection during the period of time that they were in the asymptomatic state. The question is, is that a predominant modality of transmission, what we call a driver of an outbreak, or is it one that’s minor? From talking to people who are over there now, and we’re getting more and more information as papers come in to look at to review, it looks like A, it does occur, but B, it is not something that is the predominant way that it’s transmitted.
Right now, at this moment, there’s no need to change anything that you’re doing on a day by day basis. Right now the risk is still low, but this could change. I’ve said that many times even on this program. You’ve got to watch out because although the risk is low now, you don’t need to change anything you’re doing.
Right now in the United States, people should not be walking around with masks... There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.
Some caveats are in order. First, as I've said before, I don't blame Fauci in the slightest; before Italy's outbreak, the science was unclear.
Second, China's cover-up in no way excuses the U.S.'s incompetence
after the science became clear, sometime in March. The response of the Trump administration, and of many GOP governors, has been a disaster from beginning to end (as basically everyone in this thread agrees), and nowadays my rage is focused almost entirely on them. Especially since the virus is currently ravaging my state.
