Appearing Monday on AM 1030 KVOI Radio, Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), predicted that the death toll from the Chinese coronavirus will be “much, much, much lower” than the models have projected due to Americans following social distancing recommendations.
Court Rules 12-Year-Old’s Mother Cannot Read Her the Bible, Take Her to Church
Illinois man charged with arson after allegedly setting home ablaze on Thanksgiving
USCIS halts ‘all asylum decisions’ after DC shooting of National Guard members
Abbey Gate Gold Star father blisters Biden after Afghan national allegedly ambushes 2 National Guardsmen in DC
Northwestern to pay $75M in federal civil-rights deal after antisemitism probes
Utah death row inmate with dementia dies of natural causes 3 months after execution was halted
At least two reported victims with gunshot wounds at Valley Fair Mall in California on Black Friday: police
State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack
Trump plans ‘full and complete pardon’ for former Honduran president convicted of drug trafficking
EXCLUSIVE: Stefanik steamrolls top conservative opponent; GOP leaders hand her commanding edge in NY primary
A look back at the biggest presidential Thanksgiving scandals, surprises
Erika Kirk Shares First Thanksgiving Message Since Her Husband’s Passing
Political turkeys of 2025: Blunders of 2025 that will never be pardoned by the public
Afghan withdrawal refugees had ‘free rein’ on US bases in 2021, sources said, leaving in Ubers untracked
USA Today’s Spin on National Guard Shooting Shows Why Legacy Outlets Are Dying
HOST: We were talking about some of the models, whether it’s from the imperial college guy in England or the University of Washington. Thank god some of these numbers are falling short of some of these catastrophic numbers. Tell me about the dynamic of the modeling and how it helps and influences decision making and then, when the reality comes in, how does the decision making transform?
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD: I think it’s really important. First, models are only as good as their assumptions. Obviously, there was a lot unknown about this virus. The ability to actively make a lot of assumptions was much wider than if this was an Influenza B outbreak. Second thing, I will say from a public health perspective, to me, the real value of models is to have a model and then try to understand — if I invest resources here, what does that do to the model? If I invest in intervention strategies here, what does that do to the model? It’s a way of beta testing how you’re going to respond and what it does to the different models. And models should never be used to assume that we have a number. You saw those numbers are quite staggering. You’ve got 200,000 to 2 million Americans are losing their lives before the fall. That’s a pretty staggering number.
HOST: Are throwing those kind of numbers out actually helpful because what they do is scare the hell out of everyone to social distance? Is that the purpose?
Court Rules 12-Year-Old’s Mother Cannot Read Her the Bible, Take Her to Church
Illinois man charged with arson after allegedly setting home ablaze on Thanksgiving
USCIS halts ‘all asylum decisions’ after DC shooting of National Guard members
Abbey Gate Gold Star father blisters Biden after Afghan national allegedly ambushes 2 National Guardsmen in DC
Northwestern to pay $75M in federal civil-rights deal after antisemitism probes
Utah death row inmate with dementia dies of natural causes 3 months after execution was halted
At least two reported victims with gunshot wounds at Valley Fair Mall in California on Black Friday: police
State Department ‘immediately’ halts all Afghan passport visas following deadly National Guard attack
Trump plans ‘full and complete pardon’ for former Honduran president convicted of drug trafficking
EXCLUSIVE: Stefanik steamrolls top conservative opponent; GOP leaders hand her commanding edge in NY primary
A look back at the biggest presidential Thanksgiving scandals, surprises
Erika Kirk Shares First Thanksgiving Message Since Her Husband’s Passing
Political turkeys of 2025: Blunders of 2025 that will never be pardoned by the public
Afghan withdrawal refugees had ‘free rein’ on US bases in 2021, sources said, leaving in Ubers untracked
USA Today’s Spin on National Guard Shooting Shows Why Legacy Outlets Are Dying
DR. REDFIELD: I think different people may look at it in different ways in terms of transparency. CDC had models early on. We didn’t really publicize the models. We used them internally to understand deviation strategies. I think part of the importance of getting the American public’s attention that these models did, we really need the American public to be fully engaged now with great rigor and vigilance on the social distancing. As you pointed out, those models that were done, they assume only about 50 percent of the American public would pay attention to the recommendations. In fact, what we’re seeing is a large majority of the American public are taking the social distancing recommendations to heart. And I think that’s the direct consequence of why you’re seeing the numbers are going to be much, much, much lower than would have been predicted by the models.
Story cited here.
