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.
Flashback: How James Woods Encountered, Then Reported Multiple 9/11 Hijackers to the FBI
Trump Rejects Saudi Crown Prince’s Pleas for New U.S. Strikes in Middle East: Report
Trump admin’s fraud crackdown targets foreigners accused of infiltrating U.S. federal programs
Giuliani blasts Mamdani’s 9/11 toxic air blame as buried city records come to light
In pictures: Trump, Bush, and more pay their respects at 9/11 ceremonies across three sites on 25th anniversary
Lone holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy trial was only Black person on the jury, panelist reveals: report
WATCH LIVE: Trump, first lady, Hegseth, and more attend 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon
Sept. 11 in photos: Washington Examiner photographer Graeme Jennings shares his images from the aftermath of 9/11
Trump set to honor 9/11 victims and first responders at Pentagon and more top headlines
The Ghouls Come Out After Erika Kirk Breaks Her Silence on Anniversary of Charlie’s Death
We Forgot 9/11: Then We Swore a Mayor In on the Qur’an – Part Two
25 years later, 9/11 memories endure as nation gathers to honor nearly 3,000 lives lost
Ontario premier wants Republicans to lose House and Senate over Trump’s trade war
The unlucky 13: States bordering Canada are particularly hard-hit by trade war
Wendell Berry, 1934-2026
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?
Flashback: How James Woods Encountered, Then Reported Multiple 9/11 Hijackers to the FBI
Trump Rejects Saudi Crown Prince’s Pleas for New U.S. Strikes in Middle East: Report
Trump admin’s fraud crackdown targets foreigners accused of infiltrating U.S. federal programs
Giuliani blasts Mamdani’s 9/11 toxic air blame as buried city records come to light
In pictures: Trump, Bush, and more pay their respects at 9/11 ceremonies across three sites on 25th anniversary
Lone holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy trial was only Black person on the jury, panelist reveals: report
WATCH LIVE: Trump, first lady, Hegseth, and more attend 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon
Sept. 11 in photos: Washington Examiner photographer Graeme Jennings shares his images from the aftermath of 9/11
Trump set to honor 9/11 victims and first responders at Pentagon and more top headlines
The Ghouls Come Out After Erika Kirk Breaks Her Silence on Anniversary of Charlie’s Death
We Forgot 9/11: Then We Swore a Mayor In on the Qur’an – Part Two
25 years later, 9/11 memories endure as nation gathers to honor nearly 3,000 lives lost
Ontario premier wants Republicans to lose House and Senate over Trump’s trade war
The unlucky 13: States bordering Canada are particularly hard-hit by trade war
Wendell Berry, 1934-2026
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.
