Dr. Deborah Birx on Tuesday said that medical experts failed to understand the seriousness of the coronavirus because of incomplete data coming out of China.
“I think the medical community interpreted the Chinese data as that this was serious but smaller than anyone expected,” she said. “Because I think probably we were missing a significant amount of the data.”
Birx spoke about the experts’ relationship with the data during a White House press briefing on Tuesday evening.
She acknowledged frankly that when she saw early data from China reporting only 50,000 cases of the virus among the 20 million people in Wuhan, China, and the 80 million in Hubei province, she felt that the threat was similar to that of SARS, which had 8,098 cases globally and 774 deaths.
Norway’s King Harald dies peacefully at 89, son Crown Prince Haakon to succeed him
New Hampshire man allegedly steals rescue truck from firefighters battling his burning home
Federal judge again blocks Trump’s mail ballot order just before midterms
California authorities identify final unknown victim of ‘Happy Face Killer’ Keith Jesperson after 34 years
New York Gov Hochul rejects Trump’s ‘Lake America’ renaming with blunt message
Maine meteorologist suffers giggle attack on live TV after prank backfires spectacularly
Defense Claims Lindsay Clancy ‘Never Did Anything Wrong in Her Life’ in Closing Argument
Report: Trump Admin Nearing ‘Massive’ Venezuelan Oil Deal
RNC threatens legal action against New Jersey officials over noncitizens on voter rolls: ‘On notice’
Social media erupts after cops reportedly raid home of Ilhan Omar’s son: ‘Not a good look’
Gov Shapiro sues Trump administration over ‘lifesaving reproductive care’ in escalating abortion battle
Watch: Hegseth Rights Another Biden Wrong – Upgrades Abbey Gate Heroes’ Awards After Previous Admin Wrongly Downgraded Them
DHS hits back at James Talarico after Democrat claims ICE ‘kidnapped’ 5-year-old boy deported with father
Lutnick stumps for Trump’s Kennedy Center rebrand outside key court hearing
Restaurant Hands Dessert with Painful Birthday Message to Wheelchair-Bound Diner After Kitchen Staffer Misunderstands Instructions
The devastation hitting countries like Italy and Spain and South Korea gave the experts much more complete data, helping them draw models that were far more alarming.
“Let’s see if we can do much better than that,” President Donald Trump said during the briefing, pointing to the models predicting 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the United States.
Trump noted that the virus was also more contagious than expected.
“I think the one thing that nobody really knew about this virus was how contagious it was,” he said. “It’s so incredibly contagious, and nobody knew that.”
Story cited here.
