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.
Nonimmigrant visas in flux due to Trump administration fees
The folksy Senate Republican in hot demand on the campaign trail
SCOTUS detention fight could unleash dangerous criminal migrants onto US streets, experts warns
Michigan man doxxed after exposing his city’s booming Islamic surge takes defiant stand: ‘Not gonna stop’
How Ms. Rachel went from beloved children’s streaming sensation to ‘mouthpiece for Hamas’
Nicki Minaj urges young Americans to ‘vote red’ in 2026 midterms while doubling down on Trump support
Florida man, 76, with suspended license allegedly admits to driving under the influence of rum, cocaine
Hiker falls up to 1,000 feet to his death day after another body found on same mountain
Four Americans dead after building collapses near the Acropolis in Athens
So-Called Moderate Governor Candidate Wants More Trans Books in Elementary Schools
Leading Democrat Official Resigns After Probe Uncovers Sexual Harassment of Young Female Staffer
Civilian detained after ‘violently engaging’ security personnel at Florida Air Force base: report
‘Tremendous Heresy’: CS Lewis’ Family Confirms He’d Be ‘Turning Over in His Grave’ Over Netflix’s Aslan Casting
During Shawn Ryan’s Podcast the British Government Slaps SAS Legend with Legal Notice
How Ukraine’s 40-day summer drone campaign to end the war with Russia backfired
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.
