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.
Trump says ‘America needs God’ in Good Friday message touting ‘resurgence of religion’
Watch: DEI-Obsessed Sky News Reporter Claims Moon Landings by ‘All White Men’ Didn’t Represent Humanity
Pro-Lifers Shred Trump Admin’s Biden-Era Title X Extension as ‘Inexplicable Slap in the Face’
Trump Admin Declares War on Microplastics in Drinking Water
Trump Executive Order Aims to Save College Sports, Limit Athlete Transfers
Artemis II astronauts nearly halfway to the moon; NASA shares stunning photos from Orion spacecraft
California 4-year-old boy survives attack by coyote that bit and tried to drag him away
Trump requests over $10 billion for DC infrastructure and National Guard deployment
Colorado lawyers say court e-file system now makes them certify they won’t assist ICE
Patel, McCormick warn foreign terror threats inside US grew during Biden years
Trump gives rare praise to persistent GOP foe after White House ballroom vote
Illegal immigrant accused of murdering wife in Texas just weeks after marriage, ICE fights release
Legendary Fleetwood Mac Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham Attacked with ‘Unknown Substance’ in California
‘It’d Be Better Not to Talk About it at All’: Mamdani’s Good Friday Message Draws Backlash from Christians
Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Ted Bundy unmasked, Guthrie sheriff dragged to hot seat, Hawaii doc testifies
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.
