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.
Colorado school staffer accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old student, now on the run
State Department to ask for bonds of up to $15,000 for visa applications from a dozen more countries
Former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent under FBI investigation for alleged classified leaks
‘Theatrical fools’: House GOP slams Democrats for blowing off Bondi interview
186 Democrats Kick and Scream as Critical Bill Targeting Fraudsters Narrowly Passes House
BREAKING: Sen. Kennedy Just Moved to Pass the SAVE America Act Using a Brilliant Legislative Trick That Only Requires 51 Votes
Immigration judge orders deportation of NYC Council employee after ICE arrest, city leaders push back
Millionaire developer found dead in ritzy beach home; bizarrely dressed suspect arrested after standoff
GOP overperforms in Virginia special election, fueling early momentum talk in blue-trending state
Senate Republicans side with Trump in second Iran war vote
As Dems Shill for Iran Against Trump, Reports Claim Iranian Security Is Raping Women So Badly That They Need Colostomy Bags and Hysterectomies
Watch: Senate Dem Turns to Conspiracy Theories When Markwayne Mullin Refuses to Play Her Games During Confirmation Hearing
MS Now Axes Part of ‘Morning Joe’ in Significant Shake-Up
Mullin committee vote could hinge on John Fetterman as Rand Paul vows to oppose
How Markwayne Mullin would lead DHS differently than Kristi Noem
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.
