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.
Fox News Poll: Democratic unity, Republican crossovers shape Ohio Senate race
Rubio warns risk of escalation in Russia-Ukraine war is ‘more real than it was two years ago’
Video: WNBA Punishes Brittney Griner for Manhandling Angel Reese in On-Court Clash
Former primary rival resurfaces to challenge scandal-plagued Graham Platner in Maine Senate race
‘A Lot of Complaints Had Been Made’: Henry Nowak’s Murderer Was Known to Cops, Had Been Arrested Previously, Never Charged
Detective arrested after allegedly pulling gun on fellow officer for microwaving fish at police station
Cold case of missing news anchor rocked by claim of confession in roadside meltdown: report
LATE BREAKING: ’60 Minutes’ Star Reporter Scott Pelley Fired After Mouthing Off to New Boss Chosen by Bari Weiss
WATCH: Rubio scorches claim Trump weighed finances in Iran decisions: ‘Not even for a millisecond’
Sex criminals, gang members abused child immigration program to enter US, DHS reveals
BREAKING VIDEO: UK Police Retreat as Brits Furious About Murder of Henry Nowak Take to Streets, Pelt Cops with Enormous Garbage Cans
Bessent clarifies threat against Bill Pulte: He said he was going to ‘kick his a**’
Aid group warns Ebola could have spread for three months before first cases were detected
Rubio grilled over Trump’s national security picks and foreign policy priorities: ‘It’s not funny, secretary’
Judge with intimate ties to Dem Party’s key Russia Hoax players behind latest anti-Trump decision
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.
