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.
Arizona Republican holds House seat, surviving re-election scare
White House doubles down after Trump angers base by floating illegal alien deal with Dems
Hakeem Jeffries’ Speakership Hopes Take a Blow as Newly Elected Democrats Bring Chaos on Their First Day in D.C.
Three Former Trump Admin Officials Launch $1 Billion Company That Puts a New Spin on Data Centers
Spanish prime minister calls meeting over ‘migration emergency’ as thousands surge into Canary Islands
Two people arrested after vehicle crashes into sidewalk near White House
Secret Service arrests two after car crash and barricade breach outside White House
Trump’s Sudden Reversal on Immigration Sparks Cries of ‘Betrayal’ from Conservatives, Cheers from Pro-Amnesty GOP Rep.
Kathy Hochul entertains massive political promotion as Democrats look ahead to 2028
Multiple Senate Republicans Throw a Wrench in John Thune’s Bid to Retain Leadership Spot
Bombshell Video – Trump Retreats on Deportations: ICE Operations ‘Too Tough,’ Deporting Millions ‘Pretty Far Right’
Bombshell Video – Trump Retreats on Deportations: ICE Operations ‘Too Tough,’ Deporting Millions ‘Pretty Far Right’
GOP faces daunting post-election test as grip on Congress nears end and more top headlines
Nvidia is ALL-IN on ‘Accelerated AI’
Nvidia is ALL-IN on ‘Accelerated AI’
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.
