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.
Before-and-after satellite imagery offers a rare look at damage inside Iran
Police recover third device in ongoing Manhattan IED investigation after two arrests
Police swarm NYC street Sunday amid IED probe near Gracie Mansion
GOP senators push back against Schumer’s ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ description of SAVE Act
Officials confirm devices recovered at NYC protest near Gracie Mansion were both IEDs
NYPD confirms object thrown at protests near Gracie Mansion in Manhattan was an IED
Pro-Islam counterprotester arrested after deploying explosive device outside Mamdani residence
Trump warns Iran’s new leader won’t ‘last long’ without his approval
The unlikely tool Trump is eyeing to tackle rising oil prices amid the Iran conflict
Trump’s Name Will Be on the Tallest Tower in Australia as Trump’s Company Makes International Real Estate Move
Another ‘Day in the Life’ Video Shows Cushy Conditions at Tech Company
Trump vows block on signing new laws until SAVE America Act passes Senate
Hegseth Reveals What Happened to Trans Kindergarten Teacher Who Wore Wolf Tail Around Kids
Woke Christian Leaders Issue Letter Against Rise of ‘White Christian Nationalism’
State Department defends ‘proactive’ evacuation efforts against Dems’ claims of diplomatic chaos
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.
