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.
Putin swears there won’t be mass mobilization, accuses Ukraine of ‘state terrorism’
Grandmother, Fiancé Turned Semi-Truck into Rolling Dungeon, Imprisoned 4 Children for 6 Nightmarish Years: Cops
Trump says Iranians won’t rise up because ‘they’re being shot’ and refuses to say if CIA would aid protesters
Sheriff suing Maryland says sanctuary laws ignore lessons of 9/11: ‘Stupidity at its best’
Salena Zito’s Butler to begin filming this month, revisiting a day of trauma and loss
Republicans fail to ease one of Trump’s greatest fears as Supreme Court measure collapses
Breaking: Judge Sends Lindsay Clancy Jurors a ‘Dynamite Charge’ as They Report Second Deadlock
Spanberger’s ICE restrictions dealt major setback as judge warns other blue states
Coast Guard plane with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on board makes emergency landing after engine failure
What is a Tuey-Rodriguez charge? Judge gives instruction to deadlocked Lindsay Clancy jury
Where Tunnel to Towers’ Steel Across America tour will stop ahead of 9/11
Longtime ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Announcer Suspended from Show Months After Commercial Flight Led to Police Probe
Newly Uncovered Arrest Records: Democratic Congressional Candidate Slapped Man at MLB Game, Swallowed Crack in Front of Cops
House GOP flexes campaign cash advantage with ad barrage after Supreme Court ruling
Platner’s replacement faces new Senate campaign headache tied to his son’s lobbying
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.
