Sunday, January 17, 2021

Why America Should Look To China To Contain COVID-19, by William A. Haseltine

 Since the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, American news media has been rife with stories about how China handled – or according to many of the reports, mishandled – the initial outbreak. The most recent is a story in the New York Times, A Year After Wuhan, China Tells a Tale of Triumph (and No Mistakes). On the surface, it is the story of China’s “whitewashing” of the early days of the pandemic. But simmering just below is an unmistakable sentiment of anti-Chinese propaganda.

There is some truth to the picture the Times story paints, as there is to other stories that point out missteps by the Chinese government in the early days. But beyond the grains of truth the story serves as an attack on how the Chinese handled the Covid-19 pandemic and avoids the ultimate reality: Despite experiencing the world’s first major epidemic, China has controlled Covid-19 since mid-spring better than almost any other country, snuffing out sporadic outbreaks that enter from a Covid-19 riddled world.


Forbes

Why America Should Look To China To Contain COVID-19, by William A. Haseltine




18 comments:

Peter Pan said...

America could also look to Atlantic Canada.

hoonose said...

With tens of millions of Covid deniers here, IMO we will have to stick with our half azz remedy. The bulk of our people will do what is best for others, along with vaccines. Vaccines which can be created so much faster now. IMO flattening curves is about all we can hope for before the vaccines take hold.

Peter Pan said...

Vaccines which are symptom suppressants won't flatten the curve, so to speak. It's just a way to get to herd immunity without the fragile health care system being overwhelmed. Best of all, its great for making profit. There are several new billionaires, just from having created the current crop of vaccines.

Now we're hearing about new strains that are more contagious. It appears that lockdown strategies have selected for those strains. Congratulations!

lastgreek said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lastgreek said...

Dr. William Haseltine's scientific writings (on the vaccines, covid, etc.) can be found here:

https://www.williamhaseltine.com/writings/

Also, his autobiography has just been published. I look forward to reading it:

My Lifelong Fight Against Disease: From Polio and AIDS to COVID-19

https://www.amazon.com/My-Lifelong-Fight-Against-Disease/dp/1645438368


Brilliant -- just bloody brilliant medical scientist with an all-round education (fluent in French).

Trivia: An American, sure, but he's 10th generation Scottish :)

----------------------------

"America could also look to Atlantic Canada."

He uses China as a prime example on how to control the virus. I think the reason why I haven't heard him mention Atlantic Canada is because since he's speaking/writing to mainly an American audience, he knows that most Americans, sadly, have probably never heard of Atlantic Canada and with only a vague idea where Canada is.

Peter Pan said...

The title says "contain". Taiwan could be the gold standard for actual containment.

What China did is what should be done when facing a pathogen of unknown severity. Which is the situation that they found themselves in.

Peter Pan said...

*was*

Do Americans know where New Zealand is?
Another control success story.

Peter Pan said...

If North America had shut down international travel in January, the whole continent might have been a success story.

lastgreek said...

I have cousins in New Zealand :)

did you know that the population of the world can all fit snugly in New Zealand?

Peter Pan said...

I know I'm not a sardine.

Matt Franko said...

“If North America had shut down international travel in January,“

It was already here before that....

Peter Pan said...

Evidence please...

Matt Franko said...

In poop in Italy

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53106444


In blood in US:

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/press-release/2020/study-suggests-possible-new-covid-19-timeline-in-the-us.html


Peter Pan said...

In bats in China

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/health/2021/01/16/covid-one-year-anniversary-unknowns-remain-coronavirus-origins/6582961002/

If China had been forthcoming, that would push the first warnings back to Nov/Dec 2019.

lastgreek said...

William Haseltine @WmHaseltine Jan 16

“Haseltines fought in every American war from the French and Indian War to Korea. Dad himself was a military scientist in the Cold War against the Soviet Union..."

This is an excerpt from my recently published autobiography,

Greg said...

“did you know that the population of the world can all fit snugly in New Zealand?”


Yes, but it would be quite snug, about 20x20 per person, but if we moved everyone to Texas they could have 1000 sqft per person or 4000 sqft for a family of four

Matt Franko said...

If we can finally get some global warming we could move north...

Ahmed Fares said...

We're building a wall.