I will take the blame for making "political" statements. It is in times like this when the American public needs to be re-assured and not get mixed messages of what they are dealing with. Scientists say one thing, politicians something else. Whom do we believe?In the early stages of the virus making its way to the US, we got these conflicting messages:
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has provided information about how the novel coronavirus could affect the US.
www.sciencealert.com
As a travel ban takes effect and the public looks to the White House for guidance, their penchant for downplaying the coronavirus looms large.
www.businessinsider.com
Who to believe? Since there is no precedent for this, belief often depended on whom one believed and what news stations one watched. Instead of a united effort, there was immediate division, as there is with everything in this country. Rabid partisans, eager to make gains, came out with outrageous claims, from " This will be the greatest horror since the plague" to " It's a conspiracy, don't pay attention to it." Yet, the message remained divided. Of course science has speculated that most will not suffer any severe consequences. However, the vulnerable can see a much higher death rate than with other viruses:
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-ne...the-flu-but-they-have-one-big-thing-in-common.
We are now beginning to see a somewhat more unified message:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-national-emergency-on-coronavirus and that is good. In having the proper tests available, the carriers could be identified, rather than going on obliviously infecting others.
Will we recover? Of course we will. But we need to have cool heads who take these things seriously and not try to politicize the well-being of the people.