On Monday, April 13, 2020 at 9:37:39 AM UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 4/13/2020 9:10 AM, Its Me wrote:


The social distancing was/is to flatten the curve. To stretch out the infection over a longer period of time, as you have pointed out.

So now Fauci, who said on Jan 26th that the US didn't need to worry about Corona, is backtracking and saying that earlier distancing would have saved lives. This guy seems to be in political cover-his-ass mode.



I don't know if he's trying to cover his ass or not. My impression of
him is that he just analyzes data through the myopic view of a
scientist.

I came across a timeline written by someone else that I think is a
fair historical summary of the early stages of all this. Plenty of
mistakes were made:

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

Dec. 1: The first known patient

Dec. 30: Dr. Li Wenliang, at Wuhan Central Hospital, warned
colleagues about a cluster of patients being treated for
viral pneumonia

Dec. 31: China alerted the WHO of a spate of illnesses in
Wuhan, China.

Jan. 1: China shut down the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market
in Wuhan.

Jan. 10: The genetic sequence of the isolated coronavirus
was shared.

Jan. 11: The first death was reported.

Jan 14: (WHO) repeated China’s claim that coronavirus was
not contagious among humans

Jan. 20: The first human-to-human transmission was reported
by a Chinese expert.

Jan 22: Trump said, "we have it totally under control.
It’s one person coming in from China, and we
have it under control. It’s going to be just fine."

Jan 23: Chinese authorities implemented a strict nationwide
travel ban, but allowed International flights.

Jan 24: Bill de Blasio said, “We urge all New Yorkers to
continue to pursue their everyday activities and
routines”

Jan 25: Good Morning America:
"People should be more concerned right now with the
flu in this country."

Jan 26: New York City’s health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris
Barbot said, “We are encouraging New Yorkers to
go about their everyday lives... those “who had
recently traveled from Wuhan were not being urged
to self-quarantine or avoid large public gatherings.”

Jan. 30: The WHO declared a public health emergency of international
concern.

Feb 1: President Trump instilled China travel ban. New York
City had its first suspected case of coronavirus.

Feb 2: NYC health commissioner Bardot “As we gear up to
celebrate the Lunar New Year in NYC, I want to
assure New Yorkers that there is no reason for anyone
to change their holiday plans, avoid the subway, or
certain parts of the city because of coronavirus.”

Feb 4: China’s consul general in New York, Huang Ping,
thanked the Chinese-American community and other
concerned Americans on Tuesday for their aid in
battling the coronavirus outbreak, and criticized
what he described as “an overreaction by the
American government in severely restricting travel
to and from China.”

Feb 5: New York Times "Who says it's not safe to travel
to China? The coronavirus travel ban is unjust
and doesn't work anyway." NYC Health Commissioner
Barbot on Twitter, “Today our city is celebrating
the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown... I want
to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not
change any plans due to misinformation spreading
about coronavirus.”

Feb 6: Bardot: “The important thing for New Yorkers to
know is that in the city currently, their risk is
low and our city preparedness is high...We’re
telling New Yorkers, go about your lives, take the
subway, go out, enjoy life. . . If it were likely
that it could be transmitted casually, we would be
seeing a lot more cases.”

Feb 9: Chinatown in New York City held its annual Lunar
New Year parade. Surgical masks were nearly absent
from this parade. Councilman Mark D. Levine on
Twitter, “In powerful show of defiance of coronavirus
scare, huge crowds gathering in NYC’s Chinatown for
ceremony ahead of annual Lunar New Year parade. Chants
of ‘Be Strong Wuhan!’ If you are staying away, you are
missing out.”

Feb 12: The House Judiciary Committee on voted, 22-10, to
terminate President Trump's expanded travel ban and
rein in presidential authority to issue such
travel restrictions.

Feb 13: New York City Council speaker Corey Johnson “It is
important to support the Chinese community in New
York City...There is no need to avoid public spaces.
I urge everyone to dine and shop as usual.”

Bill de Blasio: "This should not stop you from
going about your life. It should not stop you
from going to Chinatown and going out to eat. I am
going to do that today myself.”

Feb 25: Dr. Anthony Fauci “You need to do nothing different
than you’re already doing"

Feb. 26: In a press conference, President Trump said the risk
to Americans remains low.

Feb 28: A German team of doctors in Wuhan, China, “we discovered
that shedding of potentially infectious virus may
occur in persons who have no fever and no signs or
only minor signs of infection.”

Feb 29: The Food and Drug Administration declared that other
labs besides their own could develop their own
coronavirus tests.

March 1: Health officials announced the first confirmed case
in New York.


March 2: Governor Andrew Cuomo: “In this situation, the facts
defeat fear, because the reality is reassuring...
The woman who has now tested positive, she’s at home,
she’s not even in a hospital, so the perspective here
is important. And the facts, once you know the facts,
once you know the reality, it is reassuring, and we
should relax, because that’s what’s dictated by the
reality of the situation. I get the emotion, I
understand; I understand the anxiety. I’m a
native-born New Yorker, we live with anxiety.
But the facts don’t back it up here. . . . What
happened in other countries versus what happened here,
we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was
in other countries.”


Good timeline and info.

I don't necessarily think that Fauci is nakedly political. He's obviously a bright guy and very successful. But he's been the director of the government agency NIAID since 1984... 36 years. I doubt you can do that without having a excellent political compass.