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The President said: "Case levels are high, but a lot of the case levels are high because of the fact that we have the best testing program anywhere in the world." That's gives the wrong impression of what is actually happening in the US. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-update-operation-warp-speed/ 1/x
The number of cases is high in the US not because we have good testing, but because we have a pandemic spreading out of control, exponentially in many places. 2/x
Cumulatively, the US has had more diagnosed cases and deaths from COVID than any country in the world. That by itself should be stunning enough and provoke national reflection and commitment to changing direction on this pandemic. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html 3/x
But what is as alarming now is what is coming. Hospitalization numbers are rising, people on ventilators are rising and the trend lines in many states show the epidemic accelerating https://covidtracking.com/data/national/hospitalization 4/x
And we have 42 new cases per day per 100,000 people nationally, among the highest incidence of new cases in the world (only 25 countries doing worse in that regard). 5/x https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html
The number of Americans dying from COVID is rapidly rising now too, with >1,300 people dying every day from COVID in 3 of the last 4 days. 6/x
People aren't getting hospitalized, intubated or dying in higher and rising numbers from COVID because we are just testing more. Its because the disease is slipping further out of control. 7/x
What is in acute need now is hard truths from national and state leaders. They need to be honest and accurate w/ the public, or many, many people may be falsely reassured, confused, and continue to take risks that put their lives and those in their communities in danger. 8/x
Yes its true that the vaccine news seems very promising. If the efficacy and safety data hold up, and if there are enough doses to vaccinate 20M Americans by end 2020 that will be an huge important step forward. But it will not protect us or decrease dangers in the near term. 9/x
It will take many months, if all goes well, for the vaccine to start getting to all high risk groups, let alone to most of the country. In the meantime, this virus can cause an extraordinary amount of illness and death. 10/x
Which is all why it matters so much when leaders mislead by saying its just that we are doing a lot of testing. What's happening is not just more testing. Some people have lost their lives, and many more will if they believe that is all that is happening. 11/x
More important than ever to wear masks, avoid gatherings, physically distance. And for governors to put in place measures and restrictions needed to slow the pandemic - e.g. shut indoor restaurants, bars, churches; limit gatherings, improve ventilation, mask mandates, et al 12/x
Decisions that national+state leaders make now will have huge consequence before most of the public can be vaccinated. History will record what happens, hopefully will show leaders turning increasingly to decisions that save the most lives and are in best interest of all. 13/end
