Monday, April 6, 2020

Careful, dispassionate analysis is totally lacking in coronavirus panic

Careful, dispassionate analysis is totally lacking in coronavirus panic
Excerpt: When it comes to the coronavirus panic, what is needed now is a careful, dispassionate daily evaluation of the data. It is indisputable that we are in the midst of a worldwide panic of unprecedented proportions. When all is said and done, and understood, all the measures taken may indeed be seen as having been justified. But I think that unlikely. It's critically important that if data emerge — about lethality and extent of probable population penetration — that suggest that the socially, economically, and medically crushing measures taken so far are excessive and unnecessary, we allow that data to propel changes in those measures. We are going to be in deep trouble soon because of these measures, even if we stop or slow the virus. The panic is being fueled by irresponsible, uninformed, stupid, and sensationalized media coverage, along with politically motivated scare commentary. I read somewhere, for example, that now New York has had more deaths from the Wuhan virus than from the 9/11 attacks. So what? New York may also have had more deaths during the same period than from 9/11 anyway, as a result of annual flu or from heart attacks and strokes.

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