Out of 419 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, one is the wife of the prime minister. Likewise the wife of the Spanish prime minister has the disease.
Of 377 cases in Australia, 2 are Tom Hanks and his wife.
The probability this happening by random chance is miniscule. The risks of testing positive for the disease must be 1000s of times higher for them than for the average person.
Is this because the rich and famous have easier access to testing?
Or does the lifestyle of travel and entertaining many people from different places mean they are more prone to getting the disease?
Many media reports were originally dismissive of the risks and took that position that travel bans or “social distancing” were unnecessary and suggested they were racist and/or xenophobic. Now the media reports are bordering on hysteria about the government not doing enough to stop the disease.
Do you think that the change is because journalists now personally know people who are infected and may be worried about contracting the disease themselves?
You’re right. Many right wing media groups were very dismissive of the risks. Called it a hoax and said it was the flu and the common cold. Why would they do that?
Hell, just yesterday Devin Nunes said everyone should go out with their families to restaurant and local pubs.
sorry you think it’s xenophobic. fortunately most of the media has been pretty straight forward about the threat and possible effects of COVID-19. It’s a shame that a portion of the population chose to ignore and mock those stories. It’s also a shame that others in the media led a disinformation campaign to run cover for their favorite politician.
Containment will never be complete because by the time you realize you have to contain…someone is going to slip through the containment net.
Social distancing is mitigation. At the point you are practicing social distancing, containment has failed. The earlier you start practicing it, the less draconian it has to be.
The travel ban would have been fine…except it had a gazillion holes.
Because it had a gazillion holes, all it did was slow the spread down to give us more time to mitigate.
Which we failed to do in any effective way.
Hence the massive mitigation we are going to have to do now.
Trudeau isn’t a journalist and that article show no dismissing the threat. Can you site some journalists who were dismissive of the risks of COVID-19 like you stated in your OP?
No no you have it all backwards man. This is just the Chinese flu and exactly like Chicken Pox. We want more people to get it, not less. After all, chances are if you’re over 70, you’ll only get it once.
No it isn’t targeting anyone, those who travel the most internationally and have the most contact with people traveling internationally are naturally going to be disproportionately affected vs those who do not.
Here’s an example story that repeated the misleading idea that the flu is much more dangerous than the coronavirus:
The NY Post reviewed (over)reactions from media and politicians to Trump’s ban on travel from China:
“This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia — hysterical xenophobia — and fearmongering,” said Biden the day after the travel restrictions were imposed.
the journalist is reporting what an epidemiologist said.
as pointed out in another thread, that Biden quote is snipped and its context changed. But, if Biden at the time believed the travel ban was a bad idea then he was and still is wrong.
