As U.S. Sees COVID-19 Infections Spike, Some Worry About ‘Grave Errors’
Title: As U.S. Sees COVID-19 Infections Spike, Some Worry About ‘Grave Errors’
By Adam Smith
In the beginning, the few reports of a newly discovered virus seemed inconsequential and distant. The coronavirus was causing pneumonia in scores of people, but those patients were in a faraway province of China, Hubei, that most outside that nation had never heard of.
“There is no evidence that the new virus is readily spread by humans, which would make it particularly dangerous, and it has not been tied to any deaths” stated an article dated Jan. 8 in the New York Times. . .
. . .
But not everyone is quick to criticize the U.S. response. One such person is Dr. Henry I. Miller, who for many years worked at the Food and Drug Administration, including as an assistant to the commissioner for biotechnology, and currently is a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, which is described as a “free-market think tank.”
Dr. Miller noted mid-last week that “if it bleeds, it leads” tendencies of the media may have contributed to some fear over the virus, and stressed that the flu was a more immediate danger to most Americans.
Dr. Miller stressed commonsense preparedness among people — and vigorous hand washing — were important, as are the efforts nationally to contain the disease and pursue possible drug treatments aggressively, especially the trials of already-approved anti-viral drugs.
“And in spite of the political squabbling over how much new funding is enough, that’s not really an issue,” said Dr. Miller in an email to TheStreet. There’s “plenty” of emergency discretionary money at Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. . .
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