All of that turned out to be a technocratic illusion when Nature set loose a terrible disease; it took advantage of the very connectivity we have manufactured. In Seattle the day of reckoning was January 20th when America’s first patient tested positive for Covid-19. On that same day in Seoul the first case in South Korea would also be confirmed. Korea moved quickly to contain the disease and save its economy using a variation using a variation on an American plan. But in the United States politics got in the way of science allowing the virus to spread invisibly and fast. Totally Under Control: Trump and Covid-19, BBC 2020
In early 2020 Trump was indifferent to the looming pandemic. ibid.
‘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.’ ibid. Trump, interview World Economic Forum
At the first briefing they announced no concrete programmes to contain the virus inside the borders of the United States. Instead, they offered a variation on a familiar Trump refrain – build a wall. ibid.
We knew in early February, but Federal officials refused to recognise, only a vast infrastructure for mass testing could spot and contain a virus that was moving invisibly across the country. ibid.
Under the booming economic wave was an invisible undertow of disease. By early February economic models indicate there were thousands of cases spreading through Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and New York. ibid.
‘Yeah, we’re very much involved, very cognizant of everything going on, we have it very much under control.’ ibid. Trump, pre-India trip
Because the US failed to control the virus, state governments moved to lockdowns to avoid runaway contagion and to stop hospitals becoming overwhelmed. ibid.
Because test kits were in short supply, access was limited to patients who were dangerous close to respiratory failure – the death rate began to rise. ibid.
‘Anyone who wants a test can get a test.’ ibid. Trump
Trump: Frankly, the testing has been going very smoothly …
cf.
Fauci: The system is not really geared to what we need right now. That is a failing …
cf.
Trump: No, I’m not taking responsibility at all. I’m doing a great job. ibid. press conference
Worried about the economy, Trump tried to limit lockdowns but the virus was out of control. By April over 3,000 New Yorkers had died, surpassing the death toll of 9/11. ibid.
Or was driving up the price [PPE] the whole point? ibid.
‘The US government was handing a huge amount of business to these five companies that were chosen fairly arbitrarily.’ ibid. critic
‘At all stages we have been guided by the science.’ Lockdown 1.0 – Following the Science? Boris, BBC 2020
When Coronavirus arrived in Britain the government made one thing clear. But Britain has ended up with one of the worst death rates in the world. Coronavirus has killed more than 50,000 people. So how good was the scientific advice the government relied on in the run-up to the first lockdown? Did the scientists fail or did they become the scapegoats for Britain’s high death rate? ibid.
As the virus spreads beyond China the UK government calls an emergency meeting of its expert advisers: New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group. NERVTAG includes some of Britain’s leading scientists. ibid.
A woman with the virus flies into Britain; she passes through the airport undetected. ibid.
NERVTAG says the risk is low. NERVTAG’s advice is used by the government to reassure the public. ibid.
Every virus tells a story. If you look hard enough, it’ll tell you where it’s been and where it’s going. In 2020 our world changed. A deadly virus that spread like wildfire. Experts knew it was coming. They tried to warn us. The experts knew because they had seen it happen: in 2014 the largest Ebola outbreak in history burned through west Africa. A sluggist global response led to catastrophe. Feulled by denial. Now history is repeating itself on a much larger scale. The fear is back as well. Going Viral: Covid-19, National Geographic 2020
In 1976 a deadly illness erupted in a remote province of Zaire … horrifying symptoms followed by a agonising death … Suddenly, the nightmare ended and no-one knew why … Epidemiologists named it Ebola Zaire. ibid.
In January 2020 health authorities worldwide were keeping a watchful eye on the virus that was killing people in China and spreading to other countries at an alarming rate. ibid.
China lab leak is the ‘most credible’ source of the coronavirus outbreak, says top US government official, amid bombshell claims Wuhan scientist has turned whistleblower.
Donald Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger spoke – Mr Pottinger told politicians leak is emerging as ‘most credible source’ of virus – He claimed the pathogen may have escaped through a ‘leak or an accident’.
America's most senior government officials says the most ‘credible’ theory about the origin of coronavirus is that is escaped from a laboratory in China.
Matthew Pottinger, who is President Donald Trump respected Deputy National Security Adviser, told politicians from around the world that even China’s leaders now openly admit their previous claims that the virus originated in a Wuhan market are false.
Mr Pottinger said that the latest intelligence points to the virus leaking from the top-secret Wuhan Institute of Virology, 11 miles from the market, saying: ‘There is a growing body of evidence that the lab is likely the most credible source of the virus.’
He claimed the pathogen may have escaped through a ‘leak or an accident’, adding: ‘Even establishment figures in Beijing have openly dismissed the wet market story.’ Mail online article 2 January 2021, Abul Taher
‘There are a continual flow of new viruses that emerge. Viruses reproduce many thousands of times and many millions of times each. And when there’s such rapid evolution of a virus there’s the opportunity for it to change and shift. That is the nature of these Coronaviruses that have been circulating among animals for millennia.’ Outbreak: The Virus that Shook the World, Professor Pilay, UCL, ITV 2021
‘What is very rare is for one of these viruses to actually take hold in humans.’ ibid. expert
‘We are ready, we are ready, totally ready.’ ibid. Trump
Decades ago a new virus probably evolved in a bat cave like this one. That virus would soon multiply, killing more than two million people and counting. We know it today as Covid-19. The closest genetic match yet found to Covid-19 comes from a virus from a horseshoe bat found in southern China. ibid.
20 January 2020: The deadly infectiousness of the new Coronavirus in Wuhan had finally been publicly admitted to the world. ibid.
Human rights groups have reported people being detained, jailed or simply disappearing after searching out the truth. ibid.
From mid to late January it was detected in 25 countries, mostly in Asia. ibid.
A week after Wuhan had been locked down, the virus had officially arrived in the UK. ibid.
Within a month, 25,000 patients were discharged into care homes. There was no mandatory testing. ibid.
Human rights groups have reported people being detained, jailed or simply disappearing after searching out the truth. ibid.
From mid to late January it was detected in 25 countries, mostly in Asia. ibid.
A week after Wuhan had been locked down, the virus had officially arrived in the UK. ibid.
20 February 2020: ‘So far we have lost nobody to Coronavirus in the United States.’ Nobody. ibid. Trump
Research has shown that super-spreader events played a huge role in the global spread of Covid-19. ibid.
31 March 2020: global deaths – 40,636. ibid.
By the year’s end, the virus across much of the western world was reigniting, and in some places mutating into even more infectious strains. ibid.
Many people lost their precious lives. How did this happen? Who caused this great human catastrophe? This World: 54 Days: China and the Pandemic, son lost father, BBC 2021
On 23 January 2020 the Chinese government announced a lockdown in the city of Wuhan. But for at least seven weeks before that, the virus had been spreading throughout China. ibid. captions
Labs across the country were secretly racing to map the complete genetic sequence of the new virus. ibid.
Health workers had been forbidden from talking to international media about the virus. ibid.
Neither Wuhan officials nor the Chinese Central Government have specifically answered for why they were still downplaying the outbreak and allowing these mass gatherings and travel. ibid.