BOB2 Wrote:
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>Orange Man Bad blah blah blah


Trump is a buffoon but a primary reason he was elected is that many voters were fed up with the outsourcing way too much overseas. Wall Street and big corporations cutting too thin to the bone, running near max with little capacity for disruption. Because max profits. And now a pandemic is likely to kill many here because of it.

So many critical medical supplies are sourced overseas, mostly China, or the critical materials are.

The biggest death threat is not just the virus itself, but the overwhelming of medical facilities as cases surge. The latest WHO figures are that 5% of victims will need ICU stays, and an additional 10% will need oxygenation. For 3-6 weeks. There is nowhere near the hospital capacity for that.

The military and National Guard can set up MASH units, but we also don't have anywhere near enough equipment, masks, proper hazardous outfits, and other supplies. Outsourced to China, and no way to ramp up enough production in the US in the next 6 months. It will take a long time to do so in other countries, and they will prioritize their own needs first.

So many, not just CV victims, will die because of a lack of critical med supplies. And a shortage of med workers as many are forced into quarantine as a result of working through such shortages. With proper facilities and supplies the CV death rate could probably be kept under 3%, maybe under 1%. It depends on which strains end up predominating, one is mild, one is very potent, and others may emerge. But with the supply shortages, those will surely go higher. And every bed tied up for 2-6 weeks with CV patients freezes out those with other critical illnesses. April and May are going to be shocking.

That is why it is so important to ramp up testing and cancel mass events. To slow the spread and flatten out the surge curve of cases. To lower and spread out the number of cases instead of a huge sudden spike. Look at the 1918 flu. St. Louis immediately instituted restrictions on the public, Philly continued to hold a parade instead. Philly had a giant spike in their death rate, St. Louis's curve was much flatter and a fraction of Philly's death rate.

All because we had to max profits and outsource without maintaining enough domestic and diverse supply sources for potential emergencies. Government commissions have repeatedly warned about this for decades, but both parties ignored it for various short-term selfish interests.

That port asshat crying about tariffs that were attempts, effective or not, to start reversing some of the extreme outsourcing is a huge part of the problem. Another short term weasel that will have blood on his hands. Just one of many.

That same WHO report said the fatality rate for those over 80 is 15%. And many credible institutions and their lead physicians and scientists predict 40-70% of Americans will be exposed to some form of CV within the next year.

There are still too many that don't understand what is happening and what is coming.