Hello, Australian here. It's not quite as rosy a picture as it looks, but it's certainly better than it could have been. Emergency supplies that have been stockpiled for years are being released to clinics and hospitals, and those who need to get tested can, in most cases. Testing is free. Treatment is free. We're heeding the warning signs. Concerts, the Grand Prix and other events have been cancelled or postponed.
It's not been a perfect response by any stretch but it's sure been a lot better than it could have been. And while it's taking it's toll economically, at least our treatment is free.
8
Sitting on the other side of the world, I am a little confused.
We have free health care, and legislated provision of 10 days paid sick leave per year, on top of our 20 days per year paid holiday leave.
That means that if you are feeling ill, you go to the free doctor, get the free test, then stay home and recover while being paid without the risk of infecting your workmates.
As a result, Australia has tested 12,000 people (out of a population of 24.5 million), with just over 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
It looks like the number in the US are 1,700 people tested, with 1,100 confirmed cases, out of a population of 329 million.
Doing the math, if the infection rate of sick people who can't be tested in the US is the same as the infection rate in Australia (100/12,000 = 8.3%), then the US would have 1,100 / 8.33% = 13,205 infections.
With over 90% of recent infections in Australia over the past week linked to US travel, I wonder when the Australian government will ban people from the US.
I think Tom Hanks might be right - "Houston, we have a problem".
9
Australia first got universal health care under the 1972 socialist government of Gough Whitlam. Yep, that's right. Socialist. And proud of it. He swept to power after 23 years of conservative rule. Parliament wasn't due to sit after the election, so he formed a cabinet with his deputy, ended Vietnam conscription, decriminalised conscientious objection, and removed sales tax on contraception. How evil, eh? Well, I was the youngest of 6 in a single parent family, my mum grew up out west in the depression and never went to school, but I had a free university education. The conservatives promised to keep the universal healthcare brand, Medibank, won the next election, and privatised it (i.e. they lied). 7 years later, in 1983, a centre left government was elected, and Medicare, the new universal heathcare system, was born. It has remained ever since. They also reformed tax and deregulated the economy, including industrial relations - all the thing
To give the conservatives their due, they introduced tough gun laws and a buyback after the massacre of 35 people in 1996 by a madman.
I've always admired but never understood the USA. I saw a bartender produce her pay slip on TV, it showed she earned $2.13 per hour, and then she showed the tax she paid. What? I still don't understand. Here you earn $20,000 pa before you pay a cent of income tax.
10
The article and comments I have read so far haven't mentioned it, but from other media, Trump has personally been in contact with at least 3 people who have tested positive.
What does he do? He refuses to be tested, and carries on with his meetings, reportedly still shaking hands.
Is this his idea of leadership setting a positive example?
11
Given the current low rates of infection in USA and Australia it is more lkey that Hanks picked it up from a surface on the plane whch would have been 'cleaned' but not santized.
It occurs to me that the US already has the health system it fears “socialized” care will bring — with waiting times for basic procedures, lack of choice, and excessive red tape.
7
Aj Minnesota- The Australian criteria have been greatly relaxed now . Testing is very widely available, and free.
The NY times could take great advantage of Tom Hanks and his wife's situation, by bringing USA readers' attention to our superior private health system- we do not only have Medicare for All , with free choice of doctors,:
we also can have private health insurance, that is national, not state based, and is arranged by an individual making totally free market / interstate commerce choices, not arranged by our employers. We can change jobs, move interstate multiple times every year if we wanted, and still retain the same TRANSPORTABLE policy/coverage with the SAME company.
Americans do NOT know what a free market health insurance system looks like! So much for our democratic socialism in Aus.
Like the Nordic countries, we're willing to view society as "we're all in the same boat"- not "each one for themselves".
Godspeed to Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson!
5
My boss in Aus went to the doctor today and was asked to forego a test "for now" because of no contact. He's isolating himself but testing is still backlogged as they ramp up.
It's definitely pathetic in this country, Medieval style approach to medical care. Great doctors, nurses and hospitals but completely backwards with regard to preventive medicine. Not to mention the strangle hold that drug companies have on the medical field and the massive profits they make - but where is the help when we need it most? The sad thing is that most Americans don't understand how they are being severely ripped off in terms of medical care and medicines unless they have loved abroad. You do to want to be seriously sick in this country.
3
I'm certainly not worried about Tom Hanks. If he can survive after Turner & Hooch he can survive anything.
3
I am a dual Australian and U.S. citizen and have lived in both countries. There is no doubt that universal healthcare can make a huge difference in slowing the spread of a pandemic. However, please note that in contrast with the thorough planning and dedicated response of Australian medical professionals, the federal government under PM Morrison is lacking. Two examples:
-Government advice which is now enshrined in law (with huge fines and jail time if ignored) to self isolate if you have symptoms is not practical for one third of the workforce who are casual employees and have no paid sick leave. No work = no rent
-PM has not announced social distancing measures such as cancelling large sporting events, in fact he made a point of saying he is "going to the footy this weekend and looking forward to it."
Even wealthy OECD countries with universal healthcare cannot cope with a sudden, high volume of admissions to hospitals.
When governments drag their feet on containment and delay measures to fight a pandemic, the infection rates rise in a steep bell curve and the health system becomes overwhelmed.
Australian GPs and other health professionals are asking the government for guidance for managing suspected cases and ensuring their own safety. in treating all patients but the specialised Covid-19 clinics and isolation facilities will not be open until May!
All of this means Australia is actually behind the curve, despite tests being free and more accessible than in the U.S.
1
I went to my doctor (in Sydney) three weeks ago, when Australia had a handful of cases. While there I witnessed first hand a conversation between two doctors about the options for providing care to a patient who had called about a cold & had recently travelled. They had a game plan, had already worked out isolation and containment protocols in the practice and had options to send patients to a Corona Virus clinic set up at a public hospital for testing and observation. They seemed well prepared. Made me really proud to see the care and preparations these first responders had already taken to be ready. It also made me feel worried for the health of any health practitioner. Needless to say, as the virus encroaches on our lives, medical costs are simply not an issue in Australia.
8
Glad i'm living in Australia with what i consider to be the best health care system in the world. I've lived in the UK, which for some unknown reason, often gets 'Best Healthcare' accolades, and find the Aussie system far, far superior. I was at my Medical Centre a couple of times over the last few days, seeing my GP, getting blood tests for Shingles, getting a CT scan, (same day ! just walked down the street, no appointment required ) and a chest x-ray, chucked in as i'm 50 and used to smoke, All done by private health operators. No paperwork required. Just hand them my Medicare card. No charges. All results back in 3 days. . . and all good ! Anyone here that wants to can get private insurance and health care, but most prefer the Medicare system . . .
13
Best medical system in the world right here!!! Right guys?!?!
3
It’s already everywhere.
It has moved as fast and as far as a jet can travel, ever since the Wuhan outbreak. So worldwide. TO think otherwise is to be naive.
With so few testing kits there is little probability of certainty - other than after the fact reporting.
It’s already everywhere.
It has moved as fast and as far as a jet can travel, ever since the Wuhan outbreak. So worldwide. TO think otherwise is to be naive.
With so few testing kits there is little probability of certainty - other than after the fact reporting.
How about the fact that the entire population of Australia is LESS than Texas? Of course it’s easier to manage a crisis like this there. You cannot compare any aspect of what happens in Australia with the US. My lord.
2
Well, I was a tourist in Australia when I suffered significant injuries, including broken bones. I found the Australian healthcare system to be outstanding, especially when compared with the paltry care I received in the US when I returned, and we had good insurance. You might want to take care, when you lambast a health system about which you obviously know nothing.
10
Think of it another way. We have the population of Texas spread out on a continent the size of the US. Despite the costs of the tyranny of distance, our systems do an excellent job. Why not Look for reasons to get things done, not reasons for inaction. You know, like when your ancestors built Hoover Dam and landed a man on the moon.
11
And it’s summer, the warm months, in Australia...so, Donald, perhaps we won’t be saved by April in the US after all.
4
Our US citizen celebrity goes across the globe and gets a Coronavirus test, but US citizens her could not. Criteria?
Go figure.
2
If anyone thinks Tom Hanks could not have got himself tested in the US, with his money and power, they're suffering from more than the Coronavirus. If you think you might have it, act as if you do, and self quarantine. This is the US, we'll selfishly demand a test even if we are a thirty year old healthy individual with a slight cold because that's the society we live in now. That's why the CDC doesn't want to test anyone who requests one. And why does Fox News act like it doesn't exist and MSNBC act like it's worse than Ebola and the Plague's love child? Both are reprehensible. Report on it accurately with no bias. And why haven't 20k flu deaths received coverage? That's an insane number of deaths. Practice social isolation, and don't be surprised or panic when you or people you know get it, because it's highly likely to happen, and highly likely you'll recover quickly. We all need to act unselfishly, though, to prevent the most vulnerable folks from getting it. Isolate now and when/if you get it. You don't need to get that Starbucks if you don't feel well, and SoulCycle will be there when you feel better. If you think you have it, assume you do, and take the steps recommended by the CDC. The CDC has the smartest people in the world. All this is just my opinion. If you disagree, you have a right to your opinion. Both have a place in a civilized society. All grammatical/spelling errors are my own.
1
I just saw a tweet posted 17 hours ago, so around 10pm:
"Sanja Gupta just had Don Lemon read the CDC's coronavirus testing stats off of his phone:
Zero tests conducted today by CDC.
A grand total of 8 tests conducted by other public health agencies across the country.
Eight."
2
Dear Australians: Please take good care of the Hankses (we like them a lot) and yourselves. Thank you for being prepared the way we should have been.
6
Could this mean that the virus is not a hoax? Goodness, this likely won't just disappear in April.
George Carlin is in a better place looking down on us.
Pray to Mother Teresa the patron saint of pain and agony.
Chiefs sure looked good,
Colorado, just today, is providing one drive through test facility—FREE—in Denver. I love Colorado.
2
We live inside the Schengen area that Mr. Trump blamed for the Covid-19 virus spread. He is responsible for dismantling the agency called The Directorate for Global Health & Bio Defense.
This was the pandemic preparedness agency.
A California Republican congressman brought the Americans on board the quarantined cruise ship back to California! with inadequate training for staff or plan for reintegration into the population.
In France testing is free and available. The French president is presenting a coordinated national plan, closing schools and setting up day care for the children for medical professionals , care workers , and front line defense workers nation wide. Health care workers and scientists are working tirelessly with great compassion. The US president has no empathy and even less comprehension leaving all Americans in peril. He only acts in self interest and the interests of his well-healed -white-mob of wise-guys, Republican elites, and wealthy donors. France works together they are generous efficient and compassionate, the American president is not working, he is Incompetent, Corrupt, and Impeached!
4
We
wish a prompt recovery to them. We need to watch many more movies with their great talent.
1
Another option is that everyone can begin "misrepresenting the truth" to medical staff and say they've been to China and Italy recently. It seems we've come to a point in our American lives that we have to start playing games and manipulating the system in order to be safe.
The programmatic nature of the 'cornavirus' has so obviously given away its institutional pedigree, that it has lost its credibility, other than as a viral cognitive memetic.
2
Blame it on Trump's America First / Made in America policies. WHO test kits weren't made in America, so we didn't take them up on their offer to give them to us. Look where you have taken us, Mr. President!
7
I returned from a trip to Mexico thru airports in NY and MA, and 3 days later came down will all the symptoms. Because it wasn’t china or italy, or direct contact with an infected person, I could not get tested. Doc and hospital said they have the kits available, just following CDC guidelines. I just figured out I want thru Logan a day after the Biogen conference, which has unleashed the largest number of cases in MA. CDC rules need to be changed and soon!!
8
We may learn too late that Medicare for all was an excellent idea.
10
@Karen DeVito
It’s not too late, Karen. A single payer healthcare system, or a close version of it similar to Germany, Canada, or the UK, is totally possible BUT what people forget, it is NOT going to happen overnight! And it is not only ONE person’s vision, Obama, well, he furthered it with The Affordable Care Act, but really the Clintons, Bill AND Hillary, started it, and the quest continues.
All these other countries took YEARS to make it happen and I believe we are in the midst of our own “happening” right now but just can’t see it for the birthing pains...
3
@Sandra Canada has had it since 1962. It happened quite swiftly then. And yes, the GOP stomped on the ACA but it is there.
I'm familiar with its long history, but the discussion is LONG over in other countries. The US lags behind.
5
As much as a Canadian model sounds great, the US really should be public/private. Public to provide sufficient basic care for the poor, and private for those who want to pay for extra benefits.
It works (mostly) in Australia.
There will never be a successful system in the US that doesn't have a way to pay for extra benefits.
4
Feel fortunate to be here in Colorado where Gov. Polis has helped established drive thru testing in Denver and is in the processes of setting up station in the ski areas for residents in the mountains. Yes, one needs to be directed by a doctor to get it but at least it is available.
This pandemic is going to be handled not on the Federal level, shame, but on the State and Local level. We have to do this for ourselves and it just shows again how important our LOCAL leader, mayors, governors, are in our day to day lives.
What the Fed government needs to do is at least give resources in money, to the states to support the front line fight.
Forget guidance from the Trump administration, the man is a clown, and his administration is the clown car.
4
Very organized and efficient here in Ontario, Canada.
Quick assessments - by phone or internet. In person if needed. No cost or wait.
Directed to a clinic rather than emerg, unless very sick
Daily updates which are informative and quite firm
Usual panic buying of sanitizer and disinfectant
Our prime minister has had to self quarantine
Reassured governor of NY is taking this so seriously
Streets and shops quiet, events cancelled, businesses moving to home offices. Hunkering down. We worry because it seems to chaotic down there. Best
5
The number of tests performed in Canada quoted here (642) is incorrect. The province of Ontario alone has conducted over 4,000 tests so the nationwide number is much higher than 642.
2
So, in the USA, one should just travel to Australia to get tested.
7
Perhaps tile should be "Tom Hanks was Diagnosed with Corona virus in Australia where Testing is Widely Available". Otherwise, fake news?
Australia also has banned assault rifles and has a minimum wage of $15 dollars an hour. The bad news is that they have a climate change denier in charge. You can't win them all.
6
@Keith Dow. Well at least their PM followed expert advice very early in this crisis and immediately acted upon the advice.. This country can not trust the Administration , and one hopes that his cult supporters take this health pandemic seriously, and not follow their leader’s downplaying the real facts.
1
Minimum wage is up above $19 for 18 years and up I believe.
1
Is it any wonder that trump is a failed businessman? He has no clue how to react to a crisis, his solution is to blame others, stiff contractors and declare bankruptcy.
7
Universal public healthcare is not only affordable it is cheaper. In the UK, government spending per head on the NHS (with free universal pre-cradle to grave care) involves spending of GBP2290 per head [2016 figures] (with GBP602 also spent on private healthcare). In the US, government (repeat government) spending on healthcare comes to GBP3742 per head (more than 60% above the UK figure) with GBP3875 also spent on private healthcare. So more is spent in the 'private' US system on public healthcare than in the UK’s ‘socialist’ system, and despite this, 28 million people in the US have no cover at all adn many with insurance have insecure or limited protection. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42950587) US healthcare outcomes are also worse overall (US: 11th, UK 1st - https://www.commonwealthfund.org/press-release/2017/new-11-country-study-us-health-care-system-has-widest-gap-between-people-higher.) The US healthcare problem (one of them) is not about how much money is spent but how and where it is spent.
1
Why do you guys think The Hanks found themselves is AU all of a sudden? Could this be because these people have enough money and connections to know where to get free testing and the best quality care?
1
Sigh. They were in Australia because Hanks was shooting a movie there.
2
As a Brit, I'm always stunned to remember that the US, uniquely amongst the world, treats healthcare as an open market.
Even the idea of being invoiced whilst ill is nauseating.
How do you guys live like this?
12
We live in Portland, Oregon. My daughter has been sick for four days with cold/virus-like symptoms. But because she is not immunocompromised, nor has she traveled or been exposed to someone who has, she cannot get a test. Her pediatrician's office has only 50 kits for the most vulnerable who check all the appropriate boxes. And the triage nurse said that's likely how it is for all clinics in the Portland area - limited kits, strict testing criteria. It is RIDICULOUS. We are woefully, horribly underprepared for this pandemic here in the United States.
68
@Jen You can thank the POTUS for that—it's a hoax, it's the dems playing tricks, it'll go away. And the GOP is lockstep with him. We MUST vote blue, even if you don't particularly like Biden.
3
Wishing your daughter, as well as others in her dilemma, a quick and full recovery.
2
@Jen All the best for your daughter and for you. It is possible to be exposed and not know it. The best course of action for you and your daughter and anyone she might have had contact with in the past week is to self-quarantine for two weeks just to be sure you are not infected and to avoid infecting others. Good luck!
1
If there is a seasonal factor in the spread of the coronavirus, it might be good to remember Australia is at the end of summer.
6
Does identifying it really matter to the patient, doctors are going to treat the symptoms anyway. Just like they would for regular flu or pneumonia. My maid didn’t come Monday, she had the sniffles and thought it was COVID. A friends granddaughters had colds a few weeks ago so are convinced they have already had it and are immune.
Free testing on demand is a central piece of how we treat, track, and contain HIV. In college in the early 90s, I spearheaded an effort to make free HIV-testing available at the student health center. I'm no expert, but knowledge is power. "Get Tested! Know your status!" ought to become a national slogan.
3
actually, have an Aussie friend who is a nurse. took her days to get a test after showing symptoms because she "didn't fit the criteria" which was ridiculously strict. finally she was hospitalized, and tested. my question is how Hanks and Wilson were able to be tested so quickly when regular Australians have not had that luxury.
54
@AJ
The article seems to say that Australians can easily get tested rather than it is a "luxury". The question should be why in the US is testing at such a low level? Australia seems much more prepared that the US.
74
Been talking to my Aussie friends they have all had access to tests if they had any symptoms but they do live in high population areas.
46
@AJ They are probably well connected and had that luxury that many of us don't.
10
Good job Australia. Actually most countries are responding similarly: working diligently to understand the problem and attempting to react in the best way known. America, where it is still difficult to get tested and will remain so for days or weeks ahead, is the outlier.
America has acted according to its president's personality and thus Americans have volunteered themselves, some unwillingly and some unwittingly, as epidemiological guinea pigs. Should be an enlightening few months ahead...
57
My friend came down with a fever last week. She went to an urgent care where the doctor said, “you have bilateral interstitial pneumonia, if your oxygen levels were any worse I’d send you to the ER.” He said she most likely has COVID-19 but there aren’t enough tests and it’s a pain to go through the process, so “just go home and get some rest.” She still can’t breath well and her fever spiked a few days ago, but she plans to head to an event tonight.
I had to explain to her that we all have a responsibility to public health and the public good. But American exceptionalism and rugged individualism is too ingrained in her and in our culture.
150
@LF
unbelievable, and unfortunately too common - with CDC failing us on the initial test, that was made faulty - there are not enough tests available.
" but she plans to head to an event tonight."
you *must* urge your friend to stay home and she has to call all places until she is accepted and treated as a COVID-19 patient.
what city are u in?
22
@LF What event is she heading to? A Democratic rally?
2
@LF Heading out to an event when you have COVID-19 symptoms is neither American exceptionalism nor rugged individualism -- it is irresponsibility and selfishness of the highest order. We can only wonder how many illnesses and even deaths for which she might be responsible, not to mention the harm she is likely doing to herself. Her actions are deplorable, and contributing to the crisis.
Millions of Americans are taking extraordinary steps to avoid spreading COVID-19 if they have symptoms or have been exposed. They are self-quarantining out of concern not only for themselves but also for their families, friends, coworkers, neighbors and strangers with whom they come into contact. And then there is the shameful behavior of your friend.
56
Their early and coordinated planning for a pandemic started with the creation of Australian Medicare that protects all their residents, young and old. Perhaps this pandemic will shake Americans to understand the red herring of Socialized medicine, successfully coined by the American Medical Association to derail President Truman's medicare proposal, was all about greed and the American mythology we're better off on our own. We've always had greedy people who want to throw old people on the trash heap like wrinkled rinds, and we need to come together and demand access to the medical community is a human right and not just for the well- healed, connected, or our barbaric Medicaid rules that require people remain paupers for medical care--or they're on their own. We're in this together, folks.
177
@Keith , Well, it seems that Trump has just let "Medicare for All" in via the side door (as I posted on another NYT article) because of the waiving of copayments for treatment and having tests done at no charge.
Trump has demolished the bogeyman of "Socialised Medicine" at one stroke, and deprived the Republicans of one of their major weapons against the Democrats. It took the Covid-19 virus to do that. Ironic.
15
@Keith This couldn’t be said any better.
7
@Bruce Stafford Sorry Bruce - Trump has done nothing of the sort. He has asked insurers to waive copayments for testing only - we are still waiting for clarity on whether insurers will cover treatment of the virus. That said, this only covers those who have insurance - there is 25 million of us who don't have insurance.
3
I’m an Australian living in MA where my doctor told me this week when I asked: none of the patients she requested testing for could get testing because they had not traveled to China or Italy. My friend in Sydney had a bad cough last week and got tested through her doctor on the same day she called. She had not traveled anywhere or been exposed to anyone who had traveled to Asia or Italy.
207
@Karen Kirsten , Mitch McConnell has said that expanding sick leave and offering free coronavirus testing is a radical ideological agenda of the left. Welcome to America.
5
@Karen Kirsten what's the population of Australia, Karen? Where are these test kits made?
Did your friend test positive?
2
I would be happy for testing. I would also be happy to see there is evidence of a plan. Do people know where to go if they are ill and feel they should: 1) be tested, or 2) see a physician, or 3) report to an emergency room? On the other side of things, do the health care providers have protocols for responding to this situation? This should all be standardized and defined by a health authority. In the UK, GPs are told not to bring potential coronary virus patients into their office practices. If that is the case, then there must be an alternative. What is the plan?
3
No plan may suit Trump, Pence, McConnell, and much of the GOP just fine. Americans suffering any morbidity or mortality from COVID19 is not really anything they are interested in or care about in their heart of hearts—unbridled power is.
And after all, if they were to come up with anything halfway reasonable: people might assume it’s just another set of lies from Trump, or they might well ask “why didn’t you all do this weeks ago?”
@Dye Hard
Don't worry about the testing. Common Sense:
The coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days, how can one know if he/she is infected. By the time they have fever and/or cough and go to the hospital, the lungs are usually 50 % Fibrosis and it's too late! 💀
Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning:
Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stuffiness or tightness etc., mit proves there is no fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicating no infection.
In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air!
MORE EXCELLENT ADVICE by Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases. Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat is moist, never DRY. Take a few sips of water every 15 mins at least. WHY? Even if the virus gets into your mouth...drinking water or other liquids will WASH them down through your esophagus and into the stomach.
I would add Apple cider vinegar to my water. Take a couple of thousand milligrams of Vitamin C and put Vick’s Vaporub up your nose if you go amongst people!
And, of course, handwashing 20 secs before and after you go potty.
2
Invariably, as the Coronavirus spreads around the US, people will begin to ask, yet again, why the US does not have a medicare for all public healthcare insure system, as do all developed nations.
"It will bankrupt America!" is what Republicans (and, sadly, many Democrats) have been telling us. But just this past week alone, US stock markets have erased $6 trillion in wealth due to the coronavirus. Yes, that's "T" as in "trillion". In one week.
To put this into context, Democratic advocates of "Medicare for all" estimate the cost as between 32 and 38 trillion dollars over the next ten years--or, to pick a nice round number, $3.5 trillion annually.
Why is it that Americans are so loathe to accept a public healthcare system, even when public healthcare is clearly a more fiscally responsible system?
17
Too many people’s wealth is dependent on the US remaining as it is. These people are powerful - and wealthy - more powerful and wealthy than any movement advocating the establishment of a federal-wide health care system free at the point of use. The US is as likely to change in this respect as it is likely to change its gun culture. Currently, the US’s inability to test for coronavirus on an adequate scale is a threat not just to the US itself, but to the world.
7
Australia has universal health care. That says it all. This is vilified in the U.S. and now EVERYONE is paying the price. We can thank the Republican Party and their supporters for that. Let’s thank them all in November!
26
Lucky for them they were in Australia. Lucky for the Australians, they don't have to contend with Trump, Pence, and their mob.
23
Somehow I think if Tom Hanks were here in the US he would have gotten immediately tested by his Concierge Doctor. I doubt that being in Australia made a bit of difference.
3
“Free and widely available.” Two things you’re not going to hear regarding U.S. health care.
17
Also, after the epidemic is over, we need tests-for-all to find out how many in US have been exposed to the virus. All those who recover will still carry information to show that they underwent the infection. Such numbers are crucial for public health and prevention for any new wave on this virus, or any new viruses that can cause a similar havoc. This would be also helpful in finding vaccine against the virus, and all its possible/predicted mutations.
Thus if/when the infection is over we still must press CDC/stage agencies to produce tests-for-all to do post-epidemic study for everybody who should be tested - maybe all should be tested. Best investment in the future that any new senseless war.
11
Thanks for the nice words Damien (Damo) but money still talks. The Formula 1 GP is going ahead with teams from all over the world and with large crowds. The Ferrari team from the worst infected country in Europe said if they couldn’t come there would be be no race. So the welcome mat was rolled out. The football season has started in Sydney, and large crowds were present.
1
@Sgt Schulz I think you need to check your intel Sarge, the GPs (quiet rightly) has been cancelled....
2
@Brit observing Thanks, it has indeed but it was down to the wire. The teams are all here and crowds were lined up outside the gate before the pin got pulled. That banging noise you hear is a stable door slamming.
Tom Hanks may well turn out to be the Magic Johnson of the corona crisis -- the beloved national icon who contracted a
dread, mysterious disease and spoke forthrightly about it, and thus humanized the problem and helped society deal with it honestly and effectively.
19
Comical that the NY Times is holding up Australia as an example of preparedness when its government just started, per the article, emergency measures less than two weeks ago.
2
@Bayricker
When someone is better at something, it makes human sense to lift your head up and pay attention instead of keeping your head in the Trumpian sand.
Australia makes coronavirus tests free - (and widely available) through Medicare, its national health care plan."
Australia is what a functioning modern government looks like.
Try and lift your head up.
18
@Bayricker So what you're saying, is that the object failure of the US government to react when far larger numbers were involved, is not such a problem.
Australia reacted after the virus started spreading significantly outside China, and it did the one thing "two weeks ago" that the US is still failing to do. It made testing widespread, and available. Remember, it was only 6 weeks ago that this whole situation began. Testing facilities were ramping up long before the announcement by the Australian Government, as soon as China gave them the genome information they needed. One state even modeled testing on the South Korean "super-testing" drive-through model.
America, king of the Drive-Thru, still hasn't even created one of them, because there aren't even enough test kits to cover *the sick people*.
You're failing to understand the difference between a country who can cut through the bureaucracy and react quickly, putting full biosecurity rules into place within two weeks, vs a country flailing for a response, because the Administration is more concerned with appearance than substance. Numbers over cases. Reelection over people.
The only comical thing is the weak attempt to equalize the responses.
13
Trump has made America so “great” you’re better off getting ill abroad than you are in your very own banana republic homeland. This must be all that winning Trump said we’d be doing under him—the kind that would make us all sick. Welcome to Trump’s third world!
14
Reminds me of when Magic Johnson got AIDS, it gave the disease a face we all knew and cared about.
5
Poor Tom Hanks & Rita! Glad they got tested... When will the United States learn to SHARE the world (at least under the current Administration it seems to have gone BACKWARDS!), realizing that we are all one human race and could LEARN FROM OUR ALLIES?! Trump should ask Australia for advice.... as he seems to have the opposite of the Midas Touch. Everything he does and touches turns to....something foul-smelling.
8
Why does the NYT keep publishing columns (like David Leonhardt's, which I just read, and which did not have a comment option on my screen, at least), that raise more questions than they answer about the testing issue. Like, exactly how did the CDC or FDA "stop" other US labs from developing their own test? Why cannot other US labs not order tests from, e.g., German or South Korean labs? These may sound like "stupid" questions, but really, are they? Then, ask and answer them.
1
@Bo The CDC prevented others from creating and deploying their own test, by refusing to approve any alternate testing methods presented to them. The CDC and FDA together still have carte blanche authority over medical treatments and testing.
As for overseas tests, I'm sure they'll be willing to share their stockpile after every single citizen in their countries is tested, but for now, I'd imagine they're more concerned with using the tests on their own population than selling them to the US because we're led by a Muppet-In-Chief. Not everyone is focused on making a buck wherever possible.
10
Australia, with a population of 25 million. 8% of the United States. Not exactly the same challenge. You folks just love to hate the US.
4
@Edgar Reporting that another country is handling things well equals "hating" the US now?
16
@Edgar Yes there are more of you to get sick...but there should be proportionately more resources to tackle the problem.
23
@Edgar
Size of the population hsa nothing to do with a challenge. Australia and other countries do not have an incompetent liar and grifter.Hate the US? No. Simply not a fan of Republicans.
12
I am writing a movie script about a rogue country that hates America and concocts a scheme to get one of their own elected as POTUS to weaken us and eventually take over. The Manchurian president then proceeds to dismantle all core institutions including the HHS and CDC. Then the rogue country weaponizes a deadly biological agent it has created, and launches it in America, which now has no resources to fight it. Finally, with the ensuing chaos and people sick and dying, the rogue country invades America and takes over.
Too outrageous?
Feedback appreciated...
2
So strange! How other developed nations like SK and Australia are handling the crisis well compared to our capitalist HC in USA.
Could it have anything to do with the fact they have some form government run HC? Are all those Americans with insurance happy or feel safe about their coverage if they get sick in America? What about the uninsured? Or the fact we have no sick pay or paid vacation.
Maybe Bernie proposals and the GND would be more important than the centrist revolution for return to status quo.
Maybe the norms and honor of the Oval Office that u NYT journalists and op ed writers cared for so deeply are as worthless and hollow as the piece of paper NYT is written on.
Anyone who votes for Trump or Biden has blood on your hands for everything my generation and subsequent generations will endure for the next 100 years.
1
Make America Great Again---yeah, thanks Donald Trump for your bumbling pathetic leadership in this pandemic. Even the Aussies showed us up, and rightfully so.
6
Oh, planning - I thought that was a Democrat hoax but maybe there's some merit to it. Where can we buy this 'planning' thing?
6
If Tom Hanks dies, we must invade Australia. Some things cannot be allowed.
1
@RS C'mon, your "invasion" would simply be trying to get access to decent health care. Tom Hanks isn't going to die. He might not come *back* though. :-D
1
Australia is the greatest. Check out their immigration laws?
1
When you have a leader that turns everything into a partisan circus, who is so narcissistic, that he believes he knows more than all of the experts, what do you expect. No preparation, budgets for the CDC cut. This is not politics Trump your citizens will die because of your perfidy!
5
What’s more terrifying: a global pandemic or the “leader of the free world” making a speech referencing 18th century airports? Answer: both at once. November 2020 cannot come fast enough.
Contrast what our next president inherits versus what the Trump administration inherited. Thanks Fox fake news, thanks for the colossally ignorant mess. May take years, even a generation to recover.
4
We pray and wish Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and everyone else, everywhere, a speedy recovery.
6
Tests are NOT free. Somebody is paying for them
2
So the solution is only test those that can afford it?
3
@Anthony MD Yeah doc, but right now it isn't you, happy?
2
@Anthony MD
Did you bail on the part of the ceremony when they were they reciting the Hippocratic Oath? ..My Goodness!
Meanwhile down under....
Scott Morrison has announced cash handouts of $750 to 6.5 million people on low incomes, cash payments for businesses, wage subsidies for apprentices and a lifting of the threshold of the instant asset write-off.
He says the package will help Australia’s economy “bounce back” after the virus
2
"Trump budget chief holds firm on CDC cuts amid virus outbreak"
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/486817-trump-budget-chief-holds-firm-on-cdc-cuts-amid-virus-outbreak
Trump was on camera a couple weeks ago saying CDC was "overstaffed" and people were standing around doing essentially nothing..
6
To put things into perspective, Australia has one-tenth the population of the United States. However, we have the expertise and resources that should have prepared us for another pandemic -- the fourth one so far in our young century and the fifth health emergency -- and been able to roll out test kits quickly. But then, at the moment the United States has a dimwit in the White House, unlike the two previous Presidents -- Obama and Bush -- who handled the SARS, H1N1 and Ebola pandemics with senses of urgency and competence. Trump's pathetic inability to govern might well bring about a repeat of the pandemic of 1918. This country cannot rid ourselves of the Trump curse fast enough.
6
We, as Americans, sit back and watch this unfold. Where's the outrage? Why aren't we in the streets? Tump's incompetence is literally killing us and we remain complacent. I long for good ol' days when the biggest scandal was Hillary's emails.
6
So you're saying Australia has a higher percentage of people with coronavirus...because those are facts.
The state government here in Alaska required insurance companies to waive copays for Coronavirus testing. So it’s free.
2
@Ben That's what Trump said he is doing last night nationwide. What about all the people that now have high-deductible insurance with no co-pays. Is the entire office visit covered?
2
It is so amazing how we Americans think are so wonderful, the best. Our infrastructure is failing, our education is too expensive and under funded, our Air control system is old fashioned, our electrical grid is obsolete and loses lots of energy, we have less environmental protection, We have an expensive and inefficient health care.
We have a very dysfunctional government.We have lousy voting arrangements.,
Lets get real folks and recognize we have many things do to make us "great".
13
I am convinced the Trump administration wants testing to be difficult to do so in our country so he can claim we don't have as many cases as other countries.
Facts don't matter to him and his cronies.
It's all about perception.
And if the United States only has a few thousand cases, he can claim he contained the virus.
I am convinced the numbers are MUCH higher in the United States but just not being reported due to lack of testing.
12
Bingo! Right on point that Trump et al do not want widespread testing because doing so would show the real numbers, rather than the suspect data the White House is peddling!
Testing is the key to a more effective, targeted response, as countries like South Korea, Singapore and Australia show.
It’s time for state leaders to buck Trump’s insanity and double down on efforts to bring in validated test kits from sources abroad.
I want to see California’s Governor Newsom order an ample supply of WHO test kits and demand that federal customs officials release them into his state. I want to hear the governor articulate how testing allows the virus to be tracked and those needing isolation to be identified.
It’s not politicizing the virus to state a fact: Trump is refusing to permit access to validated test kits for widespread testing in the United States, thereby enabling the virus to spread and kill.
6
Whereas in my county, the chief medical officer has frozen in the face of this crisis and says we are no longer quarantining positive cases (which have gone from 4 to 15 in 3 days ) and no longer contact tracing. Just because this has moved to pandemic status doesn’t mean you throw tried and true methods out the door
When every other county in the Bay Area is getting a grip on their numbers and bringing the crisis into control, we will have Dr. Scott Morrow to thank for explosion that is coming on the Peninsula.
2
Australia was just burning with massive climate change driven forest fires before this COVID-19 aka coronavirus crisis struck.
Yet the Aussies are capable of doing what Americans can't in response to coronavirus. Figuring out who and who doesn't have it is essential.
7
Don't tell Bernie- he will stop saying we need to be like Sweden and now be like Australia.
All of Bernie Sanders' supporters, including the working class and especially the younger generations, should, after he drops out, focus on electing Biden and then become more politically active, putting pressure on the government every day to fix problems like our shameful health care system and tattered social welfare state. In fact, every American should. As a country, we cannot continue down this individualist, ruthless capitalism at the expense of life path any longer. It's literally mass fatal.
6
How ironic. The US has always thought that we are centuries ahead of every country in the world in an endeavor we undertake
Yet we cannot get our act together in the face of this pandemic
Trump should have made sure that tests were free for the entire country when he first knew of this illness. I can’t imagine that he and his Administration has been so callous regarding Public Health
All of the counties affected have been incredibly aggressive to take care of them f their citizens and our Government has only one million test kits for a country of 330 million people
Makes me feel better
4
People coming in from other countries, including Italy are not being tested or quarantined. No temperatures being taken at our airports. Why? People who have symptoms are not being tested even with all the symptoms. What a disaster.
1
Wow, testing is free and widely available in Australia? I guess that's what happens when you have a functioning first-world healthcare system.
How about it folks?
Isn't it time?
7
These stories all but confirm that the official count of positive cases in the US is likely a tiny fraction of the actual total. Hundreds (possibly thousands) of people will die unnecessarily because of this administration's actions.
4
I have a family member, age 91, who had concerning symptoms -- last Friday. Eligible for testing-type symptoms. No test available on Friday. Or Saturday. Or Sunday. Or Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday.
A test may be available today, six days later. But it won't be administered if the physician who visits him decides his symptoms don't merit it. Because the number of people with more advanced symptoms who need testing vastly outnumber the number of available kits, she said.
This is in New Jersey. March 12.
9
Unlike nations like South Korea where governments beleive in science, the Trump Administration was busy looking at the Farmers Alamanac pointing to warm weather coming to save us.
32
@Greenfield Its a republican thing. Remember Reagan and nancy and the astrology?
3
The following is a precis of some facts in an article by one of our most experienced journalists, Paul Kelly, writing for 'The Australian' - a Murdoch daily no less!!
1) The US health care system costs about 18% of your GDP (compared with Australia and the UK at 10% and Canada at 11%), yet only in the US is there no universal health care, with some 28 million people uninsured and where employers are responsible for the cost of health care (~$20,000 pa).
2) If the US cut its health care spending to that of Switzerland (the 2nd highest in the OECD at 12% of GDP), the savings - 6% of GDP, would be $1 trillion pa. - or $8,600 pa. for every household.
Hopefully some food for thought as you face the 2020 election. Please look beyond your borders and actually compare with other 1st world nations how poorly served you are without universal health care.
One fact: It is tragic that the US maternal and infant mortality rates are the highest in the developed world.
If people can't afford to pay for COVID-19 tests, they will spread the virus throughout your communities.
If people have no sick leave entitlements and so lose income if they don't come to work, they will come to work and spread the virus.
You now have an avoidable existential threat facing your country - time to face the fact and fix it. There is no excuse NOT to have universal health care in the United States of America. It will save you $1 trillion + pa. How can you NOT afford to have it??
54
@cass phoenix
Because one trillion dollars a year is a small price to pay for Freedom.
2
@cass phoenix Clarification. Health care costs per family are about $20,000pa.
1
Why are there so few test kits? Is Trump withholding them to keep numbers low? Just asking. It defies logic that the United States is having difficulty providing them.
36
@KB Yes, and no. Back in early January a doctor in Seattle came to the Trump Administrator and stated the risk and the required response. He was ignored as to not upset the Trump Bandwagon Show. Now we are three months behind the rest of the world.
7
@j24 Actually we're 40+ years behind the rest of the world.
2
It continues to amaze me that the US, the “best” and “richest” country in the world cannot test its people. I’m dumbfounded. Truly.
35
@Retired Hard Worker Can we please stop calling the US the richest country in the world? We are not the richest; we have the biggest amount of billionaires. It is not the same. Its people are not rich.
12
Why? With Donald Trump at the helm, it would be odd if they were widely available.
3
“The Designated Survivor” comes to mind. Not only does trump have omnipotent immunity from this even more omnipotent virus, his stable genius mind allows himself to shake hands with all, without fear. Then again, perhaps, Dr. Ben Carson has been named as such, designated survivor, and in five or six months, oh boy, he’ll be president.
5
"Australia, with just 128 confirmed cases" in a population of 25 million.
And Tom Hanks just happened to be one of them?
The insanity continues.
7
I’m reading a lot of comments of people being frustrated with the lack of preparedness.
Take a step back for a second...
Think about that it might be part of the bigger picture.
When events resemble a Hollywood Doomsday movie, it most probably has been strategically scripted to play out exactly as it is.
We are now in ACT2 of this story...the part where the protagonist sees through all the static, created mass hysteria, and asks questions like “who has something to gain from this shitshow”?
Time will reveal the truth
6
Amazing! Corona Virus testing in Australia is free and available all over...even for visiting Americans.
While in New York, the lady who went to the ER was charged $10,000 for the ER visit, even though she had to wait 6 hours, and the doctor saying there is no need for a Corona Virus test after seeing her for 5 minutes. Luckily she had insurance and her share was $75.
Wow!
34
Was at the doctors a week ago and noticed a sign they had up which listed all the symptoms of COVID-19 and it told all patients who thought they might have any of these symptoms to let the receptionists know and they would take you to a separate room and you'd be tested immediately. The testing is quick and it's also free.
I'm in a small rural town way out in the boonies and even here you feel a bit better knowing that your able to get the same treatment as the famous Mr Hanks if you need it. Our medicare system is not perfect by a long shot but in times like this I'm thankful for it.
Why the richest country in the world hasn't got a similar system is beyond me and the fractured and almost laughable response of your 'Government' is a disgrace really.
Trump and his team are way way out of their depth and they really do need to acknowledge that and start helping Americans in thier need and allay their fears.
65
@Lee H
“The richest country in the world” can’t have a similar system because unlike Australians, Americans feel that they should not be responsible for paying for something that might result in someone getting an “unearned” benefit. We can’t see something as being purely a public good that we should all have a share in.
Like so many things, our modern medical dystopia can be traced back to our toxic history of exclusion and separation, and our continuing desire to covertly maintain that division
10
It may take a celebrity to get folks to take this seriously, which many are still not doing. Wish them well. They are good examples of what to do when feeling sick.
5
The USA government seems to think that if you don't test for it, it's not there. This just means one thing: the numbers are lying.
32
Ah, yes. Wicked Australia, where they have universal healthcare. Thank goodness the Times did all it good (and still is) to get Bernie Sanders out of the running. I look forward to Joe Biden tuning forking the thing there that stuff you know, 30003333, when he talks about dealing with the Spanish flu thing with the record player.
9
And I look forward to your getting through puberty.
2
@Robert with our system of healthcare? Maybe if i win the lottery. Enjoy your retirement when biden finally succeeds in gutting social security.
2
I would argue that given that they do extensive testing, the 128 confirmed cases in Australia actually estimates the number of infected people fairly well whereas the 1000 confirmed cases in the US is likely a significant underestimate. Not sure if the lack of accurate data changes what public health officials would recommend to mitigate risks...
5
I don't know about other states, but Tom Hanks would not have met the testing criteria in Florida. He is the best reason for the need of larger scale testing in the United States.
EVERYONE needs to start pushing and demanding for that.
Our local hospitals don't even have the approval to do COVID-19 testing yet. This is inexcusable.
25
Well, he is Tom Hanks. It's safe to assume that if he had gotten sick in the US a test would have been found for him. Celebrities and the rich are treated differently and better than us normal folks. I'm sure tests will be available for any other well-known people that need them. Funny how that works.
14
This is really great news for my family and me as I feel we just experienced some sort of Divine timing. At the beginning of 2020, my granddaughter had two trips scheduled. In January, she was packed, ticket in hand and ready to leave for Taiyuan, Shanxi district, China, on the 24th and I was deliriously happy when the trip was cancelled late on the night of the 22nd. She had also been scheduled to go to Adelaide, SA, Australia, on the 24th of February, where she is now, and I am so thankful.
14
@Madcap1
I hope you daughter is enjoying her stay. Adelaide is extra special this time of the year.
2
@Kim W Thanks Kim. She's been there before, (sports). Her mom and dad, a couple of their friends, and I were there in July 2018. LOVED it. Worth the (ha ha) lengthy ride. Take care.
2
@Madcap1 Adelaide is the best place in the world to live. Hope she enjoys the fringe festival.
2
Ack. I mean I feel that as long as Kevin Bacon doesn't get the virus we should all be fine...
14
Note Dear Leader's performance on TV last night, with the wheezing, apparent shortness of breath, and difficulty reading from the teleprompter (no, scratch the last item ... that's entirely normal). When he finally gets tested, we may find out that over the last two weeks he has been busy infecting the entire top echelon of America's heath care and emergency response system.
85
@David Huete I noticed the same thing. But don't worry, the government would be much better off if most of the people who meet with Trump went into quarantine. Perhaps they could find competent replacements.
19
@David Huete He's probably been tested. Thing is, would he tell us truth?
6
Wow, instantly recognizable international superstars getting anything they want immediately, you amaze me Australia.
15
@John Doe
no, they were tested as any other suspected patients in Australia. Their story is plain and powerful about a country that has handled the epidemic as it should.
The fact that CDC produced in US, initially faulty coronavirus tests is simply unforgivable. We lost weeks to identify and contain the epidemic.
Each state and medical center has to scramble to provide the test with CDC being pathetically inept.
19
@John Doe
Hello? Did you miss the part about coronavirus testing being immediately available and free for all of Australia?
Snark has its place, but not when pertinent facts are ignored.
23
@John Doe, from the article:
“Here, testing is free and widely available, thanks to early and coordinated planning for a pandemic. On Thursday, Mr. Hanks said he and his wife had seen the efforts firsthand, as they tested positive for the virus.”
It's the third paragraph of the story.
13
Hey, let's all elect Trump again! You know, that guy whose
middle names are Competence and Leadership!
Are you making note of this, Trump Base? Thanks.
36
@Ken
Therefore we have to forget about Trump and his cronies - let him shake hands at his rallies. Each state with its public health experts should step in and try to copy the "Australian model". We need widely available tests, separate infected from the rest, and we can hope for the best outcome.
9
Well, I'm thinking that as long as Brad Pitt doesn't get the virus, we may all be ok...
6
@JNI - I was thinking it would be ironic if Johnny Depp were in Australia now with the virus. The country could demand a better apology or no treatment!
1
As sad as I am about the Hanks’ getting sick, we need a face we can trust for this challenge. The narcissist in the White House isn’t that face.
In two weeks, the Hanks’ will be well. Hope is on the way!
21
So the likely answer is even summer conditions as it is summer in AU wont stop it.
25
@DG It's actually fall there right now.
3
@DG We don't yet know where they picked it up - they could have brought it with them from the US.
1
@Tamar Not for a week its still winter in the northern hemi
I mean, I would imagine, Tom hanks and His wife might be treated a bit differently than the average Joe. Aussie's don't want to be known as the ones who didn't do enough to save Tom hanks.
14
@Mike
You are displaying the ignorance that has taken hold in America. Did you not read the article, or even the headline? The whole point is that they were not treated differently from the "average Joe." Unlike in the US, in Australia testing is available for anyone who needs it. This country's health care system is a disgrace and the whole world is witnessing it.
22
@theresa
Theresa, couldn't agree more with you. Mike from Cleveland is just another Trump at any cost believer. In addition, doesn't read that much and only absorbs what he wants to, rather than reading an entire article. Oye. This is the fate of our country.
10
I don't know why everyone is so worried -- Trump has this under control. The first phase of his plan is to say it's fake news, the second is to blame the media and the libs for wanting millions to die, and the third is to declare the virus a Democrat plot to tank the stock market and doom his reelection. Problem solved! The problem, of course, being how Trump can avoid any blame. You can't spell Leadership without Phrased Lie!
40
New Netflix series: "Coronavirus is Blind!" where the stars contract viral infections. The big twist: everyone is quarantined at Mar a Lago.
In the first episode Trump gets into a Twitter feud with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson because the Donald is refusing to change meals from buffet style to room service. Melania refuses the buffet and insists on getting a CV test.
The episode ends with a cliffhanger as Trump glares at Steven Miller who coughs nervously as stocks plunge on the Fox News ticker.
8
Another example of how America is lacking in preparedness.
26
Haven’t seen much draining of the swamp. Seems to have gotten bigger with the most gas in the White House.
17
Wish I was in australia now,Their leader seems to be on the ball.We have two knuckheads leading us.Our vice president is waiting for a miracle from heaven and our president after his speech last night is clueless and either needs glasses or cannot read very well
43
@Arlene Solomon
Definitely cannot read very well.
3
Of course all of us want Tom and his wife to get well soon. Yet one wonders how many more of the famous will be making similar announcements. There will certainly be many not-so-famous people whose cases will be unknown as we pitifully fail to engage in any serious wide-spread testing. We are a nation of fools being led by a band of fools. One wonders if we will get what we deserve.
9
The problem is that in Australia nobody is trying to get rich off the virus, whereas here in America you can bet your last dollar that somebody is.
89
Right. And I'm sure that if everyone was Tom Hanks or some other Hollywood elite, they'd get immediate care as well.
6
The nobodies are getting immediate care to because the first step to stopping the virus is testing anyone who is worried, to catch and isolate every case fast.
Unlike Trump who doesn't want to see "the numbers" rise, and so prefers to keep plague ships.
7
@JT Actually, anyone in Australia who tests positive for coronavirus gets immediate care; here in Queensland, our public hospitals are free.
11
This is why we need Medicare for all. We need to elect Bernie Sanders . The DNC needs to stop rigging elections for their chosen moderates like Joe Biden by most likely bribing Amy and Pete w some prestigious cabinet position. Warren needs to rise up from being a milquetoast progressive.
16
"Days after China shared the genome of the virus, Australia’s private testing industry — which handles everything from blood tests to stool samples — was mobilized, with the government making tests free - (and widely available) - through Medicare, the national health care plan."
---
This is what a functioning modern government looks like.
It is the kind of good government that America's radical right Republicans have successfully drowned in their ideological bathtub of endless, mindless tax cuts for the gilded class.
40 years of Republican attacks on the American government has delivered award-winning incompetence, greed, ignorance and a complete lack of preparation and resources for public safety and the common good.
40 years of Republican nihilism has delivered Donald Trump and Mike Pence delivering 'thoughts and prayers' and bloviation as Americans die of very preventable early deaths.
The GOP might want to rethink their fake 'Party of Life' slogan.
Republican public policy of 'limited government' is killing Americans.
Nice GOPeople.
227
@Socrates Imagine that, the Australian government cares about people on their soil and protecting their citizens--by making testing free. But here in the U.S, how will big pharma make money from us if they can't charge $3500 per test? The greed and sheer incompetence is truly outstanding.
30
@Socrates A federal government was formed to help and serve the people, ALL the people.
Republicans have worked hard to make it as ineffective as possible and not even listening to members of the “other” party, choosing to treat them as an enemy.
Any chance of making desperately needed big changes are almost unimaginable.
We need to expect much more “of, by and for the people” by electing qualified, serious, caring people to represent us.
We are responsible for ending this nightmare by voting trump out of the office of president.
12
@Socrates the delays in testing remain mysterious (apparently even to those 'experts/leaders' answering House questions today). It is inconceivable that this is happening in the US. It is hard to come to a rationale explanation other than that the Trump Administration prefers it that way (keeps the 'numbers low', he likes that). We have NO idea the numbers of infections in the US. Data is emerging that folks are most infectious (shed highest levels of virus) before they have symptoms.
3
Every President, upon taking the oath, knows or should know that he/she will be faced with an existential crisis. He may not know what, but he has got to know it is coming.
What he does to make this country as prepared as possible and what does he does as the crisis unfolds defines who he is and whether he is competent. I listened to DJT, Jr. last night. He deplored Covid-19 being politicized.
Yes it is a political matter when Trump tried to cut the CDC before and is downplaying the crisis now. It is too late to stop the virus from getting here. So much for banning air travel!
But the tests that Trump said are available are not available. Are temporary isolation units being built; as they were in China? Are the treatments that have been identified being stockpiled and distributed?
The only thing I have seen is Trump wearing a 'Keep America Great' hat at the CDC while bragging that he has more intuitive knowledge than the experts that were surrounding him. Well, Mr. President please put that great genius to use! This should keep you up at night. Consider this in the morning instead of tweeting.
Everything DJT and DJT, Jr. do is political. So this will be political, too. It is their crisis to own or fail. As you sow, so shall you reap.
No, I was never a Trump fan. But that was specifically because I knew this day would come and that Trump is simply not up to the job. He is lazy, mendacious and ignorant. LETHAL
62
Having a robust national medical plan for all people in the US will benefit everyone who lives or visits here.
Our healthcare system is not only broken, it is punitive, byzantine, and highly discriminatory.
If Biden and Sanders' platforms don't create a strong healthcare narrative in light of current events, the US will continue to devolve at an even faster pace than previously anticipated.
Welcome to the Third World of The United States!
42
A friend here in CT just told me that most of his extended family was exposed to a known carrier of the virus. They had a going away party attended by 40 people for this person who then returned to their country of origin, started feeling ill and went to get tested and tested positive for the virus. My friend's relatives have been unable to get tested. They keep getting the runaround from every place they call. 14 of them have developed symptoms. They have now closed schools in Westport, CT in response to this.
According to an interview with infectious disease export Michael Osterholm on the JRE show the disease spreads easily just via breathing and those infected are highly contagious before showing any symptoms. Osterholm says hand washing and hand sanitizer are good practices, but it isn't going to stop this and the no face touching thing is nonsense.
28
Damien said: ".....Australia’s private testing industry — which handles everything from blood tests to stool samples — was mobilized, with the government making tests free through Medicare, the national health care plan."
The free tests are news to me. My wife and I phoned the Coronavirus Health Information Line after returning from Europe with some symptoms. We were advised to contact our GP which we did. The consultation fee we paid to the GP was $80 each, and because it was a phone consultation, we weren't eligible for the standard Medicare rebate of $38.20. I understand the Government approved a Medicare rebate for phone consultations yesterday, but even if we were eligible for that, the test would have cost $42.80 each. In addition, we're still waiting for the pathology bill to arrive. It was 126 hours after the test when the GP contacted us to confirm we were free of Coronovirus and any other respiratory issues.
13
Could you have consulted with a bulk-billing GP instead of one who has a surcharge? My husband attended a coronavirus clinic at a public hospital here in Adelaide a couple of days ago. He had a fever after we returned to Australia from the US, so he thought he should tested just in case (turns out he was not infected). It didn't cost anything and he was in and out of the clinic within 90 minutes, despite the large number of other people also waiting for tests.
We are incredibly grateful for our Australian public health system - we have lived in the US for the last two years, and the US profit-driven healthcare system is horrendous. I know people with good jobs, but are self-employed, so have no employer provided health insurance nor earn enough to pay for their own. Again, the costs are horrendous - like what we in Australia would pay as a deposit on a house or a new car, year after year. And that's just the premiums! Google what a deductible is, and you'll see why even if you have health insurance in the US, you in effect are not really insured at all!
The coronavirus pandemic has made us seriously question our decision to continue living over there, and we will probably move back to Australia as soon as the lease on our New York apartment is up. It's just not worth it. The system there treats its own people with contempt.
12
Remember the novel 'Nightfall'? Nothing will change. If you and I survive, see you on these pages for the next pandemic, in which the comments here will be remarkably the same.
2
I trust Tom Hanks tweet more than anything coming from Trump or Pence. Amazing.
(On a lighter note...Not surprised to see Forrest Gump get caught up in this).
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@JB In Hanks/Wilson we trust!
It is amazing that so many Americans couldn't see the unqualified, boorish, third-rate "businessman" the rest of us could. Maybe now they'll recognize the importance of competence and intelligence.
That’s because even though Australia has some private health insurers, everyone is covered by a national health service (aka Obamacare Downunder jk).
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@Michael Brown Australian healthcare coverage is way better than Obamacare. No comparison.
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So Trump cutting the CDC, installing anti-science sycophants and undermining global pandemic response (since it had a Obama connection) is coming home to roost. Hope we hear chants of "lock him up" after November 2 when he can no longer hide his crimes behind the office of the president.
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But but but.. I thought that building the wall was supposed to stop this kind of stuff from happening. I was reassured that we needed a wall to stop those dangerous immigrants, most of whom were women and children fleeing violence from their home countries, from invading our country. Who cares if that wall could be immediately tunneled under or climbed over the moment that it's completed. Does that mean the president lied to me?
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A new version of the Apprentice with Tom Hanks hosting is in the works.
Spoiler alert. All contestants from the Trump administration that are political toadies get fired. Then flown to Italy.
3
Who is he, and why is his case more interesting or important than the hundred thousand other people who have been infected?
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@Jonathan Katz. Because Hanks is generally viewed as very credible and he gives a recognizable face to a terrifying pandemic. Following him and Rita's progress (or lack thereof) should be very informative. I'd rather hear information from him as he is also in the cohort of people who are not elderly, but do have an underlying health condition. A lot of people can identify with his travails.
2
No country would want to be known as the place that allowed Tom Hanks and his wife to get seriously ill or even die while in their care. I hope all Australians have easy access to testing and good care, but it's a bit naive to think that someone like him isn't going to get extraordinary treatment.
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@Rick : Jimmy Carter got cured from metastatic melanoma. Everyone I ever knew who had melanoma is dead. He must have had some extraordinary treatment too.
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As someone who’s worked in the public hospital system, it’s far from naive. Private hospitals exist but not for emergencies, and the public system will never give preference to a celebrity that doesn’t match their clinical needs.
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"Days after China shared the genome of the virus, Australia’s private testing industry — which handles everything from blood tests to stool samples — was mobilized, with the government making tests free through Medicare, the national health care plan."
in contrast in US, CDC originally delivered faulty tests. In Bloomberg news: "The CDC has been called to task for its in-house coronavirus tests that initially delivered inconclusive results. Health experts also criticized the agency’s guidance that appeared to limit testing to only the highest-risk patients."
"These blunders almost certainly set U.S. preparedness back weeks, delaying the identification of additional cases that might have slowed the spread of the disease."
this is beyond incredible, having top world public health experts, that CDC could fail us.
"“Sending out faulty tests is unforgivable,” said David Ho, a leading AIDS researcher based at Columbia University. “There was so much time to prepare.”"
So where are we standing now? What can be done effectively to identify all infected?
10
This "greatest" nation has reacted shamefully, politically, to protect the overblown fanciful images of trump's ignorance while endangering the lives of our people..By comparison with other nations we are laughable in our feeble attempts at testings and mapping the spread of the virus. To be so unprepared in the face of an enemy is itself deserving of impeachment and conviction.
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As a physician, my advice to the public here in the US is that this virus was wider-spread earlier than expected. Many people have been exposed (and are positive) than originally thought. People who smoke, have immune system compromise (diabetes; chronic diseases) and who deal with the public regularly (teachers, clinicians, restaurant workers) are probably already positive but don't know because they can't get tested. We are going to see more cases in the next couple of weeks. We don't know the extent of the iceberg. I ask people to err on the side of caution and stay in if they might be positive (even without symptoms) to protect others. I ask people not to visit hospitals, nursing homes, and relatives with chronic diseases. The range of COVID-19 effects is none to severe viral pneumonia. We can get through this but we have to think of others and treat ourselves as infected (if we are at higher risk for contamination) to protect the vulnerable.
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@Natalie J. Belle MD Wow! I didn't know smoking caused the Corona virus Doc!
Commenters on conservative publications call the virus an act of God and say the Trump administration has been doing a great job despite it. This sort of gives lie to that claim, doesn't it? It's obvious every other developed country was infinitely better prepared. Here in the United States, we're rudderless.
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Ironic, guns, germs and steel won the West prized lands in Asia. Now germs from there are highlighting exactly how fallible and weak our science and technology really are. Perhaps the fall is inevitable, as is the rise of Asia. It is incredible, the work they have mustered, the understanding they have of diseases. I hate to say it, but as I read more papers, especially those on Bat viruses, my awe and admiration for Chinese scientists knows no bounds. I was under this impression that the science in the West was clean and had clarity compared to Asian science....no more. They are certainly inching above any science here.
3
Medicare Part B covers a test to see if you have coronavirus. This test is covered when your doctor or other health care provider orders it, if you got the test on or after February 4, 2020.
5
My company recently announced they would be covering the cost for COVID-19 testing for any members of the company insurance plan when a doctor recommends it.
It’s outrageous to me that a small private company has expressed more interest in preserving public health than our government.
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This is great, but there are also many variables as of why they can be tested so frequently. One of the main variables is that there are only about 25 million people is Australia compared to United State’s 350 million.
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@Jeremiah Katigbak Hi, Jeremiah, but the size of the US population is PRECISELY the reason why the US gov't should have been more prepared, simply because it takes more time to do what needs to be done for one group that, in this case, is 14 times larger than the other. And the number comparison merely serves to stifle a discussion. The US has prides itself to have the biggest, the best, the boldest, the whatever . . . We are supposed to be "exceptional", as President Obama and other US politicians are so fond of saying, yet South Korea did a far better job in terms of testing for the Coronavius than the US has done so far. So much for being "exceptional".
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@Jeremiah Katigbak
How do you explain the better testing regime in China with 1.38 billion people.
You may not know it but the USA has no healthcare system. You have a inefficient and expensive health care sector or industry which is infamous for putting profits before people.
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@Jeremiah Katigbak And China? S. Korea? How are they able to test at rates hundreds of times greater than the superpower America? We definitely have the doctors, scientists, technology, and facilities. The only remaining obstacle is FDA approval. In fact federal-level (HHS, FDA, CDC, etc.) obstacles have been the problem for months now -- I wonder why.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with their leaders being appointed by or answerable to Trump, who tolerates zero dissent and who has made it abundantly clear that he wants to keep the number of confirmed cases as low as possible...
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Well, it turns out, competence does matter. In any other organization, the leadership team would be fired. That means you, Executive Branch, for disbanding the NSC's Global Health Unit, responding at the speed of a snail, denying the gravity of the situation, then having the audacity to label this a black swan event that nobody could have predicted, despite the prediction in 2018 from Global Health Unit before it was unceremoniously disbanded.
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@Dave
you nailed it.
Also CDC budget was stripped from 12B to 6B over the last few years:
2016 11.5 Billion
2017 $11.9 Billion
2018 $11.1 Billion
2019 $10.6 Billions
2020 CDC President budget request: $6.594 Billion with Prevention and Public Health $894 million
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@Dave What do you expect from Republicans? They don't believe in government.
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@Dave
Days after China shared the genome of the virus on January 11, Australia’s private testing industry — which handles everything from blood tests to stool samples — was mobilized, with the government making tests free through Medicare, the national health care plan.
Germany produced a test kit which WHO made available and distributed to over sixty countries. Did we? NOOOOO. For some reason, our CDC decided to produce its own test kit - and it was faulty. That put us behind the eight ball and Trump/CDC still refuses to fix this failure of protocol and procedure. Thus only 5000 people have been tested in America.
1
Another question that it is time to pose. Would you really want to be exposed to a pandemic, because illegal immigrants are too afraid to seek health care? If you look at all communities and environments as connected, you can see the fallacy in the reasoning of ‘it is us vs them’. In the end we all share the same air.
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@Dr. Girl I flinch at your term "illegal". No one is illegal. We all share the same air, right?
3
How many people have been tested in Australia? How many tests do they have waiting for whoever needs one?
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@J
In Adelaide South Australia we have free drive in testing stations you don't even have to get out of your vehicle.
Availability of tests is no problem as our Government has prepared for this situation. There has been plenty of warning.
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Meanwhile, here in DC, I googled "Where to get tested for corona virus in DC," and find absolutely nothing that provides direction or help. So, a lot of politicians are talking, but I'm not seeing much practical response on the ground, which is where it really counts.
Frankly, it's unforgivable. The Hanks would do well to stay in Australia for the time being - they'll likely get better care there.
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@Chris Apparently you need to fly to Australia. Or be part of someone's inner circle in DC. If this doesn't shame those voting for Trump and his enablers then nothing will.
6
Maybe in this unfortunate pandemic the US, insurance companies and our legislation will wake up and start changing our rigid, cruel health care system.
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Ill prepared???!!!! Wow that's a nice way to put it. I would rather describe the American public as completely forsaken! "For these things I weep; My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a comforter, One who restores my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed." Lamentations 1:16
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good work trump. you say we have the greatest health care system. sounds like we should have australia run ours
dan fields
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@Sherry
Recall, shortly into his Administration, while sitting with the Australian PM, Trump commented on how great Australia's healthcare system is and how he was wanted it for America. Another big fat lie!
6
The US Health Care System has been in shambles for years. This just drives that point home. When will we demand a change or will we just continue the level of apathy we have demonstrated for so many years, while Americans die from having to cut insulin, go bankrupt because of medical bills and not be able to be tested for the virus during a worldwide pandemic?
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Plan the work, work the plan.
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This is clearly fake news. We have the best health care system in the world - in fact, we have a PERFECT health care system. We haven't been lied to, have we?
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@Bernard Don't forget how BEAUTIFUL it is.
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@doug
I think you're all being sarcastic. (That was also sarcastic).
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@Bernard Didn't you hear? We have beautiful healthcare and the response from Trump and his government have been beautiful. Everything is beautiful, folks.
2
There is one way to stop the spread of this virus. Testing is important, but this article shows the virus is still spreading even with "easy, free testing".
If you want to stop the spread of this virus, stop the movement of people.
As of this morning Australia has 6.2 cases per 1 million people. The US has 4.1 cases per 1 million people. Granted, with more testing we could have more cases, but so could Australia as this is spread by asymptomatic people.
Bottomline, there is one way to contain this. Stop moving people around. Testing only gives a false sense of security.
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@James Schulze How do we really know the accurate infection rate in the US when the level of testing is so much lower than Australia's?
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@James Schulze
Without testing people don't know if they have the virus. If they don't know they have the virus they keep moving around and infecting others. Even if they are feeling under the weather, without testing they may assume they have a cold, or the regular flu, and may not self-quarantine as suggested.
For example, one woman, whose sister in Kirkland had been diagnosed with pneumonia, asked but was not allowed to be tested, even though her sick sister had a contractor in her home who tested positive for coronavirus. In fact, the sister with pneumonia was not allowed to be tested. She is better now, but in the meantime how many others did she infect? I don't understand why testing is irrelevant.
10
@Mark agreed. We have better data here and whilst I can't guarantee this It's highly likely that Mr hanks contracted the virus in the us or on the flight over. We have had a lot of recent new cases who have returned from the USA recently. With so little testing it's hard to model the potential unreported population infected
6
Here in Seattle there was a story on NPR Tuesday morning that UW lab was at half-capacity because they aren't getting doctors' orders, and a nurse who did not want to be identified said it was because hospitals did not want admissions because they lack resources. The lab was sending test kits out of state.
Meanwhile, workers at a Kirkland nursing home have not been tested yet, as far as I know, and it is extremely difficult to get a clear answer about testing criteria in Seattle area, let alone get tested. Given Seattle is the epicenter, the bottleneck in testing is worrisome.
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Ah yes, let's keep pointing to better examples in other countries and pretend something will actually change.
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Universal healthcare is usually pretty efficient. Italy is an odd case because social contact tends to be very intimate and lots of elderly and working age children share a home. It was a recipie for disaster that had more to do with social custom than the Italian healthcare system. Australia is closer to the US in terms of daily life and provides a better comparison.
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@Kenneth the population density of Italy is 6 times that of the US. They have over 60 million people in an area roughly the size of Arizona. This increases the odds of spread tremendously. Lots of mitigating factors here, and let’s remember, the surgeon general addressed the issue of those tests readily available overseas. They do not enforce the same quality standards as the FDA here in the US, so let’s be fair when being critical. I am wondering how many of those tests are false positives and false negatives and what their effective diagnosing rate is. Can anyone speak to that?
1
Tom and Rita flew from LA two days before showing symptoms in Australia so it is likely that they picked up the virus in LA. Best wishes and a speedy recovery.
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“We need the public to be listening to the authorities, listening very closely and adhering.”
I guess she means people should be listening to "real" authorities, not the present leaders of the US government which are not authorities and which are spewing bad advice.
The contrast between the Australian medical response and the US response is stunning. Why do so many American voters not understand this?
162
I work with a vulnerable population in central WA state and testing can only be done through the U of WA, but we have no way to collect a sample or transport a sample. Without testing as in Australia it will only get worse. The Trump administration doesn’t get it.
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@Moses Republicans don’t get it.
Bernie could have used the most recent issues of sick leave, testing and medical care in his platform, but he did not. I hope that Joe Biden is taking note of the huge gaps in a system where health care, sick leave and vacation are not rights.
Do I have a right to make you sick by coming to work and serving you dinner, while I have a deadly virus? These are important questions. When we pull the lever for Joe Biden, will he do anything about this gap between your right to live and my right to earn a paycheck? We are all connected. This is the message that Warren and Sanders are trying to get out. Let’s do better next time.
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Next time? There may never be a next time.
@Dr. Girl LOL do you think Biden has been previously heretofore unaware of the lapses in our healthcare system? Of course he knows about it, but he's bought by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Things will improve just a little bit -- not nearly enough and far too late. Don't hold your breath for more, he's flat out told us "nothing, fundamentally, will change."
6
@Tim
Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested Monday that he would veto the universal health-care legislation known as “Medicare for All” championed by his primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders if it were passed after Biden took office. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/10/biden-says-he-wouldd-veto-medicare-for-all-as-coronavirus-focuses-attention-on-health.html
2
Maybe a silver lining is that pandemic highlights why healthcare for some (at double the costs) has many drawbacks to M4A. If you have insurance and get tested, but your neighbor does not or it is cost prohibitive for them to do so, your community is still at risk....
120
@Cee,
There will be no benefit from any system unless there is competence at all levels. Italy has an M4all system but it is on the verge of collapse right now (in their own words). Regardless of any system, it has to deliver. Right now, regardless of insurance you can't find a CV19 test.
My sons had fever, chills, cough, difficulty breathing and had played with kids who had just returned from Milan, Italy whose family had been asked to self-quarantine. We were on the phone with our doctor, nurses, and the NY Dept of Health multiple times and were told our children did not meet criteria for testing. After the fever passed, I had no choice but to send them back to school and go back to work myself even though they were still sniffling and coughing. This was three days ago - the testing requirements are irrational here. We were told that, in order to qualify for testing, my children would have had to come in contact with someone with a confirmed diagnosis, rather than just exposure to those with a travel history. It was probably just a cold, they said. Therefore, in NY/America, it appears you have to prove you have coronavirus before you can get tested for coronavirus.
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@Jeri C
I had a similar experience in December with the influenza virus. The brain trust at the Immediate Care center I went to said that because I did not have a fever (although I had other classic symptoms of the virus), they concluded I didn't have the flu and refused to give me a script for Tamiflu. They did not want to even test me until I became extremely agitated and demanded on.
It turned out that my test result indicated I did have influenza, however, because I waited longer than 48 hours from the first sign of symptoms, they still refused to give me a script for Tamiflu which may not have been AS effective, but could have still lessen my current symptoms.
I shudder to think what could happen if I came down with the coronavirus.
23
@Jeri C That is simply unacceptable. How terrible. We are a 3rd-world country now. Thanks GOP
33
As officially noted by the CDC, coronavirus is already especially dangerous for those in their 60s, 70s, 80s and up because affected oldsters are dying or becoming seriously ill much more frequently than those under 60.
It has dawned on me that coronavirus may be used as an excuse to cancel US boomers, you know, those old people who consume an inordinate amount of funds for Medicare, Social Security and a wide range of social services.
Lest you think I am an alarmist, I will point out that top doctors in Italy, which has the highest coronavirus case-load outside of China, have recommended that rather than admit patients on a first-come-first-served basis, hospitals should give ICU and bed priority to those with the highest likelihood of survival—that is, people under 60.
Indeed, this under-60 guideline should apply to all patients needing intensive care treatment and not just those suffering from coronavrius, according to the Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SAARI).
Yes, this recommendation is being made in Italy now, but in a couple of weeks, when US hospitals and ICUs start to overflow, the policy will be considered in the US. Actors, politicians and elites over age 60 have the money and power to get preferred treatment for coronavirus; the fate of the rest of us oldsters is up to the vagaries of the virus.
Why hasn’t AARP picked up on this?
12