As Western countries mark the one year anniversary of pandemic shutdowns, it’s important to remind ourselves of the many U-turns public health officials have made in addressing the outbreak. Perhaps the most conspicuous about-face is that of Jaap van Dissel in the Netherlands. He downplayed the virus, promoted a herd immunity approach, and recommended against masks. Now van Dissel dons a mask in public, advises against loosening the lockdown reins until there is sustained improvement in the Covid-19 situation, and doesn’t talk about naturally acquired herd immunity anymore. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/03/11/metamorphosis-of-a-dutch-top-public-health-official-jaap-van-dissel-in-the-face-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Great article, Joshua. We flip back and forth in this country also…..sadly, we do it to fit the scenario we support rather than the science.
I looked through the archives on this site, and I think I found the first comment related to the coronavirus. I would say that JpDave nailed it! It is interesting to see the headlines in the linked CNN article, including “US cases top 500.”
Here is that comment:
JpDave
March 8, 2020 at 6:06 PM
re: coronavirus
I honestly think too many people are not taking this serious enough.
Massachusetts cases just double in one day! Now at 28 and climbing rapidly.
This virus has a death rate of about 3.4 % overall with much higher rates for are risk population. Normaul flue under 1%.
Thanks for sharing this and he sure did. Sadly, there are areas where it still is not being taken seriously.
The Texas Rangers will be at 100% capacity on opening day April 5th but spectators will be required to wear masks.
Since Texas lifted its statewide mask mandate, is MLB the reason masks will still be required?
I think the mask mandate ensured that all businesses would comply. Without a mandate in place it’s left up to individual businesses to decide.
SClarke, JPD nailed it much better than I. I was downplaying it in February of 2020 and even early March. I wanted to believe the coronavirus wouldn’t be so bad. Boy was I wrong.
Today’s worldwide data is sobering. No two ways about it. France and Italy continue to see rising hospitalizations and deaths. It’s not quite as bad as it was in November, but it’s getting there. Central and parts of Eastern Europe are worse (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland). Several nations in Europe with reasonable vaccination rates – though not as good as ours – are still seeing yet another spike. Brazil’s surge is unabating. The Palestinian Authority is seeing the worst of the pandemic with all hospitals in Ramallah completely full (patients being treated in hallways).
Here, we’re treading water. No increase in 7-day average of cases, which is good, but there really isn’t a decrease either. Hospitalization decrease has more or less leveled off (at least it’s not increasing). Deaths are still at or above 1,500 a day on weekdays, but have continued to decline, albeit at a slower pace than previous weeks.
We have followed the countries mentioned by you each time. I pray this time is the exception.
I think it will the exception because of our vaccination efforts. Yet, I’m still cautious. Treading water isn’t good enough. It’s better than spiking. But, I feel that right now we should be on more of a downward trajectory. We’re still losing a lot of people. Headed towards 550,000 by next week.
I am hopeful also. The rush to open everything worries me but with vaccination we might just squeak by
Joshua, I am getting the impression that you’re thinking that there may be one last spike in cases, much like the one last snow event in March/early April to finish off the winter season.
Spike is probably not the right word, but increase, yes. I hope I’m wrong.
By the way, I definitely think the pandemic is waning here in the U.S. Any increase will NOT be anything like we experienced and may only be short-lived – a few weeks.
Europe’s continued struggles impact me in a personal way because my son can’t visit his Mom and vice versa. I’m really hoping the situation improves there soon. I am concerned that it won’t improve as quickly as it does here because of the vaccination lag there.
Very few towns….I think 14 …..in MA are red and Sutton is one of them ….arghhh
C-19 for 3-12 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
As Western countries mark the one year anniversary of pandemic shutdowns, it’s important to remind ourselves of the many U-turns public health officials have made in addressing the outbreak. Perhaps the most conspicuous about-face is that of Jaap van Dissel in the Netherlands. He downplayed the virus, promoted a herd immunity approach, and recommended against masks. Now van Dissel dons a mask in public, advises against loosening the lockdown reins until there is sustained improvement in the Covid-19 situation, and doesn’t talk about naturally acquired herd immunity anymore. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/03/11/metamorphosis-of-a-dutch-top-public-health-official-jaap-van-dissel-in-the-face-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Great article, Joshua. We flip back and forth in this country also…..sadly, we do it to fit the scenario we support rather than the science.
I looked through the archives on this site, and I think I found the first comment related to the coronavirus. I would say that JpDave nailed it! It is interesting to see the headlines in the linked CNN article, including “US cases top 500.”
Here is that comment:
JpDave
March 8, 2020 at 6:06 PM
re: coronavirus
I honestly think too many people are not taking this serious enough.
Italy just quarantined 16 million people!
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/08/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html
Massachusetts cases just double in one day! Now at 28 and climbing rapidly.
This virus has a death rate of about 3.4 % overall with much higher rates for are risk population. Normaul flue under 1%.
Thanks for sharing this and he sure did. Sadly, there are areas where it still is not being taken seriously.
The Texas Rangers will be at 100% capacity on opening day April 5th but spectators will be required to wear masks.
Since Texas lifted its statewide mask mandate, is MLB the reason masks will still be required?
I think the mask mandate ensured that all businesses would comply. Without a mandate in place it’s left up to individual businesses to decide.
SClarke, JPD nailed it much better than I. I was downplaying it in February of 2020 and even early March. I wanted to believe the coronavirus wouldn’t be so bad. Boy was I wrong.
Today’s worldwide data is sobering. No two ways about it. France and Italy continue to see rising hospitalizations and deaths. It’s not quite as bad as it was in November, but it’s getting there. Central and parts of Eastern Europe are worse (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland). Several nations in Europe with reasonable vaccination rates – though not as good as ours – are still seeing yet another spike. Brazil’s surge is unabating. The Palestinian Authority is seeing the worst of the pandemic with all hospitals in Ramallah completely full (patients being treated in hallways).
Here, we’re treading water. No increase in 7-day average of cases, which is good, but there really isn’t a decrease either. Hospitalization decrease has more or less leveled off (at least it’s not increasing). Deaths are still at or above 1,500 a day on weekdays, but have continued to decline, albeit at a slower pace than previous weeks.
We have followed the countries mentioned by you each time. I pray this time is the exception.
I think it will the exception because of our vaccination efforts. Yet, I’m still cautious. Treading water isn’t good enough. It’s better than spiking. But, I feel that right now we should be on more of a downward trajectory. We’re still losing a lot of people. Headed towards 550,000 by next week.
I am hopeful also. The rush to open everything worries me but with vaccination we might just squeak by
Joshua, I am getting the impression that you’re thinking that there may be one last spike in cases, much like the one last snow event in March/early April to finish off the winter season.
Spike is probably not the right word, but increase, yes. I hope I’m wrong.
By the way, I definitely think the pandemic is waning here in the U.S. Any increase will NOT be anything like we experienced and may only be short-lived – a few weeks.
Europe’s continued struggles impact me in a personal way because my son can’t visit his Mom and vice versa. I’m really hoping the situation improves there soon. I am concerned that it won’t improve as quickly as it does here because of the vaccination lag there.
Very few towns….I think 14 …..in MA are red and Sutton is one of them ….arghhh
C-19 for 3-12 is ready.