Medical update: Duh.

There was a headline in Medscape on March 11 that made me want to reach in through the Internet and do some serious Moe slappin': 

Year of COVID: Everything We Thought We Knew Was Wrong

Well. How about that. I wonder if what they thought they knew was wrong is what the rest of us have come to know they were wrong about. Let's have a look at some quotes from the piece. 

[Michael Osterholm, PhD, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota] says mixed messages may have cost the US in terms of public support.

"I think it is a really unfortunate situation because we burned a lot of bridges in terms of people wanting to follow or support public health measures," Osterholm says.

Oh, do you think so? 

In a scientific brief published in March 2020, the WHO cautioned that there was no evidence that the virus was lingering in air and making people sick, though recent experiments suggested that it might be doing just that.

Scientists who study aerosols were dumbfounded.

In a strongly worded letter to the journal Science, Kimberly Prather, PhD, a professor and atmospheric chemist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sought to clear the fog. "There is overwhelming evidence that inhalation…represents a major transmission route for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)" she wrote.

According to this piece, the World Health Organization made an awful lot of errors. Totally innocent, of course. I wonder if anyone had an idea that the WHO could not be trusted? I seem to recall one fellow, orange complexion, kind of loud... but everyone says he was talking through his hat. Also. China comes in for no blame in this piece, despite its well-known lies and coverups about the whole thing, abetted by its flunkies at the WHO. So where does the blame lie? Well, there's an optimistic quote from a certain White House figure that's framed to make it look like he is a moron:

The same day the WHO declared a pandemic, then-President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office. "The virus will not have a chance against us," he said, "No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States."

Today, of course, the US leads the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

ISWYDT. 

We shall see in this article that our public medical friends only made innocent mistakes out of unfortunate ignorance and the interference of politicians. And aren't they oh so trusting in those Chinese death figures? 

But let's go on.

Much of the public health guidance given to the public last year turned out to be incorrect.

"Putting aside rampant disinformation and political interference, the real tragedy was not having any COVID-19 testing for the first 2 months of the US pandemic, which promoted diffuse spread of the virus across the country, and we've never been able to contain it since," said Eric Topol, MD, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and editor-in-chief of Medscape.

"That was the unforgivable mistake…a fatal mistake for thousands of Americans," Topol said.

I seem to recall there was COVID-19 testing available, although its failure to be widespread had more to do with the "this is just the flu, don't worry" out of these public health poohbahs than any "political interference." It's nice to blame someone else, isn't it, especially for your "unforgiveable mistake"?

Notice that the "rampant disinformation" isn't pegged to anyone. We're left to think it came from the White House rather than a certain nation that starts with a C and ends with an A and isn't Cambodia. You know, the one that was locking up doctors?

Of course, it wasn't all bad.  The development of the vaccines, which happened with unprecedented speed, was a dazzling achievement.

"It's astounding, you know, and it's a testament to the scientific community, the medical community, the regulatory community, the pharmaceutical industry, you know the fact that everybody was able to do this," on such an accelerated timeline and without compromising safety, "was a very happy surprise," Heise says.

Now everyone is hoping we can get them rolled out in time.

Didn't that orange guy whom everyone hates have some role to play in getting the vaccines out before year's end, when everyone was saying it was impossible? Sounds vaguely familiar....

"I think it's just a reminder that we have to be very humble when we deal with these viruses. We have, have, to be humble," said Osterholm.

Some experts worry we will pay a price for these missteps now.

As he has watched the new coronavirus variants emerge, he says he's realized we're in a whole new ballgame with COVID now.

"I always give people a disclosure when I talk about these viruses now, that you know, I know less about them now than I probably did 6 months ago. And I think that type of open mind is what's going to help get us through here and envision what the future might look like and what we have to plan for," Osterholm said.

Oh, don't worry about it at all. We know everything from now on will be really, truly on the level. Even though you all told us that it was okay to go out and parade around for social justice when you wouldn't let people leave their apartments, and even though public health officials in states like mine signed off on sending sick people to nursing homes, we know you're all about duty and humanity. 

Sure, we the public will trust you. Just as much as you trust us.