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XPMai
XPMai
06:10
> 2. His administration initially told people not to wear masks and only changed their guidance on April 3rd. You could argue that it was Fauci or the Surgeon General or the WHO claiming that masks aren't helping, but ultimately the Trump administration didn't have to listen to any of them. Masks were mandated by China in Wuhan back in January, no reason why this very same measure couldn't have been copied in America as well.

> 3. Trump could've introduced an early mask mandate in indoor spaces controlled by the Federal government: commercial airlines and airports, Federal prisons, Nationa…
XPMai
XPMai
06:26
Considering the fact that US states are fairly sovereign and politically autonomous from the federal government, I think it's fair to judge US handling of COVID-19 by omitting Trump to see if non-Trump/Republicans have done a better job and I struggle to see a better outcome between California and Japan.

Many things that Japan has done against the pandemic California could've also done but Cali didn't. Japan imposed travel restriction since 3 Feb but California did nothing only until March 4,2020.
 
8 hours later…
Ertai87
Ertai87
14:51
@ItalianPhilosophers4Monica I'm not criticizing the approach of BC. They did what they did because of the state of the situation that they had. Jonathan said that WA and BC had varying degrees of success due to the way in which they handled the virus, and I was simply saying that BC did not "handle the virus" nearly as well as he thinks (mostly due to the fact that they didn't have to).
@MaxB My question was specifically asking for criticisms of the President. Bashing Jonathan for criticizing Trump is not particularly productive in the comments of a question that's asking him to do specifically that. Whether or not you agree with Trump's approach, there are objectively things that he didn't do that he could have done, and that's what I was asking about and I think that's what Jonathan delivered. It's hard to not come off as a critic when you're being asked to criticize ;-)
 
6 hours later…
JonathanReez
JonathanReez
20:47
@Ertai87 BC didn't need to do too much because their citizens just followed basic precaution, partially due to the Federal government supporting a cautious approach
if half of Canada chose to completely ignore basic precaution, they'd be at the same death levels as America
the virus works equally everywhere, minus pre-existing T-cell immunity
@XPMai the US President has a lot of levers available to affect the course of the pandemic, overriding decisions at the state level
" If US president mandated an unscientific practice, it would be challenged in court"

Masks are proven to work, otherwise doctors wouldn't wear them
in any case he could've tried
"not to even say it was unscientific at the time to wear mask when international bodies have stated their position clearly. "

The international bodies were lying degenerates on this issue. There was plenty of mask research as of 2019
Trump could've said "screw the WHO, we're going with masks!" and that would be the end of it
he could've fired the heads of FDA, CDC, Fauci and any other Federal employee who dared oppose masks
The US President has immense powers during a crisis
"I don't think it matters because if anyone doesn't wear mask just because Trump doesn't, then it's the problem of the individual. "

Yes, I agree as a libertarian. In fact, as a libertarian I'm strongly opposed to any form of lockdowns. However unfortunately many people in society do feel like they need to follow public figures
"The President did not have political capital to impose too much travel bans"

Yes, but he had the legal powers. He could've shutdown 100% of foreign travel and there's notthing anyone could do about it.
Again - if I was personally the US President, I would encourage a "herd immunity" strategy
But the question was about what could've been done to minimize deaths, so that's what my answer was about
Ertai87
Ertai87
21:06
@JonathanReez My understanding is that everyone in BC ignored (and continues to ignore, except until very recently maybe) basic precaution. My friends who went there recently said literally nobody was wearing masks or obeying social distancing.
JonathanReez
JonathanReez
21:44
@Ertai87 the numbers speak for themselves
what the perception is on the ground doesn't matter
its a virus... you stay close to someone infected and you get infected yourself
very straightforward

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