Fmr. Obama Official: New Coronavirus Cases ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

Dr. Kavita Patel tells Lawrence O’Donnell that the number of coronavirus cases will grow exponentially and we are nowhere near seeing the end of the growth in reported cases or deaths. Lawrence also discusses the latest statistics with Dr. Leana Wen. Aired on 03/18/2020.
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Fmr. Obama Official: New Coronavirus Cases ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

82 comments

  1. Too bad trump destroyed Meals on Wheels.
    That would have saved numerous of the most vunerable people that are now forced to expose themselves to the Corona-virus looking for food mixing with the rest of us.

    1. My 80 YO mom delivered MOW for years. It did her as much good as the folks she served. Too bad it’s gone…

    2. @Chris P. Bacon
      That would have kept them much safer and less exposed.It would have been a great tool for worried distant relatives to be sure they’re atleast looked after once a day.

    1. This is not necessarily a bad thing this just means we are starting to test more frequently. Still not frequent enough but we are getting there. You have to remember the curve of this is going to be exponential. So the number of cases should be increasing like this.

  2. Traits of Despots and Dictators
    > exaggeration of their mandate to govern;
    > ongoing effort to turn the public against the media;
    > history of repeatedly lying to the public;
    > blaming economic stresses on immigrants;
    > treating all opposition as enemies;
    > appointing family members to high positions of authority;
    > keeping personal finances secret;
    > militarizing the borders;
    > militarizing the police;
    > increasing the military budget;
    > psychopath.

    1. @Troy Stocker
      February 7
      Just had a long and very good conversation by phone with President Xi of China. He is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus. He feels they are doing very well, even building hospitals in a matter of only days. Nothing is easy, but…
      he will be successful, especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone. Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!
      –president’s tweet

      The same day, most strikingly, Trump was given an opportunity to entertain the idea that China might not be as transparent as he apparently believed. And he rejected it out of hand:
      Q: Are you concerned that China is covering up the full extent of coronavirus?
      TRUMP: No. China is working very hard. Late last night, I had a very good talk with President Xi, and we talked about — mostly about the coronavirus. They’re working really hard, and I think they are doing a very professional job.

    2. @Gaetano Vindigni , we can thank the secrecy of the communist Chinese for the situation. Now the threaten to cut of shipments of pharmaceuticals, keep selling out to the communist Chinese

    1. @RFI-Crypto Lab With more accurate numbers, we can have better tracking, would be better able to control the spread and countless other benefits. Don’t believe me? Look at South Korea.

    2. Tracy LaBad We need over 300 million Tests over two Weeks then another 50 Million or so to follow up. Highly unlikely, if not impossible.

    3. You need to stop trying to track and start trying to stop the general spread. Close institutions and send all people home. Tracking is too late now. Best of luck to you.

    1. & Pence shaking his head in the background!! They are selling the test to the wealthy I’m sure! Smh!🙏🇺🇸

    2. & if The Donald would happen to cease to exist .That’s also just the way it goes. Oh well. But that would be a terrible day. Right??

  3. Your health system is being revealed for what is is , what its always been primitive unfair and exclusive.

    1. @David Crowley No wonder Market Crashes scare you more than Pandemics! Survival of the fittest, will reassert itself once those wallets empty!

    2. The situation exemplifies the benefits of Bernie Sanders policy of healthcare for all. What we have though is an exploding pandemic and virtually no leadership in Washington.

  4. They don’t have enough testing ability to even test all people that have symptoms. WTH. It’s gonna be 50-60% of Americans infected.

    1. Andrew Smith So when will we hear news on this? My best friend thinks this virus is a cover up for the real story that a giant asteroid will hit Earth next month and end life as we know it.

    2. @Andrew Smith Thank you ! FYI,in Holland medical staff at certain hospitals are injecting themselves with BCG-vaccine,commonly used against TBC.It’s an immune system boaster.The idea behind it is that TBC targets the same area as Corona virus ‘n that trying this is better than nothing at all.

    3. @Andrew Smith ummm. I’ve literally seen interviews of doctors/nurses saying 1 and 2. 3 is obvious because we live in a capitalist society and everyone knows the elite get priority. I’ve seen plenty of news reports mentioning China’s successful measures.

    4. There is a misinformation campaign being run by some groups. I would not be surprised if Andrew Smith was in one of them.

      It is important that we stick together as American’s in this time of hardship. It is important that we don’t panic. It is important that we do what the rest of the world is doing and self quarantine until this dies out.

      There’s no reason to try to induce panic with conspiracy theories. Right now people are dying. Can we get through this first, then all conspiracy theories can make their case.

  5. WHERE ARE THE TEST KITS TRUMP? I’d rather have my life than a thousand dollars which pays half my rent for one month.

    1. @Bud Fudlacker – Thanks for demonstrating your insanity – I could give phuque #1 about HRC – then or now. It’s YOU who bring her up over and over again, trying to distract from your cult leader’s CATASTROPHIC failures. You cultists are ALL pathetic losers…

    2. @Spencer Anderson – The corner of bankrupt and paranoid ideology you morons have painted yourselves into is getting tighter and tighter – and there is no cartoon door for you to escape into. You are ALL frightened and hateful losers who have bonded to an uber-frightened uber-loser. NOTHING good can come from those with NOTHING good to offer…

    3. Blame the CDC and the FDA and all the current and former administrations for monopolizing our health system. We could use foreign testiing (ie, China, Germany) but the laws say that the CDC get to make their own test passed by the FDA only. See how that works? CDC and FDA control the testing and get to choose the manufacturing = money in the pockets of whomever they choose. Mafia to the American people.

    4. @silverfishla – Plenty of people have been poisoned by foreign foods and medicines – I’m thinking it’s a good idea to maintain standards. Could processes be streamlined in the case of emergencies? Sure – but that’s not what happened here – the FAKE president is trying to scapegoat for HIS failures – as usual…

    1. There is no cure, for cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s, alzheimers, etc. So not even the common flu.

  6. To put this into perspective, the US population is 5.45 times that of Italy.
    Italy had 475 deaths in one day.
    At that rate, the US would have 2,589 deaths in a single day.
    Let that sink in for a second. Stay healthy everyone!

    1. multiply that number by the same order of magnitude (2589*5.45) for a more realistic hipshot from the bootstrap

  7. When Ebola broke out in West Africa in 2014, President Obama recognized that responding to the outbreak overseas, while also protecting Americans at home, involved multiple U.S. government departments and agencies, none of which were speaking to one another.

    So to bring order and harmony to the chaos, he create a coherent multiagency response overseas and on the homefront. Building on the Ebola experience, President Obama set up a permanent epidemic monitoring and command group inside the White House National Security Council, and another in the Department of Homeland Security—both of which followed the scientific and public health leads of the National Institutes of Health, and the CDC, and the diplomatic advice of the State Department.

    But that’s all gone now. In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down. This was the directorate charged with preparing for when, not if, another pandemic would hit the nation.

    Trump’s elimination of the office suggested, along with his proposed budget cuts for the CDC, that he did not see or comprehend the threat of pandemics. Trump said that COVID-19  “came out of nowhere” and “blindsided the world.”  His comments left scientists, doctors, and national security experts in a state of shock. Because experts had been warning about the next pandemic for years.

    “One year later I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like COVID-19,” Beth Cameron, the first director of the unit, wrote in an op-ed. She said the directorate was set up to be the “smoke alarm” and get ahead of emergencies and sound a warning at the earliest sign of fire — “all with the goal of avoiding a six-alarm fire.”

    In the spring of 2018, Trump pushed Congress to cut funding for Obama-era disease security programs, reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated.

    1. David J. Just because Trump* has this insane obsession with undoing everything that Obama has done, he has put the American population in danger. And now he is doing a 1984 by rewriting his track-record on his dealing with the Corona virus out break. How can anyone defend this ignoramus!

    2. David j. You are absolutely correct. .Bill Gates warned Trump 2 years ago that we needed to prepare for another pandemic. I know Trump is less then human.all these people who have died, they are on him.

  8. I wonder how many US citizens are carrying the virus right now. If Dr. Oz and others are correct, 80% or more of cases won’t be investigated to be identified, as the symptoms are so mild that medical attention isn’t requested. This factor, of course, would reduce the real fatality rate by a wide margin.

  9. The MAGA (Military Avoiding Ginger Arseclown) crew suddenly dont think the virus is a dem hoax anymore.

    1. Vince Baleto
      Clinton has nothing to do with this, but they can’t stop. They are programmed now….

  10. OMG he says this is the story of life right in front of your national television? Just like that? Other dictators at least pretent to care for their people. This guy has no shame. His old fat hands soon will be drenched in the blood of thousands of innocent citizens who would not have had to die if someone with a shred of decency was leading them.

    1. My mouth dropped when he said that. Very hard for me to see the stupidity and lack of concern for the people. But I also believe that the day of God’s judgment is close.

  11. In other news: Governor Ron DeSantis keeps beaches in Florida open i.e. “Florida Man Strikes Again…..”. Wait til all those people travel back to their home states after being all crowded up on beaches, bars, and hotels. Does this remind you of the mayor in the original “Jaws”?? 🙂

    1. He changed it to july or august ….definitely warm enough then. Since the virus can’t survive heat his majesty said..I think he realized Agian there is no global warming so April will be cooler than the stable geniuses original projections…he’s got a knack for these kind of things i am sure you’ve heard???😂

  12. America elected a man whose only thought is personal gain. Whose only reason for living is for self promotion and self grandization. This man has no capacity for human empathy or reciprocal emotion. In every breath he takes, every thought he develops is created and arranged in a illusionary and deluded manner. A delusional processes where the needs of his ego and psyche supersede any other entity even his own family! Habitual lying is a character flaw that protects him from experiencing failure and shame. He has learned that failure is not an option. However if people refuse to accept obvious failures they become disconnected from reality.
    This can be a good trait in times of wealth and economic prosperity. This is good when manipulating the market to do what you want. The problem is in a crisis like a pandemic where lives hang in the balance. You have a delusional man, only making self preserving decisions, without any empathy or concern for the nation he controls. This is a recipe for disaster! God help us all!!

  13. “Testing, testing, testing is the key”
    “We don’t want to test you”
    Any questions?

    *fail*

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