Former President Barack Obama said he gave ex-President Donald Trump a pandemic playbook when Trump took office — but he disregarded it.
“He ignored it,” Obama said during a rallyfor Vice President Kamala Harris in Las Vegas on Saturday. “And three years later, a pandemic hits.”
Because expunging an endemic disease is a hell of a lot of effort. Zero Covid didn’t work (ask Winnie the Pooh), so most efforts were undertaken instead to weather the large amount of simultaneous harsh cases where patients required a ventilator and constant medical attention.
Would it be possible? Probably, but do you really want to convince Billions of people worldwide to regularly buy and use tests, masks and to distance where possible for a few years? I mean, I’m in Biotech, I’d live a fulfilled live employment-wise - if I don’t get gunned down due to political violence that would ensue.
I’m just sitting here thinking if we can’t even get our shit together for a disease pandemic we’re going to be beyond fucked for anything that requires collective action and sacrifice with even higher stakes, like climate changes.
It kinda was though, the issue there was that all their trade partners were doing the “let it rip” strategy. Drastic measures can only hold for so long and if the world superpower determines that economic activity is more important than hundred of thousands of its citizens I don’t think there’s anything China could have done alone.